Acrobat X: Lost default duplex print

With the 10.1.2 update, Duplex has been turned ON by default for printing. Is this the version that you are using? Here is an article with further information on Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.2 sets Duplex ON by default for printing. Apparently, the following key gets generated automatically when a user tries to print on a duplex printer and then closes Reader/Acrobat 10.1.2 in the Mac preference file setting:

[user]/Library/preferences/[com.adobe.Reader.plist OR com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.plist]

The name of the key is DuplexMode under AVGeneral and it has Number/int data type.

1 = Simplex (no duplex)

2 = Duplex with Long edge

3 = Duplex with Short edge

NOTE: 0 (or key does not exist) = Duplex with Long edge

Dear user,

If you aren't getting your Print dialog like above then i doubt that your version is 10.1.2. Kindly check your version from Acrobat->'About Acrobat' and let us know the result. Also, do try setting duplex from 'Properties' and check if that works fine for you.

Please understand that this forum is absolutely not a means of communicating directly with Adobe. It s a User to User Forum primarily provided as a means of end users assisting each other. Adobe executives and management do not monitor these forums directly. Some Adobe employees do monitor these forums, pretty much on a volunteer basis and try to provide some assistance and feedback to decision makers.

The changes in Acrobat & Reader 10.1.2 associated with printing were clearly a big problem. As far as we know,  no one actually lost the capability of controlling simplex versus duplex printing, but rather, a very ill-conceived mechanism was introduced that assumed that if your printer has duplex capabilities of any type, you would or should use them.

The plans of record are to provide a fix for this issue in the next quarterly update to Acrobat and Reader due next month. There will be a control for duplex in the print dialog, but it will only reflect what you have already set in the printer properties (either on Windows or Macintosh). The dialog will allow you to change that setting while in Acrobat, but it will not make assumptions as to what you could or should do vis-a-vis duplex printing. In this respect, it will be similar to print dialogs in applications such as Microsoft Office in terms of allowing access to duplex printing, but not forcing it.

However, there is something peculiar in your particular situation. Normally, with Acrobat & Reader 10.1.2, if the printer supports duplex as determined by the printer's PPD file (for PostScript devices) or from the driver otherwise, you would see a duplex control in the print dialog itself. The fact that your printer supports duplex (correct?) and that you aren't seeing the duplex control in the print dialog is a problem we aren't currently aware of. You are seeing the forcing of duplex without the ability to control it from the print dialog? Correct? I'll send the report of this to the appropriate group within Acrobat engineering.

         - Dov

I've seen a couple of similar reports on here, and at least one of our printers gets it wrong (Epson Photo R285 can't do duplex but Acrobat thinks it can):

Hi Dave,

I would like you to test what happens if you takes out the print with such setting.Are you getting both side prints with this 'Print on both sides' checked?

It might be the case that some other setting at your end is making it to disable. Please check and let us know. Also, please forward the url from where you have downloaded the driver. The driver is capable of doing duplex at my end from Properties also(see the attached screenshot)

The Stylus Photo R285 physically cannot print duplex. If you've installed the driver from Epson's website and have not got an actual printer plugged in, it defaults to showing everything as the dialogs are shared assets between a number of Stylus models. Once it detects the printer and reads the ident string, the duplex setting is disabled as per my screenshot.

sonal2890 wrote:

 

Hi Dave,

I would like you to test what happens if you takes out the print with such setting.Are you getting both side prints with this 'Print on both sides' checked?

It might be the case that some other setting at your end is making it to disable. Please check and let us know. Also, please forward the url from where you have downloaded the driver. The driver is capable of doing duplex at my end from Properties also(see the attached screenshot)

Hi Dave,

What if you check 'Print on both sides' at print dialog and then takes print out? Are you getting only alternate no. of pages in that case or any disturbed order of pages? If no, then I think its expected and correct behavior  because eventually you are getting simplex output from simplex printer.

As already stated by Dov in his post dated Mar 4: In our next quarter release, the default behavior of control for duplex in the print dialog will be to reflect what you have already set in the printer properties rather than forcing it to duplex mode, so it will result into 'Print on both sides' uncheck bydefault for your case  and hence there will not be any conflicts as user already know that printer doesn't support duplex and one can't get duplex print out of simplex printer.

I hope this would be useful for you!

Thanks

Printouts are simplex even with the checkbox turned on. Showing the checkbox in the first place is the incorrect behavior.

sonal2890 wrote:

 

Hi Dave,

What if you check 'Print on both sides' at print dialog and then takes print out? Are you getting only alternate no. of pages in that case or any disturbed order of pages? If no, then I think its expected and correct behavior  because eventually you are getting simplex output from simplex printer.

