How do I adjust my printer's DEFAULT printer settings?

Yes, saying "that solution doesn't help me" is being dismissive.

A statement that it didn't help me isn't dismissive. It's simply a fact.

tbirdvet wrote:

Then from now ... ... Just keep using "Default #1"

You're missing the whole point of the OP's question.

He doesn't want to click options. He wants to SET AND FORGET.

Take for instance my case. I have a printer that has color available. But I rarely use color (maybe 5% of the time). I want to set the printer DEFAULT to "color=OFF", and then forget it.

On the rare cases (5%) when I actually want color, I don't mind a few clicks to get there.

NOTE:

This is how I print most of the time: CMD-P and then a <RETURN>

But sometimes, it's even quicker... like when you're in Finder with a doc selected, you just hit CMD-P (no dialog box comes up... perfect!!)

tbirdvet wrote:

You can set and forget. Mine stays the way I have it set from the last use. If you make a default to B&W it will stay that way.

LAST USED option is just that… you get whatever you did last time which can occasionally be an envelope, color, different paper, size, etc.

DEFAULT on the other hand, gives you an expected set of settings every single time no matter what you did last time. In other words, you don’t have to remember to change it back to black-and-white if you happen to use the color mode the previous day.

By "fix", I mean you're trying to use the phrase Default to mean your idea of default. I've never known (or maybe, don't recall) Default for printers to mean anything other than the printer vendor's default. If that's color, then color is what it will print regardless of what you actually want.

If I choose Default for our VersaLink C405, it goes to single sided color printing with "automatic" color. Which I never, ever use. I have profiles for the papers we use, which is why I have separate color options saved. Color management for the print driver is completely disabled, and the profile is chosen under color instead of just ColorSync > Automatic.

You're going to have to rethink "default" as something you have no control over. Those settings are set by the manufacturer in the drivers. Either that, or you can play with the driver itself and change it so the "default" is B&W.

If I double click the installed .gz driver, it extracts the text file with all of the driver information. I then did a search for default, which had 178 entries. I knew which one I wanted so I just skimmed through the text until I got to here:

*CloseGroup: PaperOutput

*OpenGroup: ImageOptions/Image Options

*OpenUI *XRColorCorrection/Color Correction: PickOne

*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *XRColorCorrection

*DefaultXRColorCorrection: Auto

*XRColorCorrection Auto/Xerox Automatic Color: ""

*XRColorCorrection Gray/Xerox Black and White: ""

*XRColorCorrection Commercial/Commercial: ""

*XRColorCorrection VividRGB/Vivid RGB: ""

*XRColorCorrection Vivid/Vivid Color: ""

*XRColorCorrection None/None: ""

*CloseUI: *XRColorCorrection

*OpenUI *XRColorAdjustmentSet/CMYK Color: PickOne

*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *XRColorAdjustmentSet

*DefaultXRColorAdjustmentSet: None

Now, if I wanted to, I should be able to change just the one line so Auto uses b&w, like this:

*CloseGroup: PaperOutput

*OpenGroup: ImageOptions/Image Options

*OpenUI *XRColorCorrection/Color Correction: PickOne

*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *XRColorCorrection

*DefaultXRColorCorrection: Auto

*XRColorCorrection Auto/Xerox Black and White: ""

*XRColorCorrection Gray/Xerox Black and White: ""

*XRColorCorrection Commercial/Commercial: ""

*XRColorCorrection VividRGB/Vivid RGB: ""

*XRColorCorrection Vivid/Vivid Color: ""

*XRColorCorrection None/None: ""

*CloseUI: *XRColorCorrection

*OpenUI *XRColorAdjustmentSet/CMYK Color: PickOne

*OrderDependency: 10 AnySetup *XRColorAdjustmentSet

*DefaultXRColorAdjustmentSet: None

Save the file, and make that the new driver. You don't have to compress it back to a .gz archive, it will work as is.

But if you want to try this type of thing, make sure you back up the installed driver first so you can put it back in case your changes don't work.

tbirdvet wrote:

You can set and forget. Mine stays the way I have it set from the last use. If you make a default to B&W it will stay that way.

