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General discussion

HP printer margins of section 1 set outside printable area?

Oct 19, 2004 6:36AM PDT

When i setup USER DEFINED paper in MS Word, and try to print with HP, then MS Word pops a flag saying "margins of section 1 are set outside printable area of page!"
MS Word prevents me from sending USER DEFINED paper size to HP printer.
It wants me to use only Default Paper Sizes before use L/R margings to move HP print head to where i want it to print! But that require too much calculations, try-error, and waste of ink! Does all HP printers do that?
When i send the same USER DEFINED paper setup to Epson, it doesn't pop any "margings" flag! It sends the the same margins to Epson to print exactly where i want it but refuses to do it for HP.
How do i setup CUSTOM PAPER sizes in MS word for HP printer?
PLEASE NOTE: that changing USER DEFINED paper size from HP's own printer properties can't overide MS word setup. The margin flag still pops! and it makes HP print outside specified area
NOTE ALSO that because WordPad does not have setup PAPER SIZE under USER DEFINED paper, it allows HP to use its own USER DEFINED paper sizes to print excatly where i want it.
That explains the problem is surely between MS Word and HP
How do i setup CUSTOM PAPER sizes in MS word for HP printer?

Discussion is locked

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Re: HP printer margins of section 1 set outside printable ar
Oct 19, 2004 1:50PM PDT

I believe every printer driver, at least the ones I have tried, "knows" the minimum border edges for that particular printer. And the numbers are not necessarily identical, left, right, top, or bottom. Every printer can be different.

One way I have figured out how to find out what the minimums are is to use Word.
First set for your desired printer (in case you have more than one printer)
then set up one Word page with 0" margins (top, bottom, left, and right).
Then when you press the [OK] you will be warned that "one or more margins are set outside the printable area of the page".
You should then take the [Fix] selection.
Once you get that page adjusted just look at the page margins to find out what those minimums are.
Write that down somewhere, as a reference.

If you have other printers, do the same again, starting with 0" margins.

There's your minimums.

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HP printer margins of section1 set outside printable area
Oct 20, 2004 2:03AM PDT

STILL THE SAME PROBLEM!

Thanks chuckT for the right medicine but problem still the same problem.
I forgot to mention that i already tried the idea you provided. It worked for Epson printer but NOT for hp.
Where is that "section 1" in MS Word document anyway?
How can that "section 1" in MS Word be changed?
All readers, please help!

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Re: what is a section
Oct 20, 2004 4:53AM PDT

By doing those steps you have only found out what the minimum margins are, you now need to ensure that all portions of your document do not extend beyond those minimums.

What is a section? Here is the explanation from Word Help:
Section: A portion of a document in which you set certain page formatting options. You create a new section when you want to change such properties as line numbering, number of columns, or headers and footers.

You can use sections to vary the layout of a document within a page or between pages.


So, some section in your document, and Section 1 should be the first in your document, has some portion of it set to extend beyond the printer driver known printable area of the page.
Let's pretend that your minimum margins are all 0.25" and you have one section using a right margin of 0.2", you are going to get that warning.

Adjust that margin to 0.25" (or more) and that warning will go away, assuming the other margins are not less than those minimums either.

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HP printer margins of section1 set outside printable area?
Oct 21, 2004 4:28AM PDT

Thanks again for your detailed advice.
I tried all margins but it didn't change a thing!
I use only (1) page at a time to print only (1) custom size envelope or postcard.
I noticed the problem is conflict between MS-Word and HP-printer only when CUSTOM PAPER is selected.
All other default paper sizes do not poke that problem.
Epson printer do not cause that problem either.
WordPad don't have change PAPER SIZE under USER DEFINED. It therefore eliminates any PAPER SIZE conflict by using the printer's own software settings.
That explains the "margins" flag in MS-Word is a conflict between MS-Word margins and HP-printer's margings ONLY WHEN CUSTOM PAPER is selected!
I will try to forward this problem to HP to see if they will even listen.
The question HP would ask is WHY only me? Why nobody else has that problem?
That's why i came to the best forum on the planet to see if i can find other users that have encountered similar problems and how they resolved the issue.
I'll come back to post solution if only i can find it.
Thanks very much for your quick responses.

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Did you install the latest HP driver version?
Oct 21, 2004 4:41AM PDT

Xin,

It might be an error in the driver. Or a feature, as HP might be able to explain. Or something not supported. Or impossible for some reason.

