Duplex printing

Some printers can print on one side of the sheet (simplex printing) or on both sides (duplex printing). To see whether your printer can print in duplex mode, see the documentation provided with the printer.

You specify duplex or simplex printing in a control in the copy group. These choices are available:
  • To print on only one side, specify no duplex.
  • If the sheets are to be bound on the long edge of the paper, as Document A and Document B are in Figure 1, specify normal duplex.
  • If the sheets are to be bound on the short edge of the paper, as Document C and Document D are in Figure 2, specify tumble duplex.

Figure 1 shows Document A and Document B printed with normal duplex. Notice that the pages are printed in the portrait position for Document A and in the landscape position for Document B.

Figure 1. Duplex documents A and B specified as normal duplex
This figure shows two documents printed with normal duplex. The first document is printed in portrait orientation with the pages side-by-side so the end of page 100 is at the bottom of the left page and the beginning of page 101 is at the top of the right page. The second document is printed in landscape orientation with the bottom of one page that is aligned to the top of the next page so the end of page 100 is at the bottom of the top page and the beginning of page 101 is at the top of the bottom page. Individual normal duplex sheets are also shown for each orientation. The portrait sheet shows the top and bottom of the sheet in the same location on the front and back sides. The landscape sheet shows the top of the front side in the same location as the bottom of the back side, and the bottom of the front side in the same location as the top of the back side.

Figure 2 shows Document C and Document D printed with tumble duplex. Notice that the pages are printed in the portrait position for Document C and in the landscape position for Document D.

Figure 2. Duplex documents C and D specified as tumble duplex
This figure shows two documents printed with tumble duplex. The first document is printed in portrait orientation with the short ends that are touching so the end of page 100 is at the bottom of the top page and the beginning of page 101 is at the top of the bottom page. The second document is printed in landscape orientation with the short edges that are touching so the end of page 100 is at the bottom of the left page and the beginning of page 101 is at the top of the right page. Individual normal duplex sheets are also shown for each orientation. The portrait sheet shows the top of the front side in the same location as the bottom of the back side, and the bottom of the front side in the same location as the top of the back side. The landscape sheet shows the top and bottom of the sheet in the same location on the front and back sides.
Some printers can print despite a disabled duplex paper path; other printers are unable to print in duplex printing mode. PSF has the following disabled mechanism support for some PSF-supported printers (your installation might define print classes or destinations that do not have this support for disabled mechanisms):
  • If duplex printing is disabled or is not supported for a specific printer, the printer prints in simplex.
  • If the primary paper source is disabled, the printer selects paper from one of the alternative paper sources.
  • If offset stacking is disabled, no offset stacking occurs.
If a mechanism is disabled, your output might not be as expected, and you might want to reassign output to another printer.
For a printer that does not support printing in duplex or that has a disabled duplex path, PSF processes the duplex control in these ways:
  • For no N_UP printing, PSF processes two consecutive pages of data as a pair. The first page is processed as the front of the sheet, and any controls that are specified in the form definition for the front are applied. The second page is processed as the back of the sheet, and any controls that are specified in the form definition for the back are applied. If you request multiple copies in the form definition, all the copies of front pages are printed first, and then all the copies of back pages are printed.
  • For basic N_UP printing, PSF processes the first n consecutive pages of data as the front of the sheet, applying any controls specified in the form definition for the front. PSF processes the next n consecutive pages of data as the back of the sheet, applying any controls specified in the form definition for the back. If you request multiple copies in the form definition, all the copies of the front n pages are printed first, and then all the copies of the back n pages.
  • For enhanced N_UP printing, PSF is unable to process the duplex control because page buffering and page reordering might be required to simulate duplex printing. In this case, the data cannot be printed.
To see whether your printer can support disabled mechanisms and print in duplex printing mode, see the documentation provided with the printer.