Persistency of color printing choice on 7855 ?

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

(Since I don't see that I can edit post - last test was from selecting all sheets, then changing property without clicking "entire workbook")

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

And if you change the property but don't print, save file, reopen Excel - the change does not persist. Apparently with at least this product you must change the property and print (and possibly save File, and possibly restart Excel).

I'll let this die unresolved now and thank everyone who thought about an answer. I just wanted to give more data in case it helps someone else who finds the thread down the road.

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

I ran an experiment with Excel 2007 with several sheets, mixing up properties.

Excel seems to save the printer property in the file, sheet by sheet. ABC.XLS originally has 2-sided set for all four of its sheets. While on sheet3 I change to 1-sided, print, save, close Excel, reopen; and Sheet3 now comes up as 1-sided, and others sheets still come up as 2-sided.

Also: before all this, if I printed entire workbook, it was all two sided, that is, sheet1 is 1 of 4, other side of it is sheet2 as 2 of 4, next sheet has sheet3 as 3 of 4 and sheet 4 is on the back of it.  Now, after saving 1-sided to sheet1, printing entire workbook yields sheeet1 and sheet2 on 2 sided, sheet3 alone, then sheet4.

This is a strange seeming experiment but it covers several things at once, and I'm disinclined to test 32 or 128 permutations if someone can say what the exact procedure is. I think that you (Joe) say that it's application-controlled. In that case, if someone has the rules for Office products that would be great!

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

Thank you for that. So it's application specific, and the only thing that can be avered is the default action of the printer? (Then what about the dropdown?) Are there conventions for Microsoft Office - Excel, Word, Outlook, Access, Powerpoint? Anyway that's a good Adobe explanation. Whatever you said on the last one closed governs - okay. (That's also true with Excel and Access if you open multiple instances of each in some regards such as most-recently-used selections. Whenever you close Excel or Access, it writes the MRU to the registry. Maybe the same applies for printer properties?)

[Joe Arseneau]

To set the printer defaults you go in Windows to :

Start > Devices and Printers then right-click the printer and go to Printing Preferences , set what you want and select Apply

So at this point, any application that is not currently open on the PC, when you open a file and select File>Print it should have those preferences by default.

But if you change those settings, most applications will hold the changed settings in the application until closed. For instance, you open a pdf in reader and print a job and choose color, if you don't actually close all open Acrobat/Reader windows before you open the next pdf it will hold that color setting (Last used settings)

The most common oddity is Windows Picture and Fax viewer which seems to have its own rules, it will always seem to be the last used settings no matter how many times it has been closed.

Then you have the applications like Indesign, Where the driver will hold its own defaults like it should for each new opening, and hold the last used settings if it is not closed, but there are also the settings that Indesign pulls from the driver in the File>Print window, those settings will over-ride the driver settings so if they are set to something different, those settings will honored over what is in the driver.

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

Sorry, I had line feeds that visually organized O.P. but upon posting the line feeds were removed. Firefox 12.0.

[GatesIsTheAntiChrist]

I wonder whether the choice of color is "saved" by document (mydoc.DOC) or by application (Excel vs. adobe), by session (does it keep using color until you close and reopen Word), etc.? For Excel, does it remember color choice for every sheet? I have tried some of these combinations and can't identify a reproducible pattern. Maybe there's another variable. I am a user, no admin privileges. I do understand clicking and unclicking Black and White Conversion on tab Image Options tab under printer properties. By the way, that checkbox is the only interface on that dialog other than a "Saved Settings" dropdown and OK and Cancel buttons. Note, I have never changed the dropdown which says Driver Defaults. I have only used the checkbox and buttons. By default everything comes up with the B/W checkbox selected. I mostly print from Excel, Word, Outlook, Adobe and webpages. Thanks for any guidance! Bonus: does the same convention apply to single vs. double sided printing? How about SecurePrint? (It seems that it permanently toggles. I.e. if I say secure, it stays that way forever,, regardless of source document or application, until I click Normal; and vice versa. This is not how, say, Excel works with the color choice.)