You don't tell what type of HP printer it is (they have a lot!), and it surely makes a difference. What you can try is to use the standard Windows driverfor an older compatible version. A laserjet 6, for example, fully understands the commands for a laserjet 2. So just install a new laserjet 2 printer with the driver Windows offers and see how that works. If it is what you need, you can use that printer for this special printjob.

Hope this helps.


Kees

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Did you install the latest HP driver version?
Oct 21, 2004 4:20PM PDT

hello everyone, thanks for your suggestions.
Exactly as i had anticipated, hp support replied that my problem is unheard of!
I'm back therefore to fall on my fellow hp users to help me through this problem.
My printer is hp psc750 runing win98/me and MS-Word 2000. It has only one driver for win9x.
I use MS-Word 2000 to setup CUSTOM paper for printing custom envelopes, postcards, and pictures of diffirent sizes in the same way everyone does.
But why is CUSTOMIZE paper not working in MS-Word?
The printer's software works fine when no other application such as MS-word changes its settings. WordPad uses printer's own settings and it works fine but MS-word overrides printer settings. That's where i'm getting the problem.
Everybody uses MS-word to prints posters & custom size envelopes so please help!

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Re: Did you install the latest HP driver version?
Dec 2, 2004 1:17AM PST

I am having exact same problem: Windows XP (Home) using a Laserjet 6P with MS Word 2000. I just replaced some Windows 98 systems at work and now this happens. Maybe it is isolated to the XP driver for the 6P and other models??? I will run some tests to eliminate possibilities.

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Re: HP printer margins of section 1 set outside printable ar
Dec 2, 2004 11:54PM PST

xin-

I have a HP 3500 color laser and I get the exact same message. This is a printer I installed in september and I have the most current driver.

I created a new document using LETTER paper and I have no problems at all. I noted the margins for this document and changed to a custom paper size (8.75"x5.75"), verifing the margins are set exactly the same as Letter. When I print, I get the "Printer margins ..." message. I can tell it to print and the document looks fine.

Sorry I don't have a fix, but you are not alone Happy

msc

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Re: HP printer margins of section 1 set outside printable a
Oct 30, 2009 4:41PM PDT

try it this solution
I try it and success

in MS WORD

File
Print (CTRL P)
Properties
Advanced
Paper/Output
change Paper Size : Letter to A4 or another

or

In Windows XP
Start
Setting
printers and Faxes
Click right button mouse
Properties
Printing Preferences...
- Advanced
- paper/output
change paper size : letter to A4 or another

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Change to "A4" works
Sep 26, 2010 12:33PM PDT

Clearly the error message that "section 1 is set outside the printable area" is false. The change to A4 works, but why it should isn't clear. Thanks so much!

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The Page Borders of Section 1 Are Set Outside The Printable
Mar 11, 2011 2:34AM PST

If your using Microsoft Word: to correct this go to main menu; file/page setup/paper/ width and/or height, and change to a tighter margin and problem will go away. This works well if trying to set a full page border and not all of it shows when you print. This solved my problem. (example, if page setup is letter size, 8 1/2 width by 11 height, and bottom border will not print, change height from 11 to 10.8 or lower and this will fix problem).

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Let's Face It: This is a Bug, Not a Feature
Aug 26, 2012 8:54AM PDT

A thread running more than 7 years without a reliable solution can't possibly be about a technical feature that people should be able to learn how to use. It is about seriously flawed software. Apparently those responsible have become too cumbersome to fix it and too complacent to care about it. This is how monoliths crumble and fall, and how startups find opportunity to take their place. But how many more millions of man-hours must be wasted while we all wait for this agonizingly slow-motion transformation to take place?

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(NT) Or folk will migrate to some other solution?
Aug 28, 2012 9:01AM PDT
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I wish there were some way of over-riding the setting
Dec 15, 2014 1:15PM PST

The message is displayed even when I am (just within) the limit of the printable.

I wish there were some way of not having it displayed by changing some setting in the registry so that my printer has no unprintable space. I don't want to be warned. All it needs is a "don't warn me again" checkbox.

I have been suffering from this message since I can remember and clearly at least 10 years.

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same problem
Apr 5, 2011 11:45PM PDT

We have the same problem xin. I am using HP F2480, i have problem with printing landscape. I've wasted papers and ink. If you have now the solution, please tell me.