Dumb printer questions

[WE Branch Fanatic]

As some of you will not, me and printers do not always see eye to eye. Following a series of problems with other printers - I know have a nice HP Photosmart (not too sure of the model number - probably on the manual, wherever that is) all in one.

However....

1. Unless told otherwise when clicking "print" etc, it insists on printing on one side only.
2. It tends to print the last page of a multiple page document (.doc or a printed page from the web) first - although to be fair, when prompted to turn the pages over it first the numbers increasing. Imagine a six page document, itwill print pages 5,3, and one (in that order) - then prompt for the paper to be turned, and printing 2,4, and 6.

Do I just need to get used to it (printing last page first etc), or can I set things like printing on both sides as a default?

My brain isn't working today, so I should apologise for asking dumb questions. :eek:

[Mike-Bracknell]

Your printer will only print duplex (on both sides at once) if it has the capability to do so. It sounds like yours has "pikey duplex" which entails it printing one side then asking you to put the paper in for it to print the other side.

[mixture]

What Mike said. The majority of the stuff they flog to home users is "pikey duplex" as Mike puts it.

"HP Photosmart" sounds like an inkjet. I'd personally stay clear of attempting duplex on inkjets unless you're really insistent, and even then, you'll need to be using half-decent substrate, not toilet paper to print on. But each to their own, if you're happy with the results you're getting, so be it.

[jimtherev]

I seem to remember one of my printers in the past printing 'arse-backward'. This one delivered the paper into the output tray face up, so, voila, when the job was finished, the pages were in order.

If yours is otherwise, probably you can adjust the defaults so that the thing does print page 1 first... time to get the manual out, perhaps?

[spannersatcx]

I have a canon inkjet works very well at duplex printing.

[Spurlash2]

Your user manual will be on the CD that came with your printer. It will be in PDF format. Drag the document from your CD onto your computer into a suitable place, like; My Documents/PDFs, for eg.

For your printer to work correctly, Control Panel/Printers/Right Click your printer/ and you should see either printing preferences or properties.

Click as appropriate. Normally in the Advanced bit ( I don't know as you have not included your printer model, so jus' guessin') you will see an option to 'Reverse Order'. If it has a tick in it, untick it and vice versa.

Duplex will normally only happen if you select it. (again a guess for your model) Same as wanting to print onto 4x6 photopaper. You have to drill down the menu's to get what you want.

You can also make a printer setting as a shortcut for a specific job. For example, right click in your printer folder and select 'New printer'. Make a portrait/greyscale/draft, setup and save your settings and you will have a new printer icon in your printer folder. Name it 'Draft print' for example. Then any time you want to save some ink, select your 'Draft' printer icon. You could have any number of different icons for your HP, all doing different things, depending on your task. Just remember to select the right tool for the job!

[P.Pilcher]

I would like to second Spannersatcx's remarks about Canon printers - well the one I've got anyway.

P.P.