How to print double-sided manually

Print the fronts, reload the sheets, then print the backs. Which way to reload depends on your printer, so find it with the marked test sheet first.

Microsoft Edge on Windows

Open the PDF in Edge and press Ctrl+P. Under Pages, choose Odd pages only and print. Reload the printed sheets the way your test showed, then print again with Even pages only. Keep the scale at Actual size, not Fit to printable area.

Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Print, then select More options under Pages to Print. Set Odd or Even Pages to Odd pages only and print; reload the sheets, then print again with Even pages only. Reverse pages is in the same place: for a printer that stacks its pages face down, Adobe prints the even pages first, in reverse order.

Preview on a Mac

Choose File, Print, then open Paper Handling and set it to print only the odd pages. Reload the sheets, then print again with only the even pages. Paper Handling can also print the pages in reverse order.

Find the reload direction

Download the double-sided test from the same plan you intend to print. Print only its first PDF page. Mark the top edge of that sheet in pencil and note which side and edge enter the tray. Reload it, print only the second PDF page, then compare the FRONT and BACK marks.

If the back is upside down or on the same side, change the reload direction and repeat with a fresh sheet. Keep the working sheet beside the printer.

Test double-sided printing →

Keep the PDF order

In the refill builder, choose a double-sided arrangement even when you will feed the sheets manually. In the printer dialog, print each pass single-sided. This keeps the PDF’s binding margins and blank sides in the intended order.

Use the PDF page numbers, including intentional blank pages. Print the odd-numbered PDF pages first and the even-numbered PDF pages on their backs. Whether the second pass needs reverse order depends on the output tray and how you reload the stack.

Before printing a full pack, use a short selection with different dates on each page. Check that each intended front has the correct back. Do not remove blank PDF sides or tell the printer to skip blank pages.

Six PDF pages on three sheets: print pages 1, 3 and 5, turn the printed stack over the way your test sheet showed, then print pages 2, 4 and 6 on the backs. Page 2 lands behind page 1.

Microsoft: print in Microsoft Edge ↗Adobe: manually print double-sided in Acrobat ↗Apple: print settings on Mac ↗

Cut only after checking both sides

Keep copies separate. Check the page map in the refill builder before trimming sheets with more than one page on them. A PDF of single pages and a refill printed two pages per sheet don’t always go together in the same order.

Follow the refill assembly sequence →