How to Stop Acrobat X Pro for Mac from Printing Double-Sided on Brother Printers
Question details
The user needs to disable automatic double-sided (duplex) printing in Acrobat X Pro on a Mac, specifically when using a Brother printer.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat X Pro
- Device & OS
- Mac
- Scenario
- Printing a PDF document where the printer ignores standard application settings and forces double-sided output.
- Observed behavior
- The Brother printer continues to print double-sided even when the duplex printing option appears to be disabled in the Acrobat printer settings.
Ensure your Brother printer is turned on and connected to your Mac, and verify that you have administrative privileges to modify system printer presets.
Disable Duplex Printing in macOS Printer Presets
The most effective way to prevent double-sided printing is to explicitly turn off the setting in the macOS system print dialog and save it as a new default preset.
Acrobat X Pro sometimes conflicts with macOS system print settings or generic printer drivers. Bypassing Acrobat's default dialog to adjust the system-level preset ensures the Brother printer receives the correct one-sided command.
Open your PDF in Acrobat X Pro and press Cmd+P. Look for a 'Print on both sides of paper' checkbox directly in the Acrobat print dialog and uncheck it if present.
Click the 'Printer...' button at the bottom of the Acrobat print dialog to open the standard macOS print settings.
In the Printer dropdown menu, ensure your specific Brother printer model is selected, rather than a generic PostScript or AirPrint driver.
Locate the 'Two-Sided' checkbox in the macOS print dialog and ensure it is unchecked.
Click the 'Presets' dropdown menu, select 'Save Current Settings as Preset...', name it 'One-Sided Printing', and use this preset for future print jobs.
Update or Reinstall the Brother Printer Driver
Outdated or corrupted generic printer drivers can force unwanted print behaviors like persistent duplex printing.
Print PDFs Easily with WPS Office for Mac
If Adobe Acrobat continues to cause printing conflicts, WPS Office provides a lightweight, highly compatible PDF reader for Mac that makes managing print settings, including one-sided printing, incredibly straightforward.
- 1. Install WPS Office: Download and install WPS Office for Mac from the official website.
- 2. Open your PDF: Launch WPS Office and open the PDF document you need to print.
- 3. Access Print Settings: Click the Print icon in the toolbar or press Cmd+P to open the print dialog.
- 4. Print One-Sided: Ensure the 'Two-Sided' or 'Duplex' option is unchecked in the dialog, then click Print for hassle-free one-sided pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my Brother printer default to double-sided printing on Mac?
Many modern printers default to duplex printing as an eco-friendly measure to save paper. This setting is often saved in the default macOS printer preset or enforced automatically by generic AirPrint drivers during setup.
How do I change the default printer settings on a Mac permanently?
To permanently change settings, open any document, go to File > Print, configure your desired settings (like turning off two-sided printing), and save the configuration as a new Preset in the dropdown menu. Select this new preset as your default for future print jobs.
Does clicking 'Printer...' in Acrobat override Acrobat's own settings?
Yes, clicking the 'Printer...' button at the bottom of the Acrobat print dialog opens the system-level macOS print settings. Modifying preferences here overrides Acrobat's built-in print presets, which is often necessary to fix persistent duplex conflicts.
