Duplex Printing from Multiple Trays

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated January 25, 2020)

Lesley has a printer that has multiple paper trays. She has the letterhead in tray 2 and the continuation bond in tray 3. She wrote a macro that prints the first page from tray 2 and the rest of the pages from tray 3. She has a need, though, to create a macro that will print duplex from tray 2 (which covers the first two pages of the letter) and the rest of the pages duplex from tray 3.

This can be done with a macro, but the approach is probably not what you'd expect. In general, what you need to do is this:

  1. Create a new printer definition in Windows that prints from tray 2 in duplex.
  2. Create another new printer definition in Windows that prints from tray 3 in duplex.
  3. Create a macro that prints pages 1 and 2 of a document to the printer you created in step 1, then prints starting at page 3 to the printer you created in step 2.

The key here is to create the printers definitions in steps 1 and 2. If you don't do this, you can't force the printers (within a macro) to print in duplex. The reason is that duplex is handled at a printer level, and Windows doesn't make those settings available to Word. However, since the printer definition is set to print duplex, anything you send through that "printer" (in Word) is automatically in duplex.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5681) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Office 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Resetting Paragraph Formatting

Tired of the formatting used in a paragraph? One way to "start over" is to make sure that the formatting is reset to its ...

Discover More

Conditionally Making a Sound

Need to have a sound played if a certain condition is met? It is rather easy to do if you use a user-defined function to ...

Discover More

Using InputBox to Get Data

Need your macro to get some input from a user? The standard way to do this is with the InputBox function, described in ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Printing More than One Copy

If you need to print more than one copy of your document, you need to become familiar with the printing options made ...

Discover More

Opening and Printing a Document

Want a quick, fast way to print a Word document? Here's a way that can't be beat!

Discover More

Controlling Where a Full-page Border is Printed

When you add full-page borders to your document, you may be bothered to find out that one or more sides of the border ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2021 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.