Acrobat/Reader 10.1.2: printer blinking/paper tray messages caused by duplex print option

Issue

If you are using Acrobat/Reader 10.1.2 to print PDF documents, you may notice that the job is sent to the printer as a duplex job (print on both sides) and this may cause some issues like printer lights blinking, or errors about lack of paper in the paper trays.

Reason

With Acrobat/Reader 10.1.2 we have introduced the widely used print option “Print on both sides of paper” directly in the Acrobat/Reader print dialog.  This option is available in the printer settings, but it is not very convenient to have to open the printer settings and change it each time you wish to print differently (simplex/duplex).

This option in the Adobe print dialog is enabled by default, whereas the initial value should match what the user has specified in the printer properties.  This option can lead to the printing anomalies mentioned above.

Solution

This is a bug in Acrobat/Reader 10.1.2 and has been fixed in the 10.1.3 update so that the option has the same initial value as defined in the printer settings, and the printing anomalies should no longer occur.

1. Open Acrobat or Reader.

2. Choose Help > Check for Updates.

Acrobat or Reader will install the update automatically.

Workarounds

There are 3 options to workaround this issue.

Option1

To workaround this behaviour in the meantime simply disable this option in the Adobe print dialog.

Option 2

In an enterprise environment, you can use the following registry key to disable duplex mode automatically in Adobe Reader X:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\10.0\AVGeneral]

“iDuplexMode”=dword:00000001

or for Adobe Acrobat X:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\10.0\AVGeneral]

“iDuplexMode”=dword:00000001

For MacOS use the preferences file (com.adobe.Reader.plist / com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.plist) which is located in [user]/Library/preferences/.  The name of the key is DuplexMode under AVGeneral and it has the datatype Number. You should set this value to “1″, for Simplex.

Option 3 (courtesy of the post from banyooo on http://forums.adobe.com/message/4147397)

If you are in a Windows domain controlled environment you can also roll out this registry key using a group policy as follows:

  1. Open your Windows Group Policy Editor
  2. Chose “New Group Policy”
  3. Ggo to UserConfiguration >Settings >Windows Settings >Registry
  4. Right click “Registry”
  5. Chose “New-> Registry assistent”, local computer
  6. Go to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\10.0\AVGeneral] “iDuplexMode”=dword:00000002
  7. Click “finish”
  8. Double-click that new entry and navigate down until you see “iDuplexMode”
  9. Double-click it too, and change the REG_DWORD value to “1″ (decimal)
  10. Chose “Replace” under the “Action” menu
  11. Close the GPO editor and link that newly created group policy to your domain or OU or whatever
  12. Perform a gpupdate /force at the client to see the reg entry changing from “2″ to “1″
  13. Reboot your clients or just wait for the gpupdate timeout period

reference: (3088596)

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22 Responses to Acrobat/Reader 10.1.2: printer blinking/paper tray messages caused by duplex print option

  1. Pingback: Adobe Reader X 10.1.2 bug

  3. Dirk says:
    January 18, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    This setting is not available at German Adobe Reader 10.1.2

    • dmcmahon says:
      January 18, 2012 at 2:55 pm

      This setting should be available in the German Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.2. I have just checked my local copy and it is there in Acrobat 10.1.2 and Reader MUI 10.1.2.
      You may need to change the printer in the print dialog to see this setting, as it is only displayed for certain printers (not for the Adobe PDF Printer for example).

  4. Dirk says:
    January 18, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    this option is not available at German Adobe Reader 10.1.2

  5. Dirk says:
    January 18, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    A solution in Active Directory environment you can find here:
    http://forums.adobe.com/message/4147397

  6. Pingback: Adobe Reader Duplex bug | mitchellaneous

  7. cashxx says:
    January 25, 2012 at 4:46 am

    I wonder what the fix is for OS X environments???

    • dmcmahon says:
      January 25, 2012 at 1:02 pm

      I added the following info for MacOS:
      For MacOS use the preferences file (com.adobe.Reader.plist / com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.plist) which is located in [user]/Library/preferences/. The name of the key is DuplexMode under AVGeneral and it has the datatype Number. You should set this value to “1″, for Simplex.

  8. mgupta says:
    January 31, 2012 at 9:04 pm

    Do we have the updated version with fix available or if not, when can we expect the same?

  9. Garry Curry says:
    February 24, 2012 at 2:28 am

    I appreciate that mistakes can happen. This is not a perfect world. That said, since the Adobe 10X has a bug, Why is it still on your website where unsuspecting people are still downloading this problem?

    • dmcmahon says:
      February 24, 2012 at 8:45 am

      Mistakes can happen, and despite the best efforts of any software vendor, it is certainly not uncommon for releases to contain bugs. I think you will find this across all vendors, not just Adobe. That is one of the reasons why major releases are often followed by updates, service packs, and so on.

      We are taking ownership and responsibility for the errors in this case, and we do apologize for the inconvenience caused to our users as a result of this situation. I can assure you that steps have been taken to ensure the quality of future Adobe Reader and Acrobat updates. The important factor to consider is what impact the various bugs have, and then decisions are taken about which course of action is best to remedy the situation.

      Adobe Reader and Acrobat are used by millions of users, and not all users are affected by this issue. We do monitor the situation on the basis of support calls, entries in our blogs and forums, and by evaluating the impact based on the source code itself. In this case, the bug was not considered serious enough to withdraw the entire 10.1.2 update. This update contains other important fixes. We have provided prompt and reasonable workarounds, and a solution to this problem. This issue will also be addressed in our next quarterly update for Adobe Reader and Acrobat.

  10. Pingback: Adobe Reader 10.1.2 – beidseitigen Druck (duplex) deaktivieren | blog.bistron.eu

  11. Andrew says:
    March 13, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Astonishing.

    Is duplex printing common enough to justify making it default behavior? It can’t possibly be.

    My GPOs are not meant to fix your bugs. How ’bout an update?

    • dmcmahon says:
      March 14, 2012 at 9:24 am

      This is not meant to be the default behaviour and will be turned off by default in the next release which should be available in the coming weeks.

  12. Neil Wilson says:
    March 23, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    My print jobs incorrectly prints as duplex.

    I have an HP LaserJet 1536. It has duplex print capability. When the printer properties are set to not duplex and the Adobe Reader print window has “Print both sides of paper” turned off, all print jobs print incorrectly as duplex.

    What is the work around for this problem?

    • dmcmahon says:
      March 26, 2012 at 8:56 am

      You could try the registry key above for version 10.1.2. If that does not work, this issue should be fixed in the upcoming 10.1.3 release which should be available in approx. 2 weeks.

  13. Wendy says:
    April 9, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    Can you put this answer in ENGLISH? I’m just a home PC user ad htis automatic duplex function is NOT helpful and I don’t want to “disable the duplex function” each time I wish to print multiple pages.

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