If you’ve ever tried to print double sided pages, sometimes it is a challenge to get it to turn out the way you want. Today I’ll share everything you need to know to help you print double sided without any frustration!
The Most Important thing: Only Print One side at a time!
A lot of printers have the option to print double sided out of the box, but a lot of times those default settings can cause you trouble if you aren’t printing black and white documents.
If you are printing journal or planner pages double sided, you will definitely want to print one side at a time the manual way instead of printing with your printer’s default double sided settings.
It might take a little more effort, but you’ll have a much easier time printing double sided if you do it this way. Not only can you avoid borders if your printer supports borderless printing, but you can also avoid any problems with ink smearing or bleeding through.
How to Print Double-sided
To print double-sided, the first thing to do is make sure your document is set up properly. If the order of the pages doesn’t matter, such as cases when you’re printing coloring pages or puzzles double-sided, you can simply print half the document, flip the pages over, and print the other half.
If it does matter which order the pages are in, you may want to use an app such as Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editor that will easily let you rearrange the pages as you need.
You can also opt to only print one page manually at a time, although that does take some time!
Checking the direction of the paper
When I’m printing double sided, I always make sure that I know the paper is going into the printer in the right direction.
One easy way to check this is to draw an arrow on a sheet of cheap copy paper as a test and put it in the printer and print one side. Then, put that back in your printer and see what direction the second side prints on.
Sometimes you’ll need to flip the paper over, but a lot of times surprisingly you’ll put it in top side up.
Once you do this simple test, simply make a note of it and tape it next to your printer and you will always be able to quickly do your double sided printing in the right direction without any issues!
Why Should You Print Double Sided Pages This Way?
There is technically nothing wrong with printing double sided using your own printer’s settings, but most of the time printers will add a border to the pages you print. This can sometimes be problematic, such as when you need things to be an exact size or if your image is very dense with a lot of color.
For example, if you are printing large full-color pages, you might find that your printer will streak and smear the ink when it goes to print the second side because the ink is not fully dry when it goes back through.
If you do it the double sided flip method that I recommend here, you will have much better odds that your first side you printed will dry in time to go through for the second back side of the document.
Another option? Do Double Sided Printing at a Copy Shop
While it can sometimes be more economical or more convenient to print your items at home, if you want the best professional results where quality matters for your double sided prints, your best bet is to go to a local professional copy shop.
A lot of office supply stores and major chains offer double sided printing, but be aware they usually take shortcuts and you may end up with borders. For this reason, I really recommend sticking with local, independently run copy shops.
When I worked for a popular real estate chain and we printed a LOT of materials, such as flyers, banners, booklets, and more, my local copy shop was always a delight to work with, whereas the national chains usually just gave me a lot of grief, either because they didn’t follow specific instructions or they weren’t able to give as high quality as a print.
Local copy shops might be slightly more expensive, but the personal attention and the awesome results will always make it worthwhile!
I hope these tips for double sided printing are helpful for you. If you’re printing planners, journal pages, coloring books, activity books and more, you’ll be able to make double sided prints without any issues!