Pull Printing

Pull Printing is a one-to-many option for held print jobs. That means the job is submitted to a virtual queue that holds the print job on your workstation until you choose to release the job to a printer. The release can be triggered by using the Release Portal, the Control Panel Application (CPA), Simple Badge Release, designated release stations, or the Mobile App.

The steps for setting up Pull Printing using the default settings are outlined below.

Create a Pull Printer

Pull printers act as a virtual print queue to hold jobs. Jobs sent to the pull printer remain on the workstation till released.

  1. In the tree view, right click on the folder you are adding the printer to.
  2. Select New > TCP/IP Printer.
  3. In the Printer Name field, enter the name of the printer object.
    • Optional: Enter in Location and any Comments.
  4. In the IP Address or Hostname field, enter the IP address or hostname of the printer.
  5. Check the Make Pull Printer box.
  6. In the corresponding operating system field, click Upload New Driver or select from an existing driver.
  7. Click Add.

The new pull printer object appears as a child item under its parent folder.

The steps showing how to create a pull printer in the Admin Console.

It's crucial to understand that type 4 drivers are incompatible with TCP/IP printer objects when implementing PrinterLogic SaaS. This is because they disable port monitoring, a key feature our application relies on. A TCP/IP printer installed on a workstation and using a type 4 driver can impact printing. Other printers, such as USB or software printers (Adobe, Microsoft XPS, etc.), can still use type 4 drivers without impacting printing.

Enable Pull Printing / Secure Release Printing

This feature enables the Release tab on printers and the Release Portal. This allows users to hold print jobs sent to a printer from their workstation until they are released at a later time using a release mechanism. (e.g. Release Portal, Mobile App, Control Panel Application, Simple Badge Release.)

  1. In the Admin Console, navigate to Tools then Settings then Printing.
  2. In the Pull Printing section, click Enable Workstation Pull Printing/Secure Printing.
  3. Click Save.

Pull Printing section with an arrow pointing to the Enable Workstation Pull Printing/ Secure Printing setting enabled.

Default or Printer-specific

The Default per-printer Pull Print setting on Tools then Settings then General allows the release of pull print jobs to all the printers using the default(Global) setting. If you only want pull print jobs to be released to certain printers, use the printer-specific option below.

  • The number of printers with this feature enabled must match (or be less than) the number of Pull Printing licenses purchased. If this option is enabled, but you have more printers than Pull Printing licenses, an error will display upon logging into the Admin Console.
  • You can enable/disable Pull Printing for individual printers by selecting the Use printer-specific Pull Print setting and checking/unchecking the Allow Pull Print jobs to be released to this printer box on the printer object's Printing tab.
  • License details are available by selecting your username in the top right of the Admin Console and selecting My Account.
  1. Navigate to the Pull Printing section on Tools then Settings then General.

  2. Under the Default per-printer Pull Print setting, check the box for Allow Pull Print jobs to be released to all printers by default.

    Pull Printing section with an arrow pointing to the Allow Pull Print jobs to be released to all printers by default, setting.

  3. Click Save.

The printer object's Printing tab reflects this setting was enabled and pull print jobs can be released to the printer.

Printer object's Printing tab with an arrow pointing to the option to Use default Pull Print setting.

Leave the Allow Pull Print jobs to be released to all printers by default setting on Tools then Settings then General unchecked for this option.

  1. Navigate to the printer object's Printing tab you want to enable Pull Printing on.
  2. In the Pull Printing section, click the bubble for Use printer-specific Pull Print setting.
  3. Check the box for Allow Pull Print jobs to be released to this printer.
  4. Click Save.

Printer object's Printing tab with arrows pointing to the User printer-specific setting and the Allow pull print jobs to be released to this printer, setting.

Release Portal

Once the steps above are complete, the pull printer can be deployed or self-installed by end-users from the Self-service Portal. Jobs sent to the pull printer will show up, and can be released from, the end-user's Release Portal.

To access the Release Portal:

  • In a supported browser, visit <YourURL>.printercloud.com/release.
  • Visit your Self-service Portal.
    1. Click Menu.
    2. Navigate to Pull Printing then Print Job Management.
      • If you don't see these menu options, check your Shortcut Options on Tools then Settings then Client in the Admin Console.
      • Reference Client Settings Tab

To release a job, check the box next to the held print job and click Release.

Release Portal showing three pull print jobs and one secure print job held, and the Release and Delete buttons under each queue.

Additional Resources: