Four-up postcards not aligned right

[Grace L. Judson]

I'm using Publisher 2003 to print postcards four to a page. They are "off"
by about 1/4 inch to the left. This isn't awful for the two postcards on
the left side of the page, but the two on the right side of the page are
unusable.

How do I fix this problem? I used Publisher's postcard format, 4.25" by
5.5". I've tweaked the postcard size down a bit in Page Setup (to 5.35") in
order to insert a .1" side margin and a .2" gap between the two postcards
(it's called a "horizontal gap," based on a portrait orientation, even
though I'm printing landscape). This ALMOST gets what I want, but it's
still not perfect!

Part of what I market myself on is attention to detail, so this is a Big
Thing... any help would be gratefully appreciated!

 

[Ed Bennett]

I'm using Publisher 2003 to print postcards four to a page. They are
"off" by about 1/4 inch to the left. This isn't awful for the two
postcards on the left side of the page, but the two on the right side
of the page are unusable.

Check your postcard size, check your page settings again.
Check your physical printer setup - this sort of problem can often be caused
by paper feed issues.
Try printing on regular stock and overlaying that on your cardstock and
seeing if it fits.
If the same problem occurs there, then you can experiment on plain paper to
make it line up before printing on the good stuff.
Of course, you could always print on plain card and guillotine it all
yourself. That requires a little more work, but is almost certain to be
spot on (unless you're printing double-sided, when things get a little
tricky)
Alternatively, you could contact an outside printing service (who will
basically do the last suggestion for you, but will probably print in better
quality and trim more accurately, as they have practice)

 

[Mary Sauer]

Check your printer default margins. In the landscape mode the right margin will
always be the widest margin. With inkjets the margin can be as wide as .55 or more.
If your margin default is, for example, .5, then all four sides of your postcard
should be .5 as well if you want the objects centered. You shouldn't have to adjust
the gaps.