Strange Problem with WORD

[Templar]

I am mail-merging addresses onto postcards (card stock)
I copied the names and addresses out of an Excel file and created a WORD
document by pasting the names and addresses into WORD
I open up a merge project and everything is going just fine until I run the
merge and the printer begins printing.
A series of dark lines about an eigth of an inch wide and about a quarter of
an inch long appear at the "Entry Edge" of the postcard.
If a print out a document from a different WORD file on the same card stock,
there are NO marks on the card stock.
They only appear when I merge the addresses and print out the merged product.

Any clues?

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

I am not sure of the exact process that you have followed - especially the
copying and pasting the names and addresses into Word and then the mail
merge. Why not just use the Excel file as the data source for the mail
merge?

What happens if you execute your existing merget to the printer with plain
paper in it. Or, if you execute the merge to a new document, does that
document have the lines on it?

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Templar]

Thanks Doug. This is getting increasingly weird. I ran a plain piece of
paper through and there were NO marks. But the problem with the card stock
persists.
I tried merging directly from Excel, but for some reason, all that comes up
are
symbols and no letters. Very frustrating.

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

Sounds to me like the print head is coming into contact with the card stock.
Can you adjust the position of the platen? (That's what you would have done
in the days of a printer that had a roller around with the paper was
threaded. Nowadays it may be a case of moving the print head away from the
paper.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Templar]

That possibility has been covered. EVERYTHING prints clean except on the
merge. Everything points to a software problem. Hard to beleive I've been
the only one to experience this problem with the "new office" WORD.

 

[Graham Mayor]

I agree with Doug. If you have lines on card (or envelopes) but not on plain
paper, you have ink spatter (or in the case of a laser printer toner spill)
in the paper path. Clean the paper path and rollers and ensure that you are
not trying to print anything in the area outside the physical size of the
paper, because your paper size and or margins are incorrect for the size of
the card, which will spray ink around inside the printer.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Templar]

But.............when I run the same card stock through the printer without
trying to merge........there are no smudges..........its
clean..........whether its is paper, card stock or whatever. Possibly there
is something to setting the size of the paper correctly, but I have done that
when the printer dialog box comes up. I'm not sure if there are other places
to set the size of the paper.....whether there is conflict
somewere..............very baffling and frustrating problem. Does the size
of the paper need to be set in mulitple locations?