How to Configure Duplex, Tray, and Default Print Settings

Most offices waste paper and toner not because of bad printers — but because nobody touched the default print settings after setup. The factory defaults are tuned for simple, single-tray, single-sided printing at the highest quality preset. That's fine for a demo. It's expensive for a 50-person office printing 10,000 pages a month.

This guide walks through how to configure duplex (two-sided) printing, set the right tray for the right job, and lock in defaults that save money without anyone having to think about it. Steps apply broadly to HP LaserJet, Xerox VersaLink, Canon imageCLASS, Kyocera ECOSYS, Lexmark, Ricoh, and Toshiba devices on Windows 11 and macOS.

Why Default Print Settings Matter More Than You Think

A single user clicking "Print" doesn't think about settings. They expect the printer to do the right thing. So whatever you set as the default is what 90% of jobs will use.

Here's the practical impact of three defaults you can change today:

Setting	Default (Factory)	Recommended	Annual Impact (10K pages/mo)
Sides	Single-sided	Duplex (2-sided)	~50% paper reduction
Print quality	1200 dpi / Best	600 dpi / Normal	~15–20% toner savings
Default tray	Tray 1 (multipurpose)	Tray 2 (main cassette)	Fewer misfeeds, faster prints
Color mode (color devices)	Auto/Color	Black & white	Major color toner savings

Even modest changes compound. Cutting paper use in half on a mid-volume office printer can save 60,000+ sheets a year — and Windy City Toners customers consistently tell us that duplex-as-default is the single highest-ROI change they make after install.

Configuring Duplex Printing Setup

Duplex printing (also called two-sided or double-sided printing) requires either an automatic duplex unit built into the printer or a manual flip workflow. Most modern laser printers — including the HP LaserJet Pro M404 series, Xerox VersaLink B405, and Kyocera ECOSYS P3145dn — ship with automatic duplexing standard.

On Windows 11

1. Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners.
2. Click your printer, then Printer preferences.
3. Under the Finishing or Layout tab (label varies by driver), locate Print on both sides or Two-sided printing.
4. Choose Flip on long edge for standard portrait documents or Flip on short edge for landscape/booklet-style.
5. Click Apply, then OK.

To make duplex the system-wide default for every user on the machine, you need the Printing Defaults menu (not Preferences):

1. Right-click the printer in Control Panel → Devices and Printers.
2. Select Printer properties → Advanced → Printing Defaults.
3. Set duplex here. This is what new users and applications inherit.

On macOS

macOS handles duplex differently — defaults are saved per-application via Presets:

1. Open any document and press ⌘ + P.
2. In the print dialog, expand details and find Layout or Two-Sided.
3. Set Two-Sided: Long-Edge binding.
4. Click the Presets dropdown and choose Save Current Settings as Preset.
5. Name it "Duplex Default" and set Preset Available For: All Printers.

For a true system default across all apps, use the lpoptions command in Terminal:

lpoptions -p YourPrinterName -o sides=two-sided-long-edge

From the Printer's Web Interface (Recommended for Networked Printers)

For shared office printers, set the default at the device itself so every user — Windows, Mac, mobile — inherits it:

1. Find the printer's IP address (print a config page or check the display panel).
2. Open the IP in a browser to access the Embedded Web Server (EWS).
3. Log in as admin.
4. Navigate to Settings → Copy/Print → Default Print Settings (path varies by brand).
5. Set Sides to 2-Sided.
6. Save and reboot the printer.

This is the cleanest method and the one we walk customers through when configuring a network printer for a small office.

Printer Tray Settings: Assigning the Right Paper to the Right Job

Tray configuration matters when you have:

• Multiple paper sizes (Letter + Legal, or A4 + A3)
• Mixed media (plain paper + letterhead + envelopes)
• High-volume printing where misfeeds cost real time

Most office laser printers ship with two trays standard and support optional 3rd/4th tray modules. The goal is to tell the printer what paper lives in which tray so it auto-selects the right source for each job.

Defining Paper in Each Tray

From the printer's control panel or EWS:

1. Go to Trays or Paper Settings.
2. For each tray, set:
   • Paper size (Letter, Legal, A4, etc.)
   • Paper type (Plain, Letterhead, Cardstock, Labels, Envelope)
   • Paper color (if you use colored stock for specific document types)
3. Save.

Common Tray Strategy for a Small Office

Tray	Contents	Used For
Tray 1 (MP/Bypass)	Envelopes, labels, cardstock	One-off special jobs
Tray 2 (Main)	Plain Letter (8.5×11)	95% of daily printing
Tray 3 (Optional)	Letterhead	Invoices, contracts, formal correspondence
Tray 4 (Optional)	Legal or 3-hole punched	Legal docs, training binders

Once trays are defined, the driver lets users select "Letterhead" as the paper type and the printer automatically pulls from the correct tray — no one has to remember "Tray 3."

Setting the Default Tray in the Driver

In Printing Defaults → Paper/Quality (Windows) or the Paper Feed section of the macOS preset, set Paper Source to Tray 2 (or whichever holds your standard stock). Leaving it on Automatically Select works too, but explicit assignment prevents the printer from pulling envelopes when someone forgot to reset settings.

