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Guidelines: Printer Settings

When designing and printing your mailpieces you should consider the capabilities of your printer. The following guidelines should help ensure that your mail is printed correctly and can be read by the US Postal Service automated equipment.

Make sure your mailpieces feed properly and consistently through your printer. Most laser printers do not work well with very small mailpieces, less than 6 inches in length. Many dot matrix printers do not feed envelopes consistently.
In some printers, envelopes and labels may shift while being printed. Make sure your mailpiece does not slip or rotate while printing. If you are printing barcodes and they are very crooked or smeared, they cannot be read by the postal sorting machines.
Not all printers can print close to the edge of envelopes. If this is the case, do not use the Intelligent Mail® barcode in the lower right corner. Use an address block barcode instead.
Not all layouts have room for all required barcodes. If your layout is too small, use a larger layout.
If possible, always print a few test pieces when trying a new layout, printer, or media. By doing test prints, you avoid consuming postage.
On the Layout tab, areas outside red lines indicate unprintable areas. If the red lines show that an area that needs to be printed is cut off, then verify your printer setup.
Tip! See additional printer tips and hints by visiting Endicia Online Support.