Sending Printer Commands

by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 20, 2015)

Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Sending Printer Commands.

Word has an extensive range of field commands that can be used to increase the flexibility of your documents. One such field allows you to send commands directly to your printer, without interference from Word. To insert a Print field code in your document, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the Print field to appear.
2. Choose Field from the Insert menu. You will see the Field dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

3. Make sure (All) is selected in the Categories list at the left side of the dialog box. (It should be selected by default when the dialog box is first displayed.)
4. Select Print from the Field Names list.
5. In the Field Code box, after the Print statement, enter the information you want sent directly to the printer. This information should be enclosed within quote marks.
6. Click on OK.

This technique is great if there are some advanced features of your printer that you want to take advantage of. For instance, I have used this technique in several other WordTips issues to show how to send PostScript commands directly a printer.

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