A dual-sided imaging direct thermal printer includes a switch enabling activation and deactivation of a dual-sided printing function. The printer is configured to allow printing on both sides of a receipt or other sheet media moving along a feed path through the printer and comprises a print head on each side of the media feed path. An opposing platen is disposed on each side of the feed path across from an associated print head. A described switch enables dual-sided printer benefits with simplex-mode software.