Changing printer presets (big sigh)

Question

i have about twelve mac printer presets for my laptop (Mountain Lion) and twelve for my desktop (Lion) and i expect to be creating more.
today i realize that it might be better for me to have all of these set as two-sided prints and actually i need to check some other settings that i may have missed (because they are squirrelled away in hard to find places).
is it necessary for me to RECREATE each of these presets from scratch?
right now i am going into the EDIT PRESETS pulldown in the PRINT pulldown (for instance i am in Safari right now) then i go select one of these presets, i hit Duplicate - and then i try and change the settings and none of this seems editable. i also tried to edit the original presets in this dialog interface and these items do not seem to be editable.
i can't tell if i am missing something or if this part of lion or mountain lion has simply been profoundly overlooked for some reason. since i print a TON of documents for my work the amount of time spent in here since moving to mac is extremely frustrating and i had thought that spending time making presets for every frequently used print config was the answer to all my headaches but now i am not so sure this isn't another level of headache...
what am i missing?

Answer 1

hotwheels 22 wrote:
hi PAHU.
if i go to File > Print in Safari i get a dialog and then i can run a pulldown for "Presets" and then i get to see all my presets. but if i click on one of these i get a description on the right (with the goofy organization and the arrows that let me open up each of these listings)
This sounds like you have selected the "Show Presets" setting in the Presets menu. No need to do this. Simply select to print and then select the Preset you want to modify from the drop menu.
hotwheels 22 wrote:
but if i go to something like "Copies and Pages" (where of course i am going to find "Two Sided") i see that this two sided setting is off but i don't see any way to edit.
If it is just a checkbox, then put a tick in it. You should have the option to select it. Presets don't lock you out from making changes. They simply set the print dialog to your preferred settings.
hotwheels 22 wrote:
similarly if i go to "Layout" i see another "Two Sided" (good god almighty am i an idiot and this is some kind of different setting for two sided - or is this UI just terrible) - but again i have no way to edit this AFAIK.
The Two-Sided you see in Copies and Pages is like an alias to the same setting in Layout. It just gives the user easy access to the same setting that Apple deems to be important enough to replicate it to the default page (ie Copies and Pages).
Now it does not matter which setting you use, enabling one will enable the other. But you should be able to enable then with the Preset for one sided selected. And after enabling the Two Sided setting, you should then be able to re-save this Preset with the new setting.
hotwheels 22 wrote:
i don't want to sound cranky but man is this UI not sexy enough for a developer to spend a little time making more functional or are they trying to run some kind of passive-aggressive routine where if printing is too much of a hassle they think they can wean me off of paper (i'm just joking but the more i get in here the more tricky it all becomes).
You certainly do appear to have some issue with the print dialog. As a Windows and Mac user, I don't see the Mac print dialog providing any less function or being more complicated than what Windows offers. Maybe in your attempt to simplify your usage you are actually overcomplicating things?
If you find that you still cannot edit an existing Preset then it may be easier to delete it and then create a new one.
I would also suggest that you just create a few Presets for the most common print outputs you require. If you have a Preset for every type of print output that you could ever want, then you are definitely making too much ongoing work for yourself.