Hi,

This is an already known issue at our end and we are tracking it through bug. We cannot ascertain when the fix for this would be released but please be assured that we are working on this.

We will update the forum once we have the fix available with us.

Thanks,

Atul

I'm having some strange issues too, fresh install.

It seems I have a document that will only print Duplex, even though Simplex is selected in the document properties and I can't seem to alter this on the print settings. Screenshots attached. I actually want to DISABLE double-sided / duplex printing.

Versions:

OS X 10.7.3

Acrobat Pro X - 10.1.2

Dov Isaacs wrote:

 

Please understand that this forum is absolutely not a means of communicating directly with Adobe. It s a User to User Forum primarily provided as a means of end users assisting each other. Adobe executives and management do not monitor these forums directly. Some Adobe employees do monitor these forums, pretty much on a volunteer basis and try to provide some assistance and feedback to decision makers.

 

The changes in Acrobat & Reader 10.1.2 associated with printing were clearly a big problem. As far as we know,  no one actually lost the capability of controlling simplex versus duplex printing, but rather, a very ill-conceived mechanism was introduced that assumed that if your printer has duplex capabilities of any type, you would or should use them.

 

The plans of record are to provide a fix for this issue in the next quarterly update to Acrobat and Reader due next month. There will be a control for duplex in the print dialog, but it will only reflect what you have already set in the printer properties (either on Windows or Macintosh). The dialog will allow you to change that setting while in Acrobat, but it will not make assumptions as to what you could or should do vis-a-vis duplex printing. In this respect, it will be similar to print dialogs in applications such as Microsoft Office in terms of allowing access to duplex printing, but not forcing it.

 

However, there is something peculiar in your particular situation. Normally, with Acrobat & Reader 10.1.2, if the printer supports duplex as determined by the printer's PPD file (for PostScript devices) or from the driver otherwise, you would see a duplex control in the print dialog itself. The fact that your printer supports duplex (correct?) and that you aren't seeing the duplex control in the print dialog is a problem we aren't currently aware of. You are seeing the forcing of duplex without the ability to control it from the print dialog? Correct? I'll send the report of this to the appropriate group within Acrobat engineering.

 

         - Dov

Hello Dov.

Thank you for your input. Can you confirm that these strange printing issues would also cause my PDF files to print in color and 1-sided even when the default in Control panel for my printer is 2-sided and B&W?

Thanks!

-cw

I have the same problem with Acrobat X Pro 10.1.3 on a Mac and a Brother HL-5340D laser printer.  I recently switch to using a MacBook Pro from a Windows laptop.

The duplex worked fine with the printer and X Pro under Win7.  It works fine with MSWord and other applications, it presents the printer presets drop down menu (one I have set duplex), as it does in other applications.

With Pro X I get the same print dialogue that conmolbry showed in his Feb 27, 2012 post.

To get it to print duplex I can: (1) click on the "Printer" button-it shows me the usual (not Acrobat) print dialogue, (2) click print in that dialogue (i.e. do not change anything) (3) that puts me back to the Acrobat diallogue, now when I click print I get two-sided printing. A little cumbersome and somewhat annoying, and wasteful of paper, when I forget do the extra step.

I have tried reloading the driver as instructed from the Adobe help site.

I have the same problem.... I am thinking of downloading Pro XI to see if it is any better.....

Below are screenshots from acrobat 9 and 10. I will try what bobwcsu says but it is really bugging me

thanks for any help guys

*Edit- attached wrong screen shot

Recently our network installed Adobe Pro X and I noticed that duplex and drawer choices were not reflected correctly.  After extensive online search, I could not find a remedy but was able to isolate the issue to only in-browser printing.  If I opened Adobe Acrobat X Pro and changed the Edit>Preference>Internet settings and unchecked Display PDF in browser, the printing defaults were correct.  Currently that is what I have recommended to my coworker and seems to have Band-Aided the problem.  I hope this information can help others...

I too had the problem of not being able to print and not having a dialogue with the option to print on both sides. I found that this problem could be rectified in Windows by going to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers > Printer Properties > Device Settings > Installable Options > Duplex Unit: Not installed.

By clicking on Not Installed, a drop-down menu appeared with the option of Installed. Selecting Installed and then clicking OK fixed it.

Now when I print in Acrobat Reader, there is the option to "Print on both sides of paper."

The exact path in Control Panel described above may vary slightly, of course, depending upon your verison of Windows, but following it as much as possible (allowing for variations) should get you there.