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I’ve gotten a few emails lately with folks having trouble printing coupons. Specifically they are mentioning issues with Smart Source coupons, but I know this problem arises with all of the main printable sites. Here are my go-to tips on fixing your coupon printing troubles.
Switch Web Browsers
This is my quick tip for fixing a lot of problems on the internet. If something isn’t working right, the first step is to try it in another web browser. Currently most coupon sites are having issues printing in Chrome version 42. So if you are using Chrome, try getting Firefox and trying to print there. Chrome will hopefully be fixed soon, but they came out with an update that is affecting the way all plugins work with Chrome.
While I love Chrome for most everything else, my favorite browser for printing coupons is Firefox. For printing coupons Safari isn’t a good choice ever, and for anything related to the internet, Internet Explorer is always a bad choice… (just ask any web designer or coder).
Current Version of Java
One of the common alerts you will get with Smart Source coupons is that your version of Java is out of date. Most of the printing softwares run on Java so head over to Java.com and make sure you have the latest version. New updates can happen over night, so this may be something that was working yesterday and now you need to fix.
Even this morning for me I had to update Java to get coupons…
Watch for Pop Ups
It’s best to stay on the screen the coupons are printing on rather than start to multi-task in other areas online. Smart Source, Redplum and a few other companies all have a pop up that you must click to “run” the program that prints your coupons. If you miss this box your coupons can timeout and never print.
If your pop up blocker is on, you need to watch for the symbol in the top right corner that they blocked a pop up and then select to always allow pop ups for that page. Then reload the page and try again…
Don’t Be An Early Adopter
The minute a new operating system comes out, even if they are offering free upgrades, don’t immediately upgrade. Every software program out there needs time to make sure that their code works with the new system and that won’t happen the first day a new system is released. Just wait a few weeks and let others help iron out all the wrinkles, then go ahead and upgrade. This is a great tip no matter the electronic device. I’m not talking about nightly updates that download security patches, but big upgrades like from Windows 8 to Windows 10.
Don’t Be A Dinosaur
The flip side of being an early adopter is all the folks that are on technology that came out a decade ago. Looking at the analytics for Southern Savers there are still thousands of you on Windows XP, an operating system that had it’s last “upgrade” available in 2005. With web browsers there are dinosaurs there too. Most websites and coders no longer write code for Internet Explorer 6 and many no longer support 7 either, yet… over 3500 people came to Southern Savers in the last month with one of those web browsers. For web browsers, updates are FREE! Look at the first point above and download a new version, the internets will become a magical place for you.
Check Your Printer
This is the most obvious of my tips, but before you print make sure that you have paper and ink in your printer. With coupon printing sites they will think your coupon printed whether it had ink or not, so don’t waste the only prints you get of a coupon by not having your printer ready.
If you need a new printer, my favorite are the line of Brother Laser printers that are black & white. You don’t need color coupons and you’ll save a ton of money over traditional ink jets switching to the laser printer. This week you can get the wireless version for $89!
