Linux lp command: print both sides on multiple files

I have some png, pdf files, most have only 1 page.

To save papers, is it possible to print both sides on multiple files?

if file1 has one page, if file2 has one page, I can print them in one page , on both sides.

• I can use (online) tools to merge them then print. but this would take more effort: these files are in different sub folders, of different types.

Thanks.

Solution 1:

To a printer each print job is a separate entity, and hence it is not possible for printers to merge them.

In addition, when duplexing "face down" (so that the pages are in the correct order in the output tray), the printer will print pages in the order 2,1,4,3, etc. If a job consists of only one page, there is no way a printer can print that on the "backside" of the paper - it needs to already have received page 2, as that needs to be printed first.

For PDFs PDFTKBuilder is a lovely free app that will merge them (it will do other things as well) but that is of no use if you also use other file types.