Newbie Mac tip: If you're printing a large document on a printer that can only print on one side of the page at a time, and you want the document to be printed on both sides of each page, you probably will want to print the odd pages first, then arrange the printed pages in your printer's paper tray, then print the even pages such that the even pages print on the backs of the odds. If you're good at topology or have figured it out by messing it up a few times, you'll know how to arrange the odd pages in the paper tray for your printer.

When you go to print, the print dialog will ask you for the range of page numbers to print, in the "Copies and Pages" category of printer settings. By default, "all" is selected, meaning to print all pages of the document starting with the first page. To print only the odd pages or only the even pages, change the category to "Paper Handling," then select "Print: Odd numbered pages" or "Print: Even numbered pages."

Here's the tip: "Odd numbered pages" does not refer to the pages with odd numbers when counting from the first page of the document. It refers to the pages with odd numbers when counting from the first page of the page range you are printing. So if you set it up to print pages 302-496, then tell it to print the "even numbered pages," it will actually print document pages 303, 305, 307, and so forth up to page 495.

Getting two-sided printing right with my one-sided laser printer is difficult enough for my feeble visualization skills, I don't need a broken print dialog confusing me further. (I burn a ream of paper on mistakes every time I try to print a book. Guh.)