Available in PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF.

Advanced configuration

Overriding cost and filter settings

The default (and recommended) setup is to have the filter and cost settings applied to the virtual queue, For example, the global "find-me-queue" as explained in the examples. This ensures that you have a common cost and access policy across all printers associated with that queue - a model that your end users can easily understand. There might, however, be some special cases where you want to apply cost and filter settings based on the target queue/printer selected instead :

  • A printer might have less memory than others and jam/error on large jobs. Implementing a page or job size filter at the target queue level can help prevent problems.

  • A printer might not support the full range of paper sizes and can jam if an incorrect paper size is selected.

The settings are overridden by the option Cost and filter settings are overridden by the target queue. Use this option with care and careful consideration.

IMPORTANT

If used incorrectly, the Cost and filter settings are overridden by the target queue option can be very confusing to end users. For example, the cost that is displayed in the Release StationPrint Release Stations place a print job on hold and allow users to release it when required. Often a Release Station is a dedicated PC terminal located next to the printers, however, Release Stations can take other forms such as a web browser based interface. Some common examples where Release Stations can be used include secure printing, approved printing, and authentication. In a secure printing environment jobs are only printed when the user arrives at the print area and confirms his or her identity. This ensures the user is there to collect the job and other users can't "accidentally" collect the document. In some organizations it may be appropriate to hold jobs until they are approved by selected individuals. A good example would be a teacher approving printing on an expensive color printer. Hold/Release queues can be used as a form of authentication in an unauthenticated environment. Users must authenticate prior to releasing their jobs allowing PaperCut NG to confirm their identity. and/or client popup is as calculated by the virtual queue settings. If, after the job is redirected, the cost changes, the user might become confused. As a general rule, don't override the cost, or if it must be overridden, communicate this situation to your users beforehand.

Mixed color and grayscale printers

When the organization has a mix of grayscale and color printers it is important to configure Find-Me Printing carefully. Often the simplest approach is to configure 2 virtual queues: one configured as a color queue and the other as a grayscale queue. This makes it simpler for users to understand where to print and what they'll be charged if they need color or grayscale printing. Configure the queues as follows:

  • Grayscale virtual queue - configured to default to grayscale printing, the color mode detection set to This is a grayscale printer, and can release on all printers (including color printers).

  • Color virtual queue - configured to default to color printing, and can only release to color printers.

Using a single virtual queue is also a valid option. There are no technical problems with this approach, however, it is a little more complicated for users to understand.

IMPORTANT

If a physical printer is a grayscale printer then it is recommended that you set the color detection mode to This is a grayscale printer in PaperCut NG/MF. This ensures the job is logged as grayscale, and the user is charged correctly (i.e. not charged for color). This also applies if there is a single virtual queue. If the job is released to a grayscale printer it is logged and charged as a grayscale job.

Cross-server job redirection

PaperCut NG/MF supports redirecting print jobs across print servers, but due to technical limitations the print servers must be running the same operating system (e.g. Windows to Windows, Mac to Mac, etc.).

Cross-server job redirection on Windows

To enable redirection of print jobs from one Windows print serverA print server is a system responsible for hosting print queues and sharing printer resources to desktops. Users submit print jobs to a print server rather then directly to the printer itself. A print server can be a dedicated server but on many networks this server also performs other tasks, such as file serving to another some additional configuration is required. This section covers the steps necessary to set it up.

The PaperCut Print ProviderA Print Provider is a monitoring service installed on a secondary print server to allow PaperCut to control and track printers. This monitoring component intercepts the local printing and reports the use back to the primary Application Server. service is the Windows service responsible for interaction with print queues. For security reasons this service, as for most other Windows services, runs as the SYSTEM account. This account does not have the privileges required to access another system and place a print job in one of its queues. Therefore to enable this functionality the privileges of the PaperCut Print Provider service must be escalated.

The recommended way to escalate the privileges of the PaperCut Print Provider service to the required level is as follows. First a service account is created with permission to create new print jobs:

  1. Create a new domain user called papercut_service (or something suitably descriptive). This account has permission to print on both/all print servers.

    If there are multiple domains involved it might be easier to create local users on each print server that all have the same username and password.

  2. Ensure that the Password never expires option is selected.

  3. Grant this user local administrator rights on the print server where it is installed. This gives the papercut_service the same privileges as the Windows SYSTEM account.

  4. Ensure this user has the rights to print on all remote printers.

Next the PaperCut Print Provider service on each print server is configured to run as the new service account (changed from default SYSTEM to papercut_service):

  1. Open the Windows Services list.

  2. Stop the service PaperCut Print Provider.

  3. Right-click the PaperCut Print Provider service; then select Properties.

  4. Select the Log On tab.

  5. Select This account.

  6. Enter the username and password of the newly created service account.

  7. Click OK.

  8. Start the PaperCut Print Provider service.

Now PaperCut NG/MF has the ability to redirect jobs to the remote print queues to which it has access. Test by setting up a simple job redirectionJob redirection is transferring a print job from one print queue to another. Both Find-Me printing and load balancing involve job redirection. scenario, such as that described in Example 1: Simple load balancing.