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Introduction
When you, a server administrator, create a "printer" (a print queue) on a Windows Server, you need to set its properties correctly, because these properties are passed down to the Windows client computers printing to this queue, and the clients cannot override many of these properties. This document explains some of the default printer properties that we have to change. (Right-click a printer and choose Properties.)
Many of the settings that follow are specific to the printer driver in use for each device. Anytime you're not seeing what is described here, use the Apply button to make your last changes effective, then look again.
Printer driver: Xerox Global Print Driver (X-GPD) PostScript
Current version on print.ads.carleton.edu: 5.303.16.0, dated Feb 14, 2013
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If a printer is Offline (turned off or disconnected from the network), Bi-Di communication is not going to work and so printer features and defaults cannot be set correctly. You have to get the printer back online and seen by the server before you can continue. If you're not sure if the printer is really offline or not, look it up in /wiki/spaces/itskb/pages/26119478 (CWW)–when CWW agrees that it's offline, then there is definitely a network communications problem that must be fixed. If a duplexer or tray is not being detected correctly, it's usually a physical problem: check that the duplexing unit or tray is installed and seated correctly. If a duplexer cannot be detected correctly, then Bi-Di communication must be disabled and noted, and the device Installable Options must be set manually.
X-GPD Printing (driver) defaults
Once the printer driver, model, communications, and features are set correctly, then you can select printer default settings, which have to be set in the correct places. First, on the Advanced Tab, we do not change any of these settings except: for PaperCut-managed printers, turn off "Enable advanced printing features". (For the few printers not managed by PaperCut, leave this on for extra functionality.) Now, from the Advanced tab, choose the Printing Defaults button. The dialog boxes you see here from here on are driver-specific; for the X-GPD driver, you see 4 tabs. Choose the Advanced tab and expand the settings under Document Options-> Paper/Output. If there is a setting for Banner Page, turn it off; if there is a setting for Job Identification, change it to Disable Job ID (which turns the banner page off).
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Another choice made by the printer operator is, for color devices with a single print queue, whether the default output should be color or black and white. If the operator prefers this print queue to default to black and white (b&w, also known as grayscale) for Windows clients, that will be noted at the end of the Comments textbox on the General tab. (Sometimes, there will be a BLDGRoom-Model queue for color, and another BLDGRoom-Gray-Model queue for grayscale printing as default or as a forced conversion.) You set this under the Printing Defaults on the Color Options tab, which normally defaults to Automatic Color (Recommended) for color-capable devices.
Printer driver: HP Universal Printing Driver (HPUPD) PCL6
Current version on print.ads.carleton.edu: 61.140.04.14430, dated Dec 15, 2012
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Second, the HPUPD does not correctly detect a printer’s features (memory, duplex, trays, etc.) until it has communicated with the printer once. I run this detection when I install the Windows Server driver for each printer, but of course it doesn’t work if the printer is off or is missing some of its accessories. Until this runs once for each networked printer, with all intended add-ons installed and active on the printer, the configuration may not match the printer’s features. To update this anytime on the Windows server, select the printer and choose Properties; on the Device Settings tab, scroll down and expand Installable Options, then change the Automatic Configuration dropdown to Update Now. It will immediately try to contact the printer and adjust the configuration, which you’ll see in a popup progress dialog. After this, change the Printer Status Notification setting right under that to Disabled, then choose OK.
HPUPD Printing (driver) defaults
Once the printer driver, model, communications, and features are set correctly, then you can select printer default settings, which have to be set in the correct place. First, on the Advanced Tab, we do not change any of these settings except: for PaperCut-managed printers, turn off "Enable advanced printing features". (For the few printers not managed by PaperCut, leave this on for extra functionality.) Now, from the Advanced tab, choose the Printing Defaults button. The dialog boxes you see here from here on are driver-specific; for the HPUPD, you see 8 tabs. Choose the Printing Shortcuts tab. You can choose duplex in the Print on both sides: textbox: choose Yes, flip over. It is appropriate to set duplex as the default for all networked printers (unless an operator has specified otherwise) , and for any other printer whose Comments textbox on the General tab ends with a notation that this printer should be set to duplex by default. (That choice was made by the printer operator.) Right under that, make sure the Paper type: textbox is Unspecified; anything else will cause unwanted prompts for different papers.
On HP printers with powered envelope feeders, we have received some reports that the type of media in the feeder is not being detected correctly, so a prompt to load Letter in the feeder appears. The fix appears to be to change the default media in the feeder: on the Device Settings tab, in the "Form to Tray Assignment" section, change Envelope Feeder to Envelope #10.
Printer driver: Canon iR-ADV C5051 PostScript
Current version on print.ads.carleton.edu: 20.85.0.0, dated Nov 27, 2012
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If a printer is Offline (turned off or disconnected from the network), Bi-Di communication is not going to work and so printer features and defaults cannot be set correctly. You have to get the printer back online and seen by the server before you can continue. If you're not sure if the printer is really offline or not, look it up in /wiki/spaces/itskb/pages/26119478 (CWW)–when CWW agrees that it's offline, then there is definitely a network communications problem that must be fixed. If a duplexer or tray is not being detected correctly, it's usually a physical problem: check that the duplexing unit or tray is installed and seated correctly. If a duplexer cannot be detected correctly, then the device options must be set manually. You can see a list of the installed options on the PostScript config page, described here .
CC5051 Printing (driver) defaults
Once the printer driver, model, communications, and features are set correctly, then you can select printer default settings, which have to be set in the correct place. First, on the Advanced Tab, we do not change any of these settings except: for PaperCut-managed printers, turn off "Enable advanced printing features". (For the few printers not managed by PaperCut, leave this on for extra functionality.) Now, from the Advanced tab, choose the Printing Defaults button. The dialog boxes you see here from here on are driver-specific; for the CC5051, you see 7 tabs.
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