040 | Print Spooler: (almost) everything you need to know

Welcome to a special edition of Print Geeks. Today, we're excited to share a success story from Pittsburgh Technical College in Pennsylvania, USA. Pittsburgh Technical College recently faced a daunting challenge – an uncontrollable printing environment that led to wasted resources and a monthly paper bill of $30,000. But thanks to PaperCut MF, their paper usage was dramatically reduced to just $2,500 per month, and the transformation didn't stop there. Join us as we delve into how PaperCut's flagship print solution, along with Mobility Print and Print Deploy, not only slashed costs but also provided essential visibility and security. Director of Network Operations, Jon Buhagiar, tells us how they regained control, simplified their printing experience, and even tackled security risks like PrintNightmare. Discover how Pittsburgh Technical College saved money, trees, and gained control over their print environment, all while enhancing security and user-friendliness. Stay tuned for this inspiring journey of transformation with PaperCut.

PaperCut's resident print management specialist is back for his patented check-up on all the latest and greatest features and enhancements for PaperCut products. In today's episode, the Doctor provides a dose of updates including direct print jobs, integrated scanning, Fujifilm MFD embeddeds, data centers for PaperCut Hive and PaperCut Pocket, and more. Missing anything from the Doctor's check-up, drop him an email at [email protected] with all your prescription needs.

Print Spoolers. You might not know what they are, or why they are, but chances are you've come across many a "Paused - Printer Spooling" message while printing. In this installment of Print Geeks, we explain what print spoolers are, why they exist, why print spooling issues occur, and how to fix them. To do so, our host PaperCutter Kieron is joined by his semi-regular co-host, PaperCutter Jamie. Together the duo is joined by PaperCut legend and former Microsoft employee, PaperCutter Alan Morris. He taps into his experience of building the Windows print system to provide all the must-know basics and tips on the Windows Print Spooler, as well as alternatives like CUPS for macOS and Linux. Want to know (almost) everything you need to know about Print Spoolers and print spooling? Start here! For more on Print Spoolers, check out these other pieces of content: Printer spooling: what it is and how to fix it: https://www.papercut.com/blog/print_basics/printer-spooling-what-is-it-and-how-to-fix-it/ Print Bits: Let's chat about Print Spoolers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1hE5Ih6pcE Chapters: Introduction 0:13 Meet the Alan, the Original Geek 2:31 Why are Print Spooler issues so common? 5:11 What is a Print Spooler? 7:11 Print spooling v Print Spooler v CUPS 8:46 Why do you need a print spooler? 9:42 The baseball analogy... 10:56 Print Drivers and causes of print spooler problems 12:41 How do Print Spooler problems occur? 16:35 The canary analogy... 19:00 Alan's troubleshooting tips 19:49 Print service logs 20:59 Dump files 25:13 Remote desktop redirected printers 27:20 What to do: end-user and IT admin guide 30:08 Bringing it home... 36:21

Schools print a lot. Specifically, schools, from K-12 to higher education, spend approximately 10% of their annual budget on printing. Assignments, worksheets, letterheads, records, essays, study guides, study notes, readings, tests - all of that is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the various document types printed by students and staff in schools. It is therefore vital that schools have print management software to control and administer their printing environments. On this deep dive episode, Print Geeks founding member PaperCutter Al drops by the pod booth to discuss in-depth with PaperCutter Kieron why all schools need print management software. Chapters: Welcome to Print Geeks 0:00:15 Today's guest: PaperCutter Al 1:31 School famous: the kids know PaperCut! 3:12 Why print management is essential in education 5:20 BYOD printing: anytime, anywhere 12:41 A note on print enablement 15:19 Visibility: print data and insights 17:22 Ease of use: making printing simple 20:43 Cost savings: control consumables 27:03 Cost recovery: payment kiosks 29:17 Data and document security 31:02 Waste reduction 38:13 Freeing up IT time 41:36 Summary 45:39

For this audio guide on everything you need to know about print security, Print Geeks host PaperCutter Kieron is joined by PaperCut IT and Security Manager, Stan Chathuruthy. Stan discusses the print document lifestyle with Kieron and wags his finger at Kieron's less-than-secure password management processes in the PaperCut office. Chapters: Intro 0:14 Forgotten password: a timeless tale 2:12 IT and Security Manager - PaperCutter Stan 3:51 Is print security overlooked in IT? 5:08 Human error: the biggest security threat 7:08 Phishing attacks 9:50 Common print security leaks 14:53 The print document lifecycle 16:49 Securing print infrastructure 17:29 Securing print workflows 20:38 What is encryption? 22:20 Balancing convenience and security 26:54 Securing printed output 31:27 The #1 thing to know about security... 35:59 Attack surface area explained 37:00 Hackers: blackhats, whitehats, greyhats 41:23 Stan's final print security tips 42:25 Conclusion 44:11

