PaperCut Views - FAQ

PaperCut Views is our debut into cloud-based platforms. We are so excited to get it out so customers can give it a try and work with us to define the next features. This will feed into the next generation of cloud-based products, so if anything jumps out at you, please get in touch with our PaperCut Views Product Team.

PaperCut Views has been developed with the small to medium and home businesses in mind. Whether it's a small team working out of a home office, or a slightly larger team working in an accounting firm, real estate agency, travel agency or even a bank – PaperCut Views will help keep the office running smoothly.

If you are looking for something to help you understand how you are spending so much money on printing, a way to budget or streamline your printer supplies ordering, or simply have a clear view of all of your devices status, PaperCut Views can help. It's free and easy to install, so why not give it a try?

If you are looking to assign quotas or budgets, document security and BYOD then check out PaperCut NG.

Currently PaperCut Views is only developed in English, but we're looking at translating it to other languages very soon. Please let us know what language you want us to work on first!

We're definitely looking to keep developing the featured for PaperCut Views. We would love your feedback on what you like, love, hate or want to see, so give us a shout and let us know!

PaperCut Views is developed to provide printing insights and forecasting. If you need additional print management features like these, as well as print accounting, quota control, database integration and more, have a look over our other PaperCut products; PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF.

Views draws its information regarding the printers from the internet connection, and will automatically detect when a new printer is added. When a new printer is added, Views will begin monitoring the new queue and consumable usage.

You'll need to install the Client on to any server or workstation that is hosting print queues that you want to monitor. For example, if you have 2 print servers, run the install for the Client on both of the print servers so all the print queues are monitored.

If you've just signed up to PaperCut Views, there will be a prompt in the banner with the Client download. If you have already downloaded the Client and am wanting to download it on another devices, go to the "Clients" tab and the download link will be accessible there.

When you download the client installer from the ‘Clients' section of the PaperCut Views Dashboard, the client is configured with a key that is valid for 1 hour. If you try and install the client after that time, it will ask for a key.

To get the key required, log into the Dashboard and click on ‘Clients' on the left in the PaperCut Views console, then click on the ‘Get a Client key' link. You can then use that key to install the client.

No, however the Print Spooler service will be restarted as part of the installation, so if you're installing on a production Print Server, it may be worth waiting for an out-of-hours time slot!

Yes, if you have version 18.1.1 or later for PaperCut NG/MF you can run PaperCut Views on the same server.

PaperCut views is Cloud Hosted, which means the Client needs internet access to send the data to the cloud. There isn't an option to upload data or self host at this time.

PaperCut Views is a cloud-based program that can monitor all print devices with an internet connection. All devices are monitored on one dashboard, which can be accessed on any server or computer.

Currently PaperCut View is only available for Windows print servers and workstations. We are working on bringing PaperCut Views to Mac and Linux so keep an eye on this space.

Yes, if you have multiple devices that are different makes and models attached to the print server, the print queue will be fully monitored through PaperCut Views.

To bypass your firewall through Windows:

1. Press the windows button and select Control Panel in the menu.
2. Under Control Panel → System and Security → Services → Windows Firewall → Allow an app through Windows Firewall.
3. Ensure "PaperCut Views" is present in the list of allowed apps,
   • Otherwise, proceed to "Allow another app"
   • Proceed to go to "Path" and click "Browse"
   • Find your PaperCut Views directory (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\PaperCut Views")
   • Locate "pc-views.exe" and click "Add"
   • Ensure the "Private" and 'Public" buttons are also checked

Otherwise, if you use a firewall, open port 443 TCP (HTTPS) to bypass restrictions.

At the moment, we don’t have the feature to remove or block printers that are scanned when PaperCut Views is installed on your computer. However, you can configure monitoring to only monitor selected networks, with the following steps:

1. Stop "pc-views" service
2. In the PaperCut Views directory (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\PaperCut Views"), edit "data\config\pc-views-connector.config", change the "subnets" content to the subnets you wish to monitor.
   {
       "serverRoot": "https://views.papercut.com",
       "scannerConfig": {
           "subnets": ["127.0.0.1/32"]
       }
   }
3. Start "pc-views" service again

If you want to disable monitoring for queues, follow the steps provided below:

1. Proceed to your directory of PaperCut Views (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\PaperCut Views")
2. Open "pc-queue-monitor.conf" in a text editor
3. Input your desired pinters to ignore after the "IgnorePrinters=" line
   Note: The list of string values you use to ignore printers should be the Windows queue name you have given on the "Devices and Printers" on your Windows machine or print server.
4. Restart "pc-views" service in the task manager and now all print queues shouldn’t be monitored anymore