2-sided printing problem

Question

Level 1

11 points

2-sided printing problem

I used to be able to print 2-sided, both with my home printer (a canon MX860) and at work (RICOH C2800). I'm not sure exactly what changed in the last month, but now the option for 2-sided printing is still visible under "layout," but it's grayed out and not selectable (though the text in the box says long-edge binding). This is true for pdf's, .pages documents and websites.

I've tried re-installing the printers and I've been through the global printer options to look for possible fixes but have been completely unsuccessful. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Feb 17, 2010 1:08 PM

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Answer 1

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Feb 17, 2010 2:12 PM in response to KeScoBo

With the MX860, there is a separate menu for performing 2 sided. The layout menu is typically reserved for PostScript printer drivers. It is also used by the Gutenprint driver set, so if you were using the layout previously to print two sided to the Canon then you must have been using the Gutenprint driver - not the Canon driver.

When using the Canon driver for the MX860, then there will be a menu item called Duplex Printing and Margin. When you print, change the menu to Duplex Printing Margin and then tick Automatic Duplex Printing. Now you can press the Print button.

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Answer 2

KeScoBo Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 22, 2010 3:18 PM in response to PAHU

Great! This works for my canon printer 🙂

Any thoughts on the RICOH?

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Answer 3

PAHU

Level 6

16,723 points

Feb 22, 2010 3:49 PM in response to KeScoBo

Never used a Ricoh but if it is anything like our Canon copiers, it will also have a separate menu for duplex, with a name something like Finishing.

The other thing you may need to do with the Ricoh is open Options & Supplies and under the Driver tab, enable a Duplex option.

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Answer 4

Rüster

Level 1

0 points

Feb 24, 2010 10:55 PM in response to KeScoBo

I too am having issues printing to my HP Printer (PSC 1350 connected to my Windows 7 Pro machine via USB. It used to work with Win XP but ever since I moved to Win 7 Pro, I've had no success. Here is my setup:

-Win 7 Pro (connected to network via wireless)
-HP PSC 1350 All-in-One (connected to Win 7 machine via USB)
-MacBook OS X 10.5.8 (trying to print through network)

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Answer 5

KeScoBo Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 14, 2010 12:55 PM in response to PAHU

Sorry for the late response, and thanks for trying to help. Problem still isn't solved though. I tried downloading and installing a "ppd" file from the RICOH website, and re-added the printer, but it's still using a generic post script driver, and I still can't do duplex.

I've looked through every menu option (layout, color matching, paper handling, paper feed, cover page, scheduler), and there's nothing that allows duplex printing. In the layout menu, it looks like there's a 2-sided option bar, but it's unselectable.

I looked under "options and supplies" in the system preferences as you suggested, but there's no option to allow duplex. Perhaps this is because it's using the generic driver, but I'm not sure how to get it to see the ppd thing I downloaded (I grew up on PC's and I'm still a bit of a Mac noob).

Thanks

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Answer 6

KeScoBo Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 14, 2010 1:17 PM in response to KeScoBo

UPDATE: I noticed I could go select a driver, and I can select a MPC2500 option, but no 2800 option. When I use the 2500, still no option for duplex printing 😟

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