Coupon Printing Tips
By · Sep 25
I have gotten a lot of emails lately about people having problems printing coupons. Here are all of the tips and tricks I know.
General Tips
If you have already downloaded the coupon printer and it keeps asking you to install it again, most likely your spyware or anti-virus software is blocking it. You must tell your software to allow the download.
You can print coupons in either black and white or color.
I keep my finger on my printer’s cancel button so that if an ad prints on the bottom, I don’t waste my ink on the ad.
Most printable coupons can be printed twice. Every once in a while there will be ones that offer more, but most coupons can be printed twice.
There are two main types of printable coupons: bricks and smartsource. Below are the tips for if you are having trouble with these specific types of coupons.
Bricks Bricks coupons are coupons from Coupons, Inc. The web address starts out with http://bricks… The main problem with these coupons is that they are typically made for one web browser or another (i.e. Firefox or Internet Explorer). If you try and print it in a web browser that it is not made for, it will say Please Wait… and nothing will happen. You can fix this and make the bricks coupons work for the web browser you are using.
The letters “vi” that are circled in the address above are the letters that tell you what web browser this coupon is meant to printed in.
If you want to print in Internet Explorer these letters need to be wi
If you want to print in Firefox these letters need to be wg or vg
If you want to print in Safari, these letters need to be vi or xs
You can not print bricks coupons in Chrome
If this doesn’t work, towards the bottom will see a little help button. If you click on the help button it will either bring up a form for the manufacturer to mail the coupon to you or it will bring up a troubleshooting guide to help you. If it brings up the troubleshooting guide, then that means that the manufacturer has not chosen to make it available for being mailed out, so try the steps on the troubleshooting guide.
Smartsource Smartsource coupons are the coupons that are very slow to print out. It is not uncommon for you to need to wait a minute or two for it to load up and then print. To download Smartsource coupons you must have the latest version of Java downloaded and enabled on your computer.
If you have trouble with a retailer accepting Smartsource coupons, you can take this letter to the retailer and see if it helps change their mind about printables.
Do you know any tips that I missed? Please share with us in the comments.
14 Comments
September 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
We have a wireless printer with 5 computers, both PC and Mac, connected so I’ve had some experience (read: hair pulling frustration) with this. I’ve noticed on our computers for bricks that it’s “wi” or “vi” for IE. Also, some of the computers will not print in Firefox unless it’s “xg”. I haven’t determined if that’s an operating system or browser version difference, but it is something to try if you can’t get “wg” or “vg” to work on Firefox.
Last, sometimes the coupon just won’t work in a browser. Just paste the link into another browser, fix it to the appropriate letters for that browser and try it again. Sometimes I print my first coupon with no problem, then backspace to print the second one and it just won’t work – keeps asking me to install the coupon printer! Try a different browser. Save your sanity and don’t argue with your computer. They are fickle beasts.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Thanks for the great tips! I had no idea changing the wi or vi or xg would be the difference! I appreciate all you do to help us save money!
September 25th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
So, for some reason I have never been able to print a coupon twice. When I go back to print again, the coupons I have printed aren’t there for the second go around. Any tips on that?
September 25th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Just hit the back button on your browser instead of reloading the page again and trying to re-print. Hope that works for you.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Thanks, this has been so frustrating for me and now I’ve got it figured out!
September 28th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Awesome. These print codes are absolutely priceless. I’ve already had luck fixing the bricks print problem on several coupons!! Thanks for your help!
September 30th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I use IE as my browser. I’ve seen several articles that say to try and using FoxFire if IE doesn’t work. Can you have both browsers running on the same comp at the same time and switch between them? If so could some kind soul tell me to go abouit how to do this. Details are helpful as I’m not to comp savy. I thank you in advance for your help. This is a great post and I will keep it in my files. Keep on keepin on – your doing something right!! Great site – I commend you.
October 1st, 2009 at 8:36 am
Trying to print one coupon I consistently got messages saying that I had to download the coupon printer again. I did it three times (but the coupon never printed). Since then all my coupons, and associated text, print out in mirror image. It is all backwards (though it looks right if viewed from the back side of the paper, holding up against the light). I contacted the help address but they just said to re-intall the software. I have uninstalled and re-installed four times with no luck. Non-coupon things print out fine. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Yes you can have more than one browser loaded on your computer. Here is the link to download Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Wow, that is quite the problem! I have no idea what could have caused that, I have never heard of anyone having such a problem. Sorry I can’t be more help!
October 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Has anyone experienced extra spyware when downloading the coupon printers? I guess that’s what I’m worried about with downloading the printer.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 am
I have recently encountered the same problem. I also uninstalled and reinstalled, but no luck. Have you found a solution?
November 5th, 2009 at 4:50 am
I use an HP printer you can change the default printer settings.
in the control panel go to your printer then :General tab/printing preferences,advanced/copy count.
change the copy count to 50. then when you prnt one of anything it will print 50 copies. it works i have done this. although it puts the same code on all coupons. but they work at the store. Just saying
it works/
November 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Joe,
That is the same thing as photocopying a coupon, which is considered coupon fraud and is illegal. It is the same code, therefore it is the same coupon.