Filling Printer Trays

I have sent this e-mail twice before, but I wanted to post this on my blog for posterity's sake. When loading the drop-in printer (or any other), do not fill it beyond its limit. Printers have retaining clips that specify how much any given tray can hold. The paper should not rest loosely above the retaining clips at the back of the tray; the loose paper can create some ferocious jams that could potentially damage the rollers.

View the examples that follow:

GOOD (click image to enlarge):









BAD (click image to enlarge):









Additional tips for loading paper trays:

• Do not shove a whole sheaf in at once. Add paper in smaller amounts until the tray is full.
• Feather the paper (i.e., pinch one side and have your thumb flip through the other loose side). Feathering will keep the paper of sticking together as it feeds through the printer.
• Do not let patrons load specialized paper in the trays. There is no guarantee that another print job will not be processed between the time they load their paper and the time they actually print. Specialized printing (including legal sized) should be done via the manual feed tray. [To do this, in the Print window select: Properties [button] > Paper/Quality tab [in new window] > select: Manual Feed ... [under: Source is: drop box] > OK [button; closes window] > OK [button; to print] > load manual feed tray to complete. This process is similar on most laser printers with multiple feed trays.]