Print Mail Merge to Alternating pages in Word 2007 (HP Printers)

(This process is documented using an HP 4350 Laserjet printer. The steps may be different for printers from other manufacturers)

I'm seeing a general confusion online about how to print a Mail Merge document to alternating pages (1st page from the Letterhead in Tray 1, and the 2nd page on plain paper in Tray 2, for example), so I humbly offer my suggestion here.

There are several ways to change the Trays that a document will print to, but none of them play nicely with Mail Merges. Changing the options in the "Page Setup" section of the "Page Layout" ribbon is not always reliable, for instance. For printers using the HP Universal PS Print Driver, there is another option.

1. First, click the Office orb, and click Print.

2. Next, click Properties.

3.  Change to the Paper/Quality tab, and double-click on "Print pages on different paper"

4. Now, on this page you can create your custom tray settings. For the first page, under the Pages in Document header, click the First button. Under Paper Source, select the tray you want. It is a good idea to change the Paper Type to the actual type, instead of keeping it as Unspecified. Click Add when you are finished, and you'll see it appear in the list below.

5. Now, go back up to the Pages in Document header, and click on the Last button. Set the Paper Source and  Paper Type for the last page in each letter, and click Add when you are finished. At this point, click OK on all 3 windows.

As I said before, I have only tested this on an HP 4250 printer. Also, this method will only work on Mail Merges with 2 pages each. If you're interested in how to do this with other printers, or more pages, leave a comment!