Table of Contents
In a standard network printing environment, when a user prints from an application, the job is sent directly to the printer and starts printing immediately. In some environments it may be advantageous to place the job in a holding state prior to printing. Some common examples include:
Secure Printing - 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.
Approved Printing - 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.
PaperCut NG provides the framework and software interface to implement hold and release queues.
Print Release Stations provide an interface to allow authorized persons to release held jobs. In many situations, a release station is a dedicated computer terminal located next to the printers, however release stations can take other forms such as a browser-based interface. Release Stations are used for a wide variety of purposes depending on the requirements of the organization. This section outlines a number of these scenarios, and also how to install and configure the release stations.
The simplest way to get started with release stations is to read through the scenarios below (see the section called “Release Station Usage Scenarios”), and decide which best suits your needs. These scenarios will outline the steps required to configure the release station.
PaperCut NG includes four different release station interfaces. Three of these are variations of a web-based interface and one is a software version that is typically used for dedicated release stations. These release station interfaces are described below.
The standard release station is typically used on dedicated workstations located near-by the printers. It usually runs in a full-screen mode that cannot be exited. The release station can be run in a number of modes that changes its behavior depending on your needs. These modes are described in the section called “Release Station Modes”.
For more information regarding deployment of the Standard Release Station see the
[appdir]\release\README.txt file. For information regarding configuration of the
Standard Release Station see the section called “Standard Release Station Configuration”.
The release station scenarios below describe which mode to use for different situations.
The web-based release station provides functionality equivalent to the standard release station running in "Manager mode". However, the web-based release station can be more convenient because it can be run from anywhere using a web browser.
The web-based release station can be access by visiting the following URL, and logging in as
a user with admin or release station manager permissions.
http://[servername]:9191/release
where [servername] is the name of the PaperCut NG server. To make a user a release station manager see the section called “Release Station Managers”.
When logged into the admin pages, an administrator can view all jobs held by release stations by:
Navigating to the Printers section.
Selecting the Jobs pending release tab.
This interface is identical to the full-screen web-based release station, but can be more convenient for users already logged into the administration pages.
When end-users are logged into the user web interface, they can view their print jobs that are currently held by a release station. The administrator can decide whether this interface is visible to end users. It allows users to view their jobs, but not release the jobs via this interface. These options are available in the Options section under User Features.
