Expert: Glen Demers - 4/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: I'm asking this for my wife who's unable to print on both sides and print
multiple copies.
She uses Adobe CS3, a 24-inch iMac and Leopard OS X 10.5.6.
The printer setup optons under layout for double-sided printing is dimmed.
The printer driver for her Konica-Minolta Bizhub C250 whows a duplex
option, but she thinks the other setup prevents this printing.
She's reinstalled drivers, and now she prints from PDFs.
But of course this is time-consuming.
All other programs allow double-sided printing and multiple copies.
But not InDesign CS3 5.0.4.682. (I think that's the version, or close)
Any help greatly appreciated. Best, Ted

ANSWER: Hi Ted,

Duplex printing is a printer-specific feature and should be available in the printer dialog windows if your printer's software supports it.

Check with Konica-Minolta support and make sure you have the latest driver for the printer and OS 10.5.

Try to set everything in the InDesign Print window and not the window that appears when you hit the Printer button. The InDesign print settings should override anything set in the printer window but there could be a problem if conflicting options are selected.

Also, if this is a postscript printer (not usual for business) she should have the correct PPD selected when she adds the printer to her printer list. The Mac OS manual will help you select this.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more InDesign tips please visit our help pages here


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So, InDesign settings override the printer preferences. Good to know.
The Duplex feature is available in printer features dialogue windows.

The other problem is multiple pages, not copies as I referred to.

But both features still don't work with InDesign. All other apps are fine.

A printer technician is checking on something else and bringing toner
so Karen will ask him about this.

But it seems like a software issue, either the driver or InDesign.
Anything else you can think of, let us know.
Thanks for the info and prompt reply! Best, Ted  

Answer
Hi Ted,

InDesign will print out all pages or a specific range for most printers. According to the manual these feature are available (not dimmed) if the printer driver supports them.

My guess would be that the printer software is not up to date for Mac OS 10.5. It has been my experience that printers will supply drivers for the most common platforms (Winows XP) but will lag in updating software for newer Mac or other systems.

Good luck,
Glen Demers
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more InDesign tips please visit our help pages here