Collecting sides used to be an intense manual process. A printer – a human, not a unity – would produce many copies of the same pages and workers would gather or gather them in the correct order for the final collection, whether to become a book or stacked stack. It is much easier to assemble via printing software. But it is also a little cloudy as the term does not describe an act that most of us remain confidential with.
In Apple’s printed dialogue, the collection setting under pressure handling has a precise meaning when choosing to print two or more copies: Print the entire document from start to finish for each copy before starting the next. If you disable merging, each page is printed the number of times you specified in order from start to finish.
If you have a five-page document and print three single-sided copies, this is how it differs:
- Collection of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Collection of: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5
However, there is a star required for the interconnection order: with some printers, to emit pages 1 to 5 in order would result in the wrong order, with 1 on the bottom of a stack and 5 on top. Apple delivers a separate feature to handle whether a printer emits with the front down or stands up: Ark Order. The three ark order options are automatic (standard), normal and vice versa.
Macos determine face up or face down from the printer driver, so leaving ark order set to automatically must print collected pages in order 1 to 5 for printing the face and 5 to 1 for the face. With the print with the face, you pick up the stack and turn it over, and the sides are in the correct order; With the printing of the face, it is all that is necessary to see them in the correct order.
If your Mac is not properly assembled to your printer, the following more detailed set of manual settings can help you sort what to choose:
- Assembly on, sheet order set to normal (with the front down): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Collection on, Ark Order set to turn (with the face up): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
- Assembly of, ark order set to normal (with the front down): 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5
- Collection of, Ark Order set to return (with the face up): 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1
Glenn Fleishman
If your printer offers two -sided (duplex) printing, it also handles. But if it is very slow at that task (as my old printer is) or you have a single-sided printer, the first pressure is assembled with sheets to print set to odd, then turn the stack, put it back with the unprinted Page opposite the pressure head and choose only.
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