default double sided printing

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does anyone know a method for setting each new added printer default to double sided printing?
actualy there should be a checkbox somewhere “always print double sided when printer supports it” but i can’t find it 😉

[Patrick Fergus]

Someone here was examining that–it appears to be a setting embedded in the PPD. Changing it seems to be a huge PITA.

Sorry that wasn’t very hopeful.

– Patrick

[mattzago]

We set double-sided printing via the PPD. Using vim, bbedit, or whatever text editor you want you could alter the ppd itself to have duplex on. The problem is you have to make no mistakes when you alter the ppd to use duplex. To get around this I use Mac OS X’s CUPS web interface to modify ppd options.

I first setup the printer whose model I want to use.
Then I change the ppd to use double-sided printing via the cups web interface (http://localhost:631). You just click “Manage Printers” and then “Set Printer Options” for each printer PPD you want to alter. You can also change whatever other options you want via this interface.

After this is done cups will alter the ppd stored for that printer in /etc/cups/ppd/.

So if you changed the double-sided printing for a printer called “HP_Office” the ppd should be /etc/cups/ppd/HP_Office.ppd.

Okay finally I take the ppd from /etc/cups/ppd and find the name of the ppd Mac OS X uses to install a printer. For example in Leopard /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources has a file called “hp color Laserjet 9500.gz” for the installation of the Laserjet model. So the tricky part is you need install your customized copy of the ppd from /etc/cups/ppd/ to whatever the model is in /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources. If it has a .gz extension then you’ll need to gzip the file.

We push these files out with a package to make sure people print double-sided and B&W by default to save trees and toner (and $$$).

There might be an easier way of doing this, but this is how I do it.

[Patrick Fergus]

mattzago,

Is it really that easy to edit the PPD to enable duplexing by default? And it works? You may have made someone’s day, week, and possibly month here.

– Patrick

[mattzago]

I’ve used this method to change Laserjet 5500 and Xerox Workcentre 7345 drivers on 10.5. We push out the new .gz ppds using a simple package that is pushed out via LANrev. What I outlined will make any new printer setup use duplex by default (as it is using the ppd from whatever is in /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources. I don’t see what would stop someone from just updating the existing ppd in /etc/cups/ppd to change already setup printers to use duplex, but I haven’t tested it.

The cups built-in webserver is just training wheels to make sure you set the settings right. Usually it is just changing something in the PPD to True or for double-sided printing long-edge binding etc.

I found out how to do this from a fellow employee who used it in 10.2 or 10.3 back in the day, so I’m guessing it been around for a while.

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