FAQ - U-Print: ACCC Remote Printing

During the Fall 2007 semester, ACCC began deployment of a new version of the Pharos print system to better manage the server load caused by the ever-increasing print volume among UIC network users. Pharos is the system that manages the overall printing process; deploying a new version mid-semester has presented many challenges! The result is that we're currently running two versions, Pharos 6 and Pharos 7. Check this table to see which labs are running which versions. This document will highlight the differences between the two systems - most importantly, where each is currently deployed, allowing users to find the version that may best fit their needs. Other differences will be highlighted throughout this FAQ.

Check your quota status. Check how many pages you have printed this semester (on the Pharos 6 system) on this Web page. Note that as of this writing, the quota page has the wrong price per page for Pharos 6; it has been reduced from 10 cents per page to 8 cents per page. The cost on Pharos 7 is different.

Note: an equivalent service for Pharos 7 does not yet exist. However, you can view your Pharos 7 balance at any U-Print station running Pharos 7. Upon login, view your balance in the lower-left corner. Additionally, you may check with an ACCC consultant with access to Pharos 7 tools. They can review your print history with you.

Res-Net/UIC Wireless/UNAS printing available. Printing services are also available for those connecting via active Res-net, UIC wireless and UNAS. Once you are on the UIC network, follow this link to the U-Print Pop-Up client.

Note: we are currently testing the U-Print Pop-Up client that will work with Pharos 7. This client will also support Windows Vista and work within Campus Housing and the labs they support.

Question 1.1 What is U-Print?

U-Print is the printing system available in ACCC Public Computing Labs. It is also used via Res-Net, UIC Wireless and UNAS stations. U-Print manages the printer queue, making it easier for you to print your job when you want it, where you want it!

Question 1.2 What are the benefits?

The benefits are many, here are some of the highlights:

• It is a print-on-demand system - the job is printed only when you release it from the U-Print station.
• Privacy is not compromised. Job output doesn't collect at the printer.
• Multiple output locations - print from any U-Print station in any ACCC lab. Note: Until we are again running just one version of Pharos, this is not true. Users must be mindful of what Pharos version the lab is running and then select a U-Print station running that same version of Pharos. The ACCC deployment approach involves upgrading both a lab's computers and U-Print stations at the same time, meaning it's always safest to print in the same lab you've worked from.
• Valuable resources (paper and toner) as well as wear-and-tear on the printer are drastically reduced.

Question 1.3 How does it work?

The U-Print system provides much more control over when and where your jobs print. The steps, explained in detail below, are as follows:

1. Submit print jobs from the local lab computer using the installed print client.
2. To print the job, walk to a U-Print station, located next to each printer in the labs.
3. Enter your netid and password at the U-Print station when prompted.
4. After successful login, a screen appears, listing all jobs that you have submitted for printing. Your U-Print balance (reflective of the Pharos version you're currently using) displays in the lower-left corner of the screen.
1. You now have the option of printing or deleting the jobs listed in the queue.
2. Clicking on each print job will show you (in the lower left hand corner of the screen) the number of pages for this job and its cost.
3. Select a job and click on Print to print it or Delete to delete the job without printing.
4. If the cost of the job you are trying to print is equal to or less than your U-Print balance, you will be able to print the job. Your balance is adjusted.
5. If the cost of the job exceeds your balance, even by a few cents, you will need to use value added to your i-card before you can print the job. See the Card Add-Value Station section below. Insert i-card into the card reader next to the U-Print station.
6. U-Print will not combine your remaining balance with value from another source. If your balance does not cover the cost of the job, the entire job cost must be available on your i-card (or Flames card).
7. Jobs selected for printing will start to print. You can print or delete other print jobs in the queue or,
8. Click on Exit when you are done.
9. Note: before releasing multiple jobs for print, make sure the first job prints successfully. Once jobs are released, they're no longer available from other U-Print stations. Should the printer malfunction or exhibit quality issues with paper or toner, you have no recourse to print those jobs elsewhere. We strongly advise that you confirm the printer is working and that job quality is adequate before releasing subsequent jobs. ACCC will not process refund requests in situations where multiple jobs were submitted and no effort was made to check that the printer was functioning and/or output quality was adequate.
10. Pick up your output from the printer. Note: The banner page containing information about your print job is your receipt. If there are any problems with your print job and you choose to report them, you must have your receipt. Banner pages are not charged against your printing account.
11. Once the job is printed, it is removed from the system and cannot be retrieved.
12. Jobs left in the print queue for more than 12 hours will be deleted.
13. There is a time-out of 20 seconds at the print station, after which you will be logged off.

