Printing postcards with Mail Merge is VERY slow

[Howard]

My printing from Publisher 2007 is very slow with Mail Merge from Excel (55
seconds per page of 4 postcards). I do have a picture and logo totalling
1.2MB. Any hints to make this faster would be appreciated. I'm using a
Xerox Phaser 8400 (fast printer). The quality of the picture and logo is
critical, so I do not want to sacrafice that.

Thanks.

 

[Mary Sauer]

In the past Publisher had some issues with Xerox printers. The solution then was
to disable the crop mark and bleed options under Advanced Printer Setup...
(Printer Details tab).

 

[Howard]

Mary (or anyone):

The crop was not enabled, but the bleed was. I disabled it and it has
improved the speed a bit. Any other hints from anyone?

Also - Any clue why the "Color Printing" option is disabled under "Tools",
"Commercial Printing Tools"? What's it for and why is it disabled?

Thanks.

Howard

 

[Mary Sauer]

Have you checked to see if there is an updated driver?
http://www.support.xerox.com/go/res...prodID=8400&Xlang=en_GB&Xcntry=GBR&source=XOG

I can't say why the color is disabled in commercial printing. Could be you don't
have a postscript driver installed.

 

[Howard]

The driver I'm using is Xerox Phaser 8400B PS. it is the default driver and
is the one that comes up in Publisher when I choose to print. The menu
selection of "color printing" however is from the "Tools" option in
Publisher. It is not from a print option, or a Print window or pop-up. On
the mail Publisher 2007 window, you click on "Tools", "Commercial Printing
Tools" and the "Color Printing" option is disabled. At that point I do not
think the driver is being referenced. So I'm still at a loss on that.

Thanks.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Read this:
Commercial printing
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/CH101736131033.aspx

 

[Howard]

I had read it, but here's a direct quote from it:
"Set up a publication for spot-color printing

On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color
Printing.
Under Define all colors as, click Spot colors.
Publisher converts all colors in your publication to spot-color inks, which
are listed in the Inks tab. You can change, duplicate, or add new spot-color
inks as desired."

Okay that's the quote. So if the "Color Printing" Option is disabled - How
Can I Click on it????? Why is it disabled? That's been my question. Do you
know anyone who knows? It is a VERY specific question. Being told to read 20
pages is not an answer. Having been in software for over 20 years a few
years back I know someone must just know this. Please help.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Howard, This article addresses 2003,obviously it wasn't fixed in 2007
The "Color Printing" command is unavailable in Publisher 2003 and in Publisher
2002
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279385/en-us