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 may however be some special cases where you may wish to instead apply cost and filter settings based on the target queue/printer selected:
A printer may have less memory that others and jam/error on large jobs. Implementing a page or job size filter at the target queue level may help prevent problems.
A printer may not support the full range of paper sizes and may 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. Please use this option with care and careful consideration.
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 station and/or client popup will be as calculated by the virtual queue settings. If, after the job is redirected, the cost changes, the user may become confused. As a general rule, don't override the cost, or if it must be overridden, communicate this situation to your users beforehand.
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. The queues should be configured 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 may be a little more complicated for users to understand.
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. This will ensure the 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 will be logged and charged as a grayscale job.
PaperCut NG 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.).
To enable redirection of print jobs from one Windows print server to another some additional configuration is required. This section covers the steps necessary to set it up.
The PaperCut Print Provider 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:
Create a new domain user called papercut_service (or something suitably
descriptive). This account will be granted permission to print on both/all print servers.
If there are multiple domains involved it may be easier to create local users on each print server which all have the same username and password.
Ensure that the Password never expires option is enabled.
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.
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):
Open the Windows Services list.
Stop the service PaperCut Print Provider.
Right-click the PaperCut Print Provider service and select .
Select the Log On tab.
Select the option This account.
Enter the username and password of the newly created service account.
Press .
Start the PaperCut Print Provider service.
Now PaperCut NG should have the ability to redirect jobs to the remote print queues it has been provided access to. Test by setting up a simple job redirection scenario, such as that described in the section called “Example 1: Simple Load Balancing”.
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