Locking In Default Print Settings That Stick

Defaults only matter if they survive driver updates, user changes, and Windows quirks. A few tips:

• Use Printing Defaults, not Preferences. Preferences only affect the current user; Defaults push to all users and new sessions.
• Set defaults at the device level when possible. EWS settings beat driver settings because they apply regardless of OS or app.
• Push via Group Policy in larger offices. IT admins can use the Print Management console to standardize defaults across all networked printers.
• Document the configuration. Keep a one-page sheet listing tray contents and default settings near the printer — saves hours of "why is this printing weird" troubleshooting.

Quality and Toner-Saving Defaults

While you're in the defaults menu, change two more things:

• Print quality: Set to Normal or 600 dpi, not Best/1200 dpi. The difference is invisible on text documents and uses noticeably less toner.
• EconoMode / Toner Save: Enable for internal documents. Turn off only for client-facing prints. On HP LaserJets, this setting alone can extend cartridge yield by 25–30%, though real-world page counts still depend on coverage — see our breakdown of what toner yield actually means.

For more on how toner consumption relates to print settings, the ISO/IEC 19752 standard defines how manufacturers measure yield at 5% page coverage — which is why your real-world numbers almost always come in lower.

Brand-Specific Notes

A few quick callouts because driver UI varies:

• HP LaserJet (Universal Print Driver): Duplex is under Finishing → Print on both sides. Tray assignment under Paper/Quality → Paper Source.
• Xerox VersaLink: Use the Xerox Global Print Driver. Defaults set via EWS push reliably to all clients.
• Kyocera ECOSYS: The KX Driver has a dedicated Quick Print tab — set duplex and EcoPrint here for defaults that survive updates.
• Canon imageCLASS / imageRUNNER: The UFR II driver keeps two-sided settings under Finishing. Canon's Department ID feature lets you enforce defaults per user group.
• Lexmark: Use Universal Print Driver v2; defaults are best set via the printer's Embedded Web Server.
• Ricoh: PCL6 driver puts duplex under Edit → Duplex. EWS path is Device Management → Configuration → Printer.
• Toshiba e-STUDIO: TopAccess web interface is the go-to for default management.

If you're not sure which driver version you're running or whether it's current, our driver finder tool matches your exact model to the right download.

A Realistic 15-Minute Setup Routine

For any new printer install — or any existing printer that's never been tuned — block 15 minutes and run through this:

1. Log into the printer's EWS (5 min) — find IP, sign in as admin.
2. Set sides = 2-sided in default print settings (1 min).
3. Define each tray's paper size and type (3 min).
4. Set default print quality to Normal / 600 dpi (1 min).
5. Enable EconoMode/Toner Save if appropriate (1 min).
6. For color devices: set default color mode to Black & White (1 min).
7. Print a test page from a workstation to confirm settings apply (2 min).
8. Document the config on a sticky note inside the toner door (1 min).

That's it. A printer that ran on factory defaults yesterday is now configured to use less paper, less toner, and the right media every time someone hits print.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between Printing Preferences and Printing Defaults in Windows?

Printing Preferences applies only to the current user's session, while Printing Defaults applies system-wide and is inherited by new users and applications. If you want a setting like duplex to persist for everyone on a shared workstation, always use Printing Defaults (found under Printer properties → Advanced).

Q: Why does my printer ignore the duplex setting I configured?

The most common cause is that the application is overriding the driver default — programs like Adobe Acrobat and some browsers have their own print settings that take precedence. Set duplex at the printer's web interface (EWS) instead, which forces it at the device level regardless of what the application requests.

Q: Can I force duplex printing for all users on a network printer?

Yes. Log into the printer's Embedded Web Server as admin and set the default sides setting to 2-sided. For tighter enforcement, larger offices can use Windows Group Policy or print management software to lock the setting so users cannot revert it.

Q: Does duplex printing wear out the printer faster?

Duplex printing uses an additional paper path and slightly more mechanical action per page, but modern laser printers from HP, Xerox, Kyocera, and others are rated for duplex use as standard. The toner and paper savings far outweigh any minor increase in maintenance frequency.

Q: How do I know which tray my printer pulled from for a specific job?

Most office printers log every job in the EWS under Job History or Usage Logs, showing the tray source, paper size, and page count. You can also print a configuration or supply status page from the control panel to see current tray assignments.

Q: Does Windy City Toners sell printers with multiple trays pre-configured?

We at Windy City Toners stock laser printers from HP LaserJet Pro, Xerox VersaLink, and Kyocera ECOSYS lines that support multi-tray expansion, and our sales team at (872) 762-1131 can recommend the right tray configuration for your office's paper mix. We also provide free setup tutorials covering tray assignment and default configuration for every printer we sell.

Q: Will changing default print settings void my printer warranty?

No. Configuring duplex, tray, quality, and other default settings is standard end-user customization supported by every manufacturer. Warranties cover hardware defects, not configuration changes — feel free to tune defaults aggressively without warranty concerns.

Q: What's the best default print quality for saving toner without sacrificing readability?

For internal documents, 600 dpi with EconoMode (or the equivalent toner-save mode) enabled produces fully readable text and saves 25–30% on toner. Reserve 1200 dpi and standard mode for client-facing materials, presentations, or anything with photos and detailed graphics where the quality difference is visible.