Issue/Question
- Our office has received a new Ricoh printer, but I don't see its name in the list, what printer should I be using?
- What printer should I print to now?
- How do I know what printer I should be using?
Environment
With the addition of PaperCut, new options are available for printing for employees and students. It is also possible that not all printers are available to all people, depending on their department or role on campus. This guidance would be the same for macOS and Windows computers.
Resolution
There are three (3) primary types of printers in PaperCut.
- "Find-Me-Print" Printer
- "Mobile-Print" Printer
- Traditional Printer
Find-Me-Print Printer
The Find-Me-Print printer or printers is a actually a "virtual" printer. This means that there is more than one printer related to them. These printers are named to symbolize the option of printing where you are, or "finding you".
Most people will generally print to the "Find-Me-Printer". All Ricoh, Lexmark, and most HP printers are associated with this one queue. It supports color and grayscale printing as well as duplex and simplex printing. It also supports printing form various paper trays. If you print to this printer, your documents will remain queued until you release them, sending them to the actual printer closest to you.
The biggest advantage of the Find-Me-Print printer is that you don't have to install several different printers onto your computer. This single printer will be able to do most of the work.
Note: Find-Me-Print is a great choice for most printing needs, however it is not capable of doing advanced printing functionality such as stapling. If this is required, you will need to install and print to a "traditional printer". See below for more information.
Mobile-Print Printer
The "Mobile-Print" printer is similar to the Find-Me-Print printer. It is a virtual printer that supports printing to a number of different devices and has the same features and drawbacks as the "Find-Me-Print" printer, but is available specifically to mobile devices. Of course, there is no reason you can't print to it from a desktop or laptop but it is one of the only printers available for mobile devices.
Traditional Printer
The Find-Me-Print printer is great, and works in most scenarios, however it can't handle advanced printing features such as collating and stapling. In order to manage advanced printing features, you will need to install the actual printer onto your computer using Print Deploy. Once installed, you can print to it and set your advanced printing features as needed. If you do not find the specific printer you need in PaperCut Print Deploy, let the Service Desk know and they can help.
There is no reason you can't use a traditional printer all the time, even for simple print jobs, but remember that you lose the flexibility of printing where you are. If you plan on printing from your office and releasing it across campus, you must use the Find-Me-Print printer, or your print jobs won't be in the queue when you log in to the printer at your destination.
If you need further assistance, please contact the Bowdoin College Service Desk