Question 2.1 What are the quotas and charges?

Among the main goals of U-Print is to reduce waste. To support your need to print and address the waste problem, we provide a limited amount of printing at no cost to you. At the beginning of each semester, your U-Print balance is set to a credit of $15.00. The semester is defined as the period between the week before classes start until the week before the next semester starts.

Fall 2007 finds ACCC running both Pharos 6 and Pharos 7 print servers. Because the deployment of Pharos 7 started once the semester was underway, the deployment is not complete and we must work in a two-server environment. The first time output is generated in a Pharos 7 lab/U-Print station, another $15.00 quota is issued. Once Pharos 7 is fully deployed, the Pharos 6 server will be retired and any unused Pharos 6 quota will be lost. The cost-per-job rate structure is slightly different in each and is described in the table below.

Duplex (two-sided) printing is set as the default in all ACCC labs. Duplex can be overridden to simplex (single-sided) output through the local print client installed on lab computers. This table summarizes the variable charges for output printed from the two systems. Please note that in the table below a page is defined as a printed side and a sheet is defined as a physical piece of paper.

***This table reflects Pharos 7 rates effective 10/4/2007, when the cost for duplex was changed from $0.08/page to $0.04/page. Pharos 7 usage prior to 10/4/07 would have been charged at a higher rate of $0.08/page. Users were issued a new $15.00 balance when Pharos 7 usage started. We will not process refund requests to cover the difference in charges.

With Pharos 7 (as with Pharos 6) there are bargains when printing simplex. Use the default duplex setting and realize the savings that the Pharos 7 rates provide.

Question 2.2 Will my remaining U-Print balance be carried over into the next semester?

U-Print balances remaining at the end of the semester will not carry over to the next semester. Your account will be reset to $15.00. Any value you have added to your I-card for printing remains on your i-card.

Question 2.3 How can I check my U-Print balance on the Pharos 6 System?

You can check your balance and printing history for this semester on this Web page.

Question 2.4 How can I check my U-Print balance on the Pharos 7 System?

We don't yet have a self-service web page for Pharos 7 print activity but anticpate that service will be ready early in Spring 2008. In the meantime, you can check your balance from U-Print stations running Pharos 7. Login and check the lower-left corner for your balance. Additionally, you can ask a consultant with access to Pharos 7 tools to review your printing history.

Question 2.5 How much money should I have on my i-card?

If you need to add money to your i-card, you may want to consider adding small amounts of money. Should you lose your i-card, the value added will not be refundable.

Question 2.6 Which labs are running Pharos 6? Pharos 7?

This table summarizes the lab locations, Pharos version and availability of Card-add Value Stations.

For a complete list of PC Lab hours and locations, see ACCC Public Computer Lab Hours.

Question 2.7 How do I add money to my i-card?

Two ways.

1. There are Card-add Value Stations (CVS) in almost all ACCC lab locations, with some exceptions. These CVS only accept cash, not coins and not credit cards!
2. If you only have loose change, or you only need to add a small amount, consider using a UIC Copy Machine, scattered througout campus, to add value to your icard or Flames Card.

Question 2.8 I lost my i-card, how can I print?

Until you replace your i-card, you can also print using a Flames Card, which are dispensed at Card-add Value Stations and cost $1.00.

Notify the i-card office immediately - in person or by phone - whenever your i-card is lost! Until it's cancelled, you risk losing meal plan and banking resources associated with it. However, cancelling your i-card will not prevent someone from utilizing value added for printing purposes. We can not issue refunds for i-cards lost with money on them.

Question 2.9 What happens if the job I just printed does not print correctly?

There are a couple of things to be aware of, mentioned earlier but worth repeating.

