Printing On Both Sides of the Paper

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated May 26, 2017)

2

Some printers have the capability to print on both sides of a piece of paper. This feature is called duplexing, and it can add a big chunk of change to the cost of a printer. If your printer doesn't have duplexing, the only way to achieve the same result is to pass your paper through the printer twice. The following VBA macro will assist you in this process. It first prints the odd pages in a document, prompts you to turn the paper over, and then prints the even pages.

Sub PrintBothSides()
    Dim iTemp As Integer

    ActiveDocument.PrintOut Copies:=1, PageType:=wdPrintOddPagesOnly
    iTemp = MsgBox("Switch paper to continue", vbOKCancel, "PrintBothSides")
    If iTemp = vbOK Then
        ActiveDocument.PrintOut Copies:=1, PageType:=wdPrintEvenPagesOnly
    End If
End Sub

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1418) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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

Quickly Clearing Array Contents

An array of variables is a powerful element of VBA programming. If you want to clear what is stored in an array, here's a ...

Discover More

Rows in a PivotTable

PivotTables are used to analyze huge amounts of data. The number of rows used in a PivotTable depends on the type of analysis ...

Discover More

Creating Individual Workbooks

Workbooks can contain many worksheets. If you want to pull a workbook apart and create a whole series of workbooks based on ...

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 (menu)

Printing Hidden Text

One of the formatting attributes you can add to text is to make it "hidden," which means you can control whether it is ...

Discover More

Controlling the Printing of Highlighting

Using Word's built-in highlighter tool can be a great way to add markup to a document and attract a reader's eyes to specific ...

Discover More

Selecting a Paper Source

Some printers allow you to print on paper from different sources. For instance, a printer may have multiple paper trays, each ...

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 8Mpixels. 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 three more than 5?

2013-11-10 14:31:42

Phil Husband

I have a printer that will print on both sides of the page before going to page 3 for example. However I have MS word 2003 and I can only print on one side. Publisher 2003 allows me to print on both sides. Any help you can give will be appreciated.

2012-02-25 21:26:06

Milind Karnik

Please note that you must consider how you get the printed document. On my HP1070, I get the printed pages face down. So, if I want to maintain normal order of printed pages, I must instruct the macro to print "backwards" in the second go. Further, if the entire document has odd number of pages, then I must also work out whether to include the last printed odd page while switching pages. One can add a message to this effect based on page count.

Hope this is useful.

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon 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 © 2017 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.