Frequently Asked Questions About Public Printing
Why is Babson implementing the Uniprint print management system?
Uniprint provides advanced tools to help Babson manage the increasing costs of printing and at the same time offer a more flexible and secure environment than is possible with traditional print server technology.
- Reduced waste In the 04/05 academic year, the Babson community printed approximately 3.6 million pages to the main public printers in Horn and Olin. Other campuses implementing Uniprint have seen waste reductions of up to 30% simply by holding jobs until the owner is there to retrieve them. At Babson that would translate into a pile of paper over 9’ across and high, weighing over 10,000 lbs.
- Reduced Cost With the increase in the volume of printing, and the increases in the cost of paper and toner, printing costs have skyrocketed. By reducing waste, we can help control costs.
- Greater flexibility The new spooled queues available with Uniprint will help make the public printer system more flexible and robust. Simply print to a single public queue in either Horn or Olin, and then choose where you want to pick it up. For example, print to the Horn spooled queue and pick up your job wherever is convenient – in the library copy room or in the computer center.
- Greater privacy With Uniprint release stations your privacy is protected, since you will control when you release the job to the printer. No more rifling through huge piles of papers to find your job; no more worries that someone else may take your printout with theirs.
What is spooled printing?
One of the most interesting features of Uniprint is the ability to create spooled printing queues. When you send a job to a spooled queue, you are not sending it to a specific printer, but rather to a pool of printers. You can then go to any printer that is a member of the pool and release the job while you are there in front of the printer.
What is a release station, and how do I use one?
A release station is a computer workstation that allows you to manage the jobs you have waiting for you in a spooled printer queue. When you log in to a release station using your Babson username and password you will see all the jobs that you have sent to that pool. To print the job, simply highlight it and click “Print”. If you don’t wish to print the job, you can click “Delete”, or simply leave it in the queue.
How long do I have to release my document to the printer?
You have 24 hours to release your document to a printer. After 24 hours, unprinted jobs will be deleted.
Why does it say $0.00 when I print?
An inherent feature of Uniprint is the ability to charge for printing. There is currently no charge for printing, so the cost of your job will show as $0.00 regardless of size.
How do alumni print in the library?
Alumni may print to the library printers after obtaining the alumni username/password from Information Desk 1. In order to get the username/password you will need your Alumni ID, which can be obtained from the Office of Alumni Relations.
To print, simply log in to a computer designated for alumni/visitor access (workstations 9-12 or 20-24) and print your documents, then log in to the release station using the alumni username and password given to you earlier.
For more information about alumni access in the library, please see services for alumni.
How do library visitors print?
Library visitors may not print on campus. Instead visitors are encouraged to create .pdf files of their research. You can then email the files to yourself and print them at home or a local public library.
To create a .pdf of your file:
- Open the file
- Click File, then Print
- Choose Primo PDF from the list of printers and click OK.
- Click the Browse button, choose where you want to save the file, and give it a name.
- Click Save.
- Under Output Setting, choose For Print.
- Click OK.
Your file will be converted to .pdf and will open automatically. For more information about visitor access in the library, please see services for visitors.
Where can I print a document in color?
Contact the Document Center at x4266. The document center is located on the first floor of Hollister.
