WordPerfect Printing Problems

It is recommended that you test WordPerfect after each section of this article.

Clear the print queue
In many cases, a jammed print queue will prevent WordPerfect from opening or will cause the application to stall while attempting to print.  Before doing anything else, verify that the print queue is clear.  To do this, follow the instructions below:

1.        Browse to your Control Panel and select Printers (or Printers & Faxes)

2.        Open the printer you are trying to print to. If there appear to be any jobs stuck here, click on the Printer menu and select Cancel All Documents. Perform the same step for each printer installed on your system.

3.        Open WordPerfect and try printing again.  

Remove any offline printers
When trying to initialize its print engine, WordPerfect will retrieve page definitions from all of your printers to evaluate if your printer can print the document being processed. If there are any printers that are listed as Offline or Unable to Connect, than WordPerfect might experience a delay while initializing the print engine.

1.        Browse to your Control Panel and select Printers (or Printers and Faxes)

2.        Right-Click on any printer listed as Offline or Unable to Connect

3.        Select Delete

4.        Repeat this procedure for all printers listed as Offline or Unable to Connect

Remove the printer driver
In many cases, WordPerfect will hang for long periods of time while its trying to communicate with a particular printer driver. This can sometimes be rather evident if the printer driver happens to be a network printer, or if the network printer is not hooked up to the computer. In order to troubleshoot this kind of problem, you will need to remove your printer drivers to rule this out.

NOTE: Before proceeding, it is recommended that you download the latest drivers from your printer manufacturer’s website so that you can re-install the printer. If you have Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME, you might also require your Windows CD.

1.        Click on Start

2.        Click on Settings and than Printers
NOTE: If you have Windows XP, you might be able to select Printers and Faxes directly from the Start Menu

3.        Right-click on your printer, and select Delete to remove the printer.
NOTE: If you happen to have network printers, start with any drivers that may be offline or you can no longer connect to. Fax drivers, Adobe® Distiller, PaperPort® are also considered printer drivers by WordPerfect and could also be causing problems. If you happen to have PaperPort v7.0, please visit PaperPort’s website at http://www.scansoft.com and obtain the latest Service Pack for your product which addresses known compatibility issues with WordPerfect.

Add an emulation driver
Sometimes a different driver altogether might need to be installed to troubleshoot the Print subsystem. In this example, we will use an Apple LaserWriter; a generic PostScript printer. Contact your printer manufacturer to see if your printer has PostScript capabilities. If it is the case, than you can use almost any PostScript driver with your printer, even if it is not for the same model.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP Users

1.        Browse to your Printer’s Control Panel and double-click on Add Printer

2.        Click on the Next button

3.        Select Local Printer and ensure that the Automatically Detect and Install My Plug And Play Printer option is unchecked

4.        Click on the Next button

5.        Ensure that LPT1 is selected then click on the Next button 

6.        Select Apple as the manufacturer

7.        Select the Apple LaserWriter 12/640 in the printers list

8.        Click on the Next button

9.        Select Yes to make the Apple printer your default printer 

10.     Click on the Next button

11.     Select the option Do Not Share This Printer and click Next 

12.     Select No to print a test page then click Next

13.     Click Finish to complete the installation of the printer driver 

14.     Launch WordPerfect and Test

Windows 95, Windows 98 & Windows ME Users

1.        Browse to your Printer’s Control Panel and double-click on Add Printer

2.        Click on the Next button. 

3.        Select the option Local Printer and click Next 

4.        Select Apple from the list of Manufacturers 

5.        Select Apple as the manufacturer

6.        Select the Apple LaserWriter in the Printers list

7.        Click on the Next button

8.        Select LPT1 and Click on the Next button

9.        Select Yes to make this the default printer then click Next 

10.     Select No when your prompted to print a test page

11.     Click Next 

12.     Launch WordPerfect and Test

Add the Print Engine to the Startup Folder
NOTE: This step is only for WordPerfect 10, WordPerfect 11 and Wordperfect 12. WordPerfect 9 users can ignore this step.

WordPerfect printing problems might be caused by another application not allowing the WordPerfect print engine to launch. We can force the WordPerfect print engine to launch everytime Windows starts by creating a shortcut to the PrintServer file in the Startup menu and rebooting the computer.

1.        Right click on the Start button

2.        Click on Open

3.        Double click on Programs, Startup

4.        Right click on an empty spot within this window, click on New, Shortcut

5.        Click on Browse

If you have WordPerfect Office 12
Browse to C:\Program Files\WordPerfect Office 12\Programs and click on PrintServer120

If you have WordPerfect Office 11
Browse to C:\Program Files\WordPerfect Office 11\Programs and click on PrintServer110

If you have WordPerfect Family Pack 5
Browse to C:\Program Files\WordPerfect Family Pack 5\Programs and click on PrintServer110

If you have WordPerfect Office 2002
Browse to C:\Program Files\Corel\WordPerfect Office 2002\Programs and click on PrintServer100

If you have WordPerfect Family Pack 4
Browse to C:\Program Files\Corel\WordPerfect Family Pack 4\Programs and click on PrintServer100

6.        Click on Open

7.        Click on Next

8.        Click on Finish

9.        Reboot the computer

10.     Launch WordPerfect and Test

Enable Bidirectional Support for the Printer
If bidirectional support isn't enabled you may experience printing issues with WordPerfect. To enable this feature follow these steps.

1.        Browse to your Printer’s Control Panel

2.        Right click on your Printer, select Properties

3.        Click the Ports tab

4.        Check "Enable bidirectional support"

5.        Click Ok

6.        Launch WordPerfect and Test