How To Print Raffle Tickets

Don't forget to prepare your paper --if you are using pre-perforated blanks, always "work" your stock so that air is introduced between the sheets.

In the Duuh Category, remember to check your stock to be sure it is feeding into the printer correctly (errors happen, so be careful when you add more stock to the printer tray).

Printing Problems:
If you are using graphics, the file may too big, causing your printer to "choke" in the middle of printing. Even if the graphic is very small on your ticket, the file size may still be large. Every ticket you print will contain the graphic, so multiply your graphic size by the number of tickets -- it adds up. To avoid this problem, most graphic programs allow you to change the resolution or width of the the graphic to the size you want to use. And remember, a graphic four inches wide may not even by recognizable when reduced to one-half inch wide! (for more details on graphics, see topic "How To Add Graphics To Your Ticket".

Printer Settings:

Laser Printers:
Heat can be a problem. Your stock may be so badly curled that it cannot be cut or even separated easily when using fully perforated sheets. If stock must be cut after printing, stack sheets as evenly as possible, then weight down for at least two hours.

InkJet Printers:
If you are using an H-P printer, try "Draft" mode for printing. Often the quality will be fine for a raffle ticket, and the speed will usually double. Test your printer in draft mode first -- some printers such as Epson do not have a suitable draft mode for printing, but H-P almost always does.

Using Various Types of Blanks
Some software allows you to choose between "stacked" numbering or "page sequence" numbering -- if you will be printing 1,000 or more tickets, it may make sense to buy partially perforated stock which contains a perforation for stub. After printing, when stock is cut apart into tickets, each stack will automatically be in the correct numeric sequence. If you are using fully perforated blanks which must be separated by hand, you will want to use "page sequence" (0001,0002,0003,0004, 0005 on first page, etc.).

Using Pre-numbered Tickets
Pre-numbered blanks are available from some office supply stores. All of these numbers are in page sequence. When printing, divide the number of tickets per page by the total number of tickets furnished (500 -- 5 tickets per page = 100 sheets). Use your File>Print menu and select 'Number of Pages' as 100. Although these blanks are convenient for small quantities, you cannot buy consecutive numbers past the quantity in each package.