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 might be advantageous to place the job in a holding state prior to printing. Some common examples include:
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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.
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Approved printing—In some organizations it might 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.
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Authentication—use hold/release queues as a form of authentication in an unauthenticated environment. Users must authenticate prior to releasing their jobs allowing PaperCut NG/MF to confirm their identity.
PaperCut NG/MF provides the framework and software interface to implement hold and release queues.
Users can interact with the hold/release queues (e.g. release their jobs) in a number of ways. This normally takes the form of a Release Station - a dedicated computer terminal located next to the printers, however, other interaction methods include access via a browser-based interface. Hold/release queues are used for a wide variety of purposes depending on the requirements of the organization.
The simplest way to get started with hold/release queues is to read through the Hold/release usage scenarios , and decide which best suits your needs. These scenarios outline the steps required to configure and manage a queue.
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