Double sided printing-again

users
#1

Hello.

I've looked but haven't been able to find the right combination of commands to
enable double sided printing and keep the configuration.

Has there been any movement in the repair of this feature or are we still
stuck with converting our documents to another format (.pdf) for proper
handling?

Thanks.
tm

#2

Tony, I have two brother laser printers HL2030 and HL3150CDW and have no problems printing double sided in both windows (win 7) and Linux (manjaro). I find its just a question of setting the print up in "printer properties" for either manual (HL2030) or automatic (HL3150CDW) printing. In Linux I set up my printer defaults in CUPS. I never have to convert documents to pdf just to print them. You don't tell us what operating system you are using, what printer or what version of Libreoffice you have. Perhaps if you came back to us with a bit more information someone here would be able to give you more specific advice.

TerryW

#3

When I had problems with this using Ubuntu and an Epson printer, I had to wait till the OS updated the drivers, CUPS and others, to fet double sided printing and even scanning to work.

For Linux, it could be the driver. If it happens with Windows, then it is the way it is setup in the printer driver options - like using Postscript level 3 instead of PDF as the default.

#4

Thanks, Terry, Sorry about that. I got in a rush. But thanks for responding.

I'm using Linux, Debian 7amd64, kernel 3.2.63, hplip 3.14.1 with an HP OfficeJet Pro 8100.
CUPS is installed, v1.5.3and LibreOffice 4.2.6.3.

I have two CUPS printer configs for that printer, one for normal printing and one for duplex.
If I try to pick the obvious settings through LO for printing, which I figured would be
'Long Edge (standard) for the 'duplex' setting, then it doesn't work. I found
a posting that indicated that the LO 'file/print/properties' selection should use <ignore> for
the duplex settingand that actually appears to work but it's still a problem that no
printer settings entered through LO are saved. I should be able to pick my printer
(hp8100duplex) and print double sided without needing to make that choice each time.
A small extra step, but irritating.

But here is an interesting observation. CUPS shows the printers configured with hplip 3.13.11
but the hplip device manager version is3.14.1 . More investigation is warranted.

I'm open to suggestions.

tony

If it's any consolation to anyone, OpenOffice operates the same way.

#5

In LO Options>Load/Save there is a setting for load printer settings with document. Have you had a look at that.
My understanding is that to load specific printer settings in a default document (from the default template) the box should be ticked and the printer settings should be saved in the default template, but I may be wrong.
Steve

#6

For reports concerning this particular problem, which I can assure you has in
fact existed since about the 4.2 flavor of LO, you should also list whether
you are using the Operating System printing dialogs or the LibreOffice
printing dialogs. Tools | Options | LibreOffice | General and in the "Print
Dialogs" section, whether or not the box "Use LibreOffice Dialogs" is
checked.

Each has its own "quirks" with double sided printing and I've experienced
enough inconsistent behavior that I'm convinced there's some bad bytes in
there somewhere. Unfortunately, I use double-sided printing for "Real Work"
and don't usually have the time to fiddle with it - I just, as you seem to
do - export to pdf and print from there.

I use Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with several flavors of LibreOffice (though limited
to 4.3 and 4.4 variations) and of course have my printers (all HP) set up
through CUPS. Other printing-related quirks have appeared in LO that I don't
recall seeing in the 3.x versions, so if enough folks provide situational
clues when they run across these printing issues (and include which dialogs
are in use along with the usual OS and LO versions), maybe we can come up
with some repeatable sequence that a developer can use to review the code
...

Just my two cents ...

#7

Thanks, Terry, Sorry about that. I got in a rush. But thanks for responding.

I'm using Linux, Debian 7amd64, kernel 3.2.63, hplip 3.14.1 with an HP OfficeJet Pro 8100.
CUPS is installed, v1.5.3and LibreOffice 4.2.6.3.

I have two CUPS printer configs for that printer, one for normal printing and one for duplex.
If I try to pick the obvious settings through LO for printing, which I figured would be
'Long Edge (standard) for the 'duplex' setting, then it doesn't work. I found
a posting that indicated that the LO 'file/print/properties' selection should use <ignore> for
the duplex settingand that actually appears to work but it's still a problem that no
printer settings entered through LO are saved. I should be able to pick my printer
(hp8100duplex) and print double sided without needing to make that choice each time.
A small extra step, but irritating.

But here is an interesting observation. CUPS shows the printers configured with hplip 3.13.11
but the hplip device manager version is3.14.1 . More investigation is warranted.

I'm open to suggestions.

tony

Tony
I have an HP Officejet pro 8600, which I believe uses the same driver, on Opensuse 13.1, LO 4.3.5.

In the File-Print-General Tab, click on the Properties of your printer, and then on the Device Tab.
The Default Printer language Type is set to PDF, but I find this causes me problems with any other printing besides single sided portrait. Switch it to postscript and try that. Postscript always gives me better results than PDF language type with this printer.

John

#8

John:

One thing you didn't mention is that the option you are specifying is only
available if the "Use LibreOffice Dialogs" is chosen under Options (cf my
earlier post, and why I think the choice of printing dialogs is an important
thing to mention when reporting printing issues).

I must say I had never noticed that pdf/postscript option before (probably
because I use the O/S printing dialogs just to keep consistent with other
apps I regularly use, so that option doesn't appear), and I look forward to
seeing whether and how switching to to Postscript changes the behavior I
experienced.

I notice that there are several options for Postscript (PS Levels 1, 2 & 3,
and PS from Driver). I assume that you are suggesting to use "PS from
Driver." My HP 6700 is pretty new, but do you have any recommendation or
thoughts regarding that choice?

Frank

#9

John:

One thing you didn't mention is that the option you are specifying is only
available if the "Use LibreOffice Dialogs" is chosen under Options (cf my
earlier post, and why I think the choice of printing dialogs is an important
thing to mention when reporting printing issues).

That's odd. In LO 4.3.5 on my Opensuse setup, and earlier ones as I recall, the choice of LO versus OS dialogs doesn't affect whether the PDF or Postscript option appears under the device tab of print properties. I'll have to check on other systems I have access to in order to see there is a difference.
One thing I've just noticed is that under Tools-Options-Print, it's possible to deselect PDF and the standard print format, and then the printers default to postscript. Very useful when dealing with oddities of HP drivers.

I must say I had never noticed that pdf/postscript option before (probably
because I use the O/S printing dialogs just to keep consistent with other
apps I regularly use, so that option doesn't appear), and I look forward to
seeing whether and how switching to to Postscript changes the behavior I
experienced.

I notice that there are several options for Postscript (PS Levels 1, 2 & 3,
and PS from Driver). I assume that you are suggesting to use "PS from
Driver." My HP 6700 is pretty new, but do you have any recommendation or
thoughts regarding that choice?

Frank

I just use postscript from driver. Since it worked for me, I've not felt any urgent need to explore the others, though I certainly would if there were still problems.

John

#10

Thanks, John.

It's always been set to postscript.

tony

#11

I use PS level 3 as a default now for Ubuntu based Linux OS.
I do this for Epson, Canon, and HP printers. The Epson printer I used is dead now, but with several Canon and an HP printer, it works best with PS-3