It's another Print Geeks assemble episode! PaperCutters Kieron and Jamie are joined by regular and print industry veteran, PaperCutter Lucas, and making her Print Geeks debut is Rebecca Ballantyne, from our Customer Experience team. And we're talking about the cloud again. Specifically, we dive into everything you need to know about printing and the cloud: Why is the cloud a hot topic in the print industry? What is cloud printing? What is cloud print management? Why are businesses moving their printing to the cloud? All those questions and more are answered in this all-star panel. Episode timestamps: Intro 0:13 "Printees" not customers 3:19 What's the deal with printing and the cloud? 4:08 Cloud printing vs cloud print management 4:56 The "print pyramid": infrastructure, enablement, and management 6:37 What "printees" mean when they say cloud 10:14 Who says "cloud" anyway? 12:46 What printing problems? 14:09 Printing from cloud storage 16:33 Back to the print pyramid! 17:29 Private, public, and hybrid cloud 18:29 Hardware lease agreements and the cloud 20:59 What's a "server" anyway? 21:53 Why are we talking about the cloud like it's 2009? 24:43 Print: the "last bastion" of the cloud 26:12 How cloud-hosted print software works... 31:14 Think "printing problems" before thinking cloud 33:54 Summary 36:45 Outro 40:31

Looking for how to solve those pesky printing problems? Bracknell-based PaperCutter, technical support engineer Jemma Roxburgh, drops by the show and tells PaperCutter Kieron all about the most common PaperCut printing problems and how to troubleshoot them. Slight disclaimer, we're mainly referring to issues experienced in PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG managed print environments, but we also have some PaperCut Hive and PaperCut Pocket tips. Tune in to hear all the top tips on how to cure your printing woes. As well as some fun anecdotes about the wild and wacky world that is working in technical support. Episode timestamps: Introduction 0:13 A bit about Jemma and how PaperCut support works 3:51 Printing problems overview 7:21 How to log in 9:47 Site down situations 12:30 Upgrading too high 18:01 Print Nightmare 19:55 BYOD printing issues 23:15 Mobility Print troubleshooting 26:48 Print Deploy troubleshooting 32:24 Secure Print Release 36:47 MFD issues 38:22 Printer driver tips 42:47 Network issues 46:24 PaperCut application server specs 49:00 PaperCut Hive and PaperCut Pocket tips 52:29 Thank you Jemma 55:51 Printing problems summary 56:50

Ever found it difficult to buy PaperCut software? Unsure what the difference is between PaperCut Resellers and PaperCut Authorized Solution Centers and PaperCut Authorized Partners? Can't tell the difference between Technical Support, Technical Services, and Customer Care? We have the episode for you. PaperCutter Kieron is joined by two traveling Portland PaperCutters, Shari and Ariel, to answer the question: how do you get PaperCut software? They also explain the PaperCut ecosystem and who to talk to during each stage of your software-buying journey. 

Sidestepping from the print side of things, and focusing on the human, brings us this week’s installment of the Print Geeks podcast. I’m joined by visiting Portland PaperCutters Operation Specialist Shari and Customer Care Specialist Ariel to talk about PaperCut’s global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging group, or DEIB for short. DEIB is a unique part of PaperCut culture. It’s been going 3 years strong and strives to ensure all PaperCutters and partners feel a sense of home and can embrace what makes them unique, inside and out. Shari and Ariel were in town, along with many other global DEIB members, planning DEIB’s next 12 months, and to celebrate Midsumma Pride March here in Melbourne Australia. I had a chat with the two about what DEIB is, how it was founded, why it’s important in every workplace, and how the Midsumma Pride March went.

In the first episode of the Print Geeks podcast for 2023, PaperCutters Kieron and Jamie are joined by fellow PaperCutter but also print legend, Alan Morris. The trio dives into possibly the printiest and geekiest episode we’ve yet attempted. Alan taps into his past tenure at Microsoft to walk us through the history of the print server and his work building the Windows print systems.