Technical overview: How does archiving work?
The Print ArchivingPaperCut's Print Archiving stores an historic record of all printed content. This allows approved administrators to browse and review the content of past print jobs within their environment. system has three processes:
Process 1: The job archiving process
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A user prints a job from a network device (desktop workstation, mobile, etc.).
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On the server, the job is intercepted and the job's spool fileA print spool file is generated when a user sends a document to a printer. The print spool stores the print job information, and sits in a print queue until it is retrieved and printed by a printer. is copied into the archive. This is usually a file containing the print data in a Page Description Language (PDL) such as PostScript, PCL, EMF or XPS. The copy process is carried out while spooling takes place, with minimal impact on printing performance.
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If the spool file is in a PDL format known to the system, images of the printed pages are created.
Process 2: Archive access and preview process
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The administrator logs into the PaperCut Admin web interface.
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In the print log, the archived jobs are displayed as thumbnails or icons.
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If the job is in a supported PDL format, clicking the thumbnail brings up a viewer. From there you can page through and view the document.
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As the administrator pages through a document, further images are generated as required.
Process 3: The overnight management process
At the set system maintenance time overnight, the archive is inspected for any content older that the Keep jobs for up to: X days option set by the administrator. Any content that matches is permanently removed from the archive.