How Do I Find Dots with Paper Source = Tray2

[JeffP->]

We print 1k to 2k docs each day by an automated process from two servers to
no less than three different printers all running the same HP driver. Office
2k at the automated server. This retains the tray2 setting in each of our
templates (dot) so that our letters print on pre-printed letterhead paper.
Lucky that any HP compliant printer will use the lowest driver in our group
of printers w/out issue and word will think that it's printing to the same
one printer.

The printers are stocked with one of four different letterheads (marketing
as four companies) and all of our letter document templates are set to print
to Tray2, but now we'd like to change printer drivers and we know that this
will set all of these dots to the default AutoSelect, (tested w/over 100hrs,
so don't try to tell me how to change a dot's settings, this won't be
retained when a new printer driver is used) which will be plain paper. We
then have to open (nearly 200 of our 600 dots) and save them as, PageSetup,
Source = Tray2. This is slow and potentially we'll open way more that the 200
only to see that they're not letterhead dots but plain paper and also could
miss a few.

So is there a way to automate? I have VB6, .Net 2008 Ent.,

TIA

 

[JeffP->]

Grahm,

I replaced the 4100 PCL5e driver with the 4300 PCL6, and in the registry
renamed the
hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\print\printers\printerdriver\drivername
from the HP Laser Jet 4300 PCL 6 (which is what shows in the drop down w/in
the printer properties dialog - driver) and copypasted in the 4100's full
name. This did nothing except confirm that each dot now had auto-select as
the source.

I was hoping that since these are features of the dot, that I'd be able to
expose and using word.exe update & save w/out having to manually find each of
our dot's that needs this setting.

 

[John... Visio MVP]

Have you tried naming the printers and then setting the defaults to use the
corrrect tray? In the Control Panel, you can have multiple definitions for
the same printer, but with different defaults.

Create a default definition for your printer and then create another
definition for the printer (call it LetterHeadPrinter), but go to the
Control Panel, select the new printer and look at it's properties. On the
General tab is a Printing Preference button. Press that and select Paper,
you can then set the default tray there. For normal use, make sure
LetterHeadPrinter is not the default printer.

So for printing to the letterhead, change the Word templates to use the
LetterHeadPrinter. From now on, all you have to do is make sure there is a
printer named LetterHeadPrinter in your Control Panel.


John... Visio MVP