DUPLEX

Syntax

duplex mode [, left-offset] [, top-offset]

Description

Duplex printing, if supported by your printer, causes printing on both sides of the paper.  

mode can be 1 for long-edge binding, or 2 for short-edge binding.  A mode of 0 will print in simplex (single-sided) mode.

left-offset and top-offset are optional values in decipoints (1/720th inch) that indicate how far to shift the page printing from the left and top edges, respectively.  Note that margins may need to be adjusted (with the margin keyword) if offsets are used.

Note that any duplex command will cause a page eject on a laser printer, so timing of the duplex command is important.  For example, if you use pcopies 2, and the second reserved for a back side attachment, the duplex command should be in the 'if copy 1' block.  This forces copy 1 to be on the front side and copy 2 to follow on the back side.  This concept is shown in the example below.

The printer model’s (-m command line option) PPD file (or generic pcl.ppd or ps.ppd files) can specify *Duplex mode entries which are used if present.

Note that when working with multiple copies to produce pages or unique formats in duplex mode (i.e. terms and conditions on the back page of primary forms), only the pcopies command will work, as it is critical that the copies be printed in sequence rather than at a job-level.

Examples:

pcopies 2

if copy 1

duplex 1

# complete form for front of page

end if

if copy 2

 # attachment for back of page

 notext

 attach "terms.pcl"

end if

Drivers: pcl, ps  (the left offset and top offset options are ignored in PostScript, use margin instead)