Number 226 - March 2002

Printing Back-to-Back
by Bob Thomson
As some of you know, I do my own Income Taxes. One of the forms I need doesn't come with the standard IRS booklet. However, with the advent of the Internet, the forms are available on-line for downloading and printing. The two-page form I wanted is a single sheet printed on both sides. Printing it from the Internet yields two single-sided sheets. Sure, I could print the two sheets but I wanted to create the two-sided form. So I did--then realized that some our members may not have "thought through" how to do it.     To many of you old timers, or those of you used to preparing documents for publication, this may seem a mundane subject, not worthy of any space in a computer group newsletter. However, while what I am about to describe may seem obvious to you, it may not be obvious to a beginner or even to an experienced computer user who seldom uses the printer for anything more than draft printouts.     Before proceeding, I suppose I should mention that these remarks apply to printers that print on cut-sheet paper--not fanfold paper. Are there any of you still using fanfold paper in 9-pin printers? I still have one, but I almost never use it. Back to the Subject     Have you ever wanted to print out a document only to realize that you now have ten or twelve pages printed on one side only? Or have you printed out what you expected to be a single sheet which you could fold and carry in your pocket but were presented with two sheets each printed on one side only? Sure you could fold and carry them but they are not quite what you expected--or as convenient.     With a little forethought, you can obtain a document printed on both sides of the page (and in the correct order) but it will take a little effort and patience on your part. What I am talking about here are documents that are clearly formatted in pages, such as Adobe Acrobat documents, or Internet pages which can be printed as separate pages.     Suppose you have a two-page Acrobat document that you wish to print back-to-back--that is, page 2 printed on the back of the sheet which carries page 1. A simple way to do this is to print the whole document. You will get both pages printed on single one-sided sheets. Take these sheets out of the printer "out" tray and, placing page 2 on top of page 1, put them back into the printer "in" tray. Then print the whole document again. You will now have two back-to-back copies of the two page document. Why? Because page 1 will print on the back of the original page 2 and page 2 will print on the back of the original page 1. Alternatively, you can tell your printer to print only page 1, then take page 1 out of the "out" tray and place it in the "in" tray and tell the printer to print page 2. Know Your Printer     Simple right? Whoa! Not so fast, Buster! Ordinarily you don't care about this. You just let the printer do its thing. But, if you want to print double-sided, you need to be aware of how your printer handles the paper fed to it. For example, when you place a piece of paper in the "In" tray on which side of the paper will the image be printed--the "up" side or the "down" side? And what orientation of the page does your printer expect? That is, as you face the printer, is the printed page face up and oriented so you can read it or is it face up but the printing is upside down?     In my printer, the already-printed page is fed face up and top of the page inward and readable so that the second page is printed, properly-oriented on the back side. You probably need to run a trial with scrap paper marked "Front" and "Top" to acquaint yourself with these details so you don't overprint the first page with the second, or you don't print the second page upside down. Once you know these details about your printer, you are now an expert on printing two-page documents back-to-back.	Longer Documents     The procedure for back-to-back printing of documents with more than two pages is similar but a little more complicated. You can follow the procedure for the two page document but you have to treat each two-page set as separate documents. That is, after printing it once through, rearrange the pages in the following order: 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 8 ,7,....etc. and place them in the "In tray", then print the whole document again. Now you will have two documents with pages printed back to back. Of course, you will have to re-sort the pages to get two documents with the pages in order.     If it is a really long document and you don't want two copies, the procedure takes even more personal involvement in the printing process. With Adobe Acrobat (and similar) documents, one fairly convenient method is to print odd-numbered pages separately one after another (e.g.: 1, 3, 5,....) as single-sided pages. Then, re-sort the pages in order with page 1 on top and place them properly oriented (face up with the top of the page inward, for my printer) and then individually print pages 2, 4, 6, ... so that page 2 is printed on the back of page 1, 4 on 3, 6 on 5, etc. This procedure is much less convenient that just hitting print and getting the whole document on onesided-sheets, but if you want just one copy back to back, this is the way to do it. It takes more of your time and involvement but gives you a smaller, more manageable document and saves paper too.     Another thing to watch for in any multiple page document, double sided or not, is smearing. Although printers are much better than they used to be, inkjet printer ink remains wet for several minutes after printing so care should be taken not only in handling the wet pages but also in keeping pages separate from one another so they don't transfer wet ink images onto adjacent pages.     Are the points I have made obvious? Maybe, if you think about it. Remember the PLAN AHEAD sign? Not everybody does. Perhaps this has helped someone. I hope so. What About Glossy Paper?     Even the cheapest 20lb1 multi-use printer/copier paper has a "good" side, but for most general purpose printing jobs, done by the personal computer owner, the difference between sides is miniscule and printing on either side of the paper yields satifactory results. There are, however, some more expensive, special purpose papers available for higher quality printing of, say, artwork or photographs. The cheapest one-sided glossy paper we saw on the Internet was on special at $4.99 for 20 sheets plus shipping. Such papers normally have one "good" (glossy) side on which the printing is done. Glossy paper is not intended for double-sided printing described above (although double sided glossy paper is available at even more expense) and it would be a waste of expensive paper to use it for printed matter only.     However, if you would like to make high quality prints of photos or line art, and your printer is capable of fine detail, and can accept paper of heavier weight and thickness, you might want to try it. From advertisements for glossy paper it seems to be heavier stock starting at 32lb and going on up to 75lb. You can buy "brand name" paper from dealers for the well-known printers but you may get the same quality and save a buck or two by shopping at COSTCO or Office Depot.     1 A ream (500 sheets) of 17" by 22" 20lb paper weighs 20 pounds. It is really an indication of paper thickness. 32lb paper is thicker and stiffer than 20lb paper. By simple arithmetic a ream of 8.5"x11" 20lb paper should be 5 pounds.
Number 226 - March 2002