You are correct, and I agree. This behavior is possible.

But what I discovered, is that it requires we first [ ] uncheck a somewhat obscure (hard to find, and not well documented) Setting. Hence, this is why different poster here seem to have different results.

To enable and disable the behavior, users have to navigate to, and then UnCheck the box labeled Reset Presets Menu to "Default Setting" After Printing (described in my previous post).

Cheers!

Hello, Kurt Lang. I was having a problem with my older Canon printer Imageclass MF8380cdw defaulting to double-sided printing, and now that I upgraded to Sonoma 14, the ability to change the default from double to single-sided as a preset is now grayed out. I attempted to change the default settings in CUPS, but it that feature is absent in those settings for my printer. I'd like to try to test your method by editing the driver, as you outlined above, but when I go to the Library/Printers, the printer drivers are hidden, the folder appears empty. Advice?

Thanks very much. I try not to tinker too much with settings at this level, although on the occasions over the decades when I've had to, carefully following good advice has always led to good outcomes. So, I found the driver, and here is a setting, but I think this one is really about the long edge binding, DuplexNoTumble etc.:

*OpenGroup: BasicGrp/Basic

*OpenUI *Duplex/Two-Sided: PickOne

*DefaultDuplex: DuplexNoTumble

*Duplex None/Off: "<< >>setpagedevice"

*Duplex DuplexNoTumble/Long-Edge binding: "<< >>setpagedevice"

*Duplex DuplexTumble/Short-Edge binding: "<< >>setpagedevice"

*CloseUI: *Duplex

*OpenUI *CNSelectBy/Select by: PickOne

*DefaultCNSelectBy: PaperSource

*CNSelectBy PaperSource/Paper Source: "<<>>setpagedevice"

*CNSelectBy PaperType/Paper Type: "<<>>setpagedevice"

*CloseUI: *CNSelectBy

Then there is this setting on a stand-alone line, and am wondering if it changes the grayed-out double-sided default button to allow single-side printing, but seems doubtful due to the use of the word duplex instead of the terminology (double-sided) in the printer window. What do you think? Otherwise, the words double, double-sided, single, single-sided don't exist in the driver scripts. I suppose I could change it, test to see what happens and then change it back if it doesn't yield the desired result.

*CNNotChangeDuplex: True

7/18/24 So I tried the above by Craig cwebber: 1. I went on document under File and selected Print. 2. In Print box I selected Presets then Edit presets. 3. In that box I made sure box at bottom (reset presets menu to default settings after printing) was UNchecked. Then I checked OK. 4. I selected Double sided OFF. 5. I selected presets and Save current settings and then named my custom preset. 6. But when I went out and back into my document and selected Print, the print box was sadly reverted back to doublesided as default again. What is wrong with this picture?

Kurt Lang wrote:

You're going to have to rethink "default" as something you have no control over. Those settings are set by the manufacturer in the drivers. Either that, or you can play with the driver itself and change it so the "default" is B&W.

I found this thread because I was looking for the same MIT guide I always look up when I want to change default printer settings. Going to 127.0.0.1:631/printers (running "cupsctl WebInterface=Yes" in Terminal if necessary) and then changing the settings in there.

Isn't that a solution to this problem or does it not work for local printers?

Doesn't work. I put in the first command and nothing appeared after that.

I also don't need to use that method. Our Xerox C405 has its own built-in web pages for making such changes. But I just wanted to see if the instructions on your linked page worked.

Edit: Figured out what I did wrong. I can get those pages to work, but still don't need them.

That exact make and model printer are you using? Some don't even give you an option to turn duplexing off.

Why are you being dismissive of the only method in this thread that actually answers OP's question?

The UI presented in Printer settings...tends to be a bit limited. You could try going to the printer's web admin page:

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/s/article/ART164474

Yes, saying "that solution doesn't help me" is being dismissive.

Anyway I only posted in this thread because it was above the real solution in search results, but now that's resolved so ttfn.

It is when you were not the one seeking support in this thread and instead were attempting to provide it. It's an odd reaction to being corrected.