Using Both Sides of the Paper: Duplex and Tumble Modes

With dvips, you can print in duplex or tumble mode by using the -h option:

dvips -h duplex filename.dvi

or

dvips -h tumble filename.dvi

If you always want your document to be printed two-sided, you can include one of the following commands in your document preamble:

\special{header=duplex}
\special{header=tumble}

The difference between duplex and tumble concerns whether pages are printed with opposite sides sharing a ``top'' of the page (duplex), so that turning the page side-to-side leaves both sides correctly oriented (as in a book), or whether these pages are flipped vertically (tumbled), so that turning the page up leaves both sides correctly oriented (as in a legal notepad). The orientation will obviosuly be somewhat different if the printout is landscape mode instead of portrait mode. For most uses, the duplex mode is the more fitting.