1. Before releasing multiple jobs to the printer, make sure the first job prints successfully. Once jobs are released, they're no longer available from other U-Print stations. Should the printer malfunction or exhibit quality issues with paper or toner, you have no recourse to print released jobs elsewhere. We strongly advise that you confirm the printer is working and that job quality is adequate before releasing subsequent jobs. ACCC will not approve refund requests in situations where multiple jobs were submitted and no effort was made to check that the printer was functioning and/or output quality was adequate.
2. If you do print a job and find that the quality of the output is substandard, you can get the job reprinted at no charge. Simply send the job to the printer again (but don't print it!) and visit the Client Services Office or see the CSO consultant in the lab. Bring your bad print job and cover sheet to a consultant and they will print the job for you free of charge on a functioning printer.
3. If the above isn't an option, then you should do two things:
   1. Re-submit your print job, but release it from another print station - one that is working with better quality output.
   2. Retain the bad job (and cover sheet - it's your receipt) and seek out a consultant as soon as possible. Present the materials and request a refund.
4. ACCC has the final say on the quality of job. Obviously streaks and crumpled paper are considered poor quality and we will do our best to make sure you get satisfactory output. ACCC lab printers are high-volume printers designed to cater to the diverse printing needs of students. You can not expect resume-quality output from these printers. When that level of quality is desired, please seek commercial printing services positioned to guarantee quality.

Question 3.1 Which labs are using U-Print?

All of the ACCC Labs are using U-Print, as listed above. Also participating in the system are: Honors College lab (BH B11), School of Public Health (SPHW 523), College of Pharmacy and College of Medicine labs. Same rules apply in these labs.

Question 3.2 Do I have to print jobs in the same lab I submitted them from?

Fall 2007 circumstances dictate that you print your output from a U-Print station running the same version of Pharos as is deployed on the lab computers you're printing from. Pharos 6 jobs will not be available to a Pharos 7 U-Print station, nor will Pharos 7 jobs be available on a Pharos 6 U-Print station. Refer to the lab table to determine what version you're working with. When all print services are again running from just one server, all the following will apply:

You can print any job in any lab, with one condition:

For your job to print properly, the printer that you print the job on must be the same as or similar to the printer in the lab that you printed the job from.

Special jobs, such as those for the plotter in the A&A lab, will only appear in the A&A lab printing station because they cannot be printed on any other ACCC printer.

The default printer type in each lab is the type of printers that are in that lab. (The type of printer(s) available in each lab is included in the detailed information about the lab. Go to click lab's designation -- the building initials and room number -- in the ACCC Public Computer Lab Hours Web page.)

If you are not sure if the printer in the lab you are submitting a print a job in is the same type of printer that's in the lab where you actually want to print that job, select the printer for the lab you'll be printing the job in before you send it to be printed. Notice that "U-Print" has been added to the lab printer names; for example, SEL2265 is now U-Print SEL2265.

You can not change the type of printer after you've submitted a job to be printed, so make sure you're using the right type of printer before you submit anything to be printed.

Question 3.3 What if the printer/printing station or card reader in the lab I am in is down?

While we try to fix problems with the printers as soon as possible, one of the biggest advantages of the system is that the jobs printed in one lab appear in all the other printing stations in all the other ACCC Labs. Simply go to the nearest lab within the next 12 hours and your job will be available to print.

Keep in mind that the printer that you print the job on must be the same as or similar to the printer in the lab that you printed the job from. See Do I have to print jobs in the same lab I submitted them from? for more information.

Question 3.4 Can I print with Guest Login?

No, printing is restricted to current UIC students, staff, and faculty, with a valid netid and password, who've successfully logged into a lab computer.

Question 3.5 Is printing from Tigger/Icarus also going through U-Print?

Yes, jobs printed from the ACCC UNIX systems to a printer in one of our labs will also appear in the list of jobs waiting at the ACCC U-Print Station.

Question 4.1 How can I reduce my output?

There is little need to print multiple copies of output simply to review or proofread it. Review online, following these tips to help reduce the amount of output you do generate:

• Use the built-in spell checker that most applications have to check for spelling errors (and grammar!).
• Use the print preview option where available to see things such as page breaks, headers and footers.
• Don't print your job after every change you make. Work on your document for a while (saving it often!) and print only once for a final proofread.
• Print only one copy. Shop around for places where making photocopies is cheaper than printing.
• Print duplex, which is the default setting. Jobs printed single-sided cost more than a duplex-printed page and waste more paper.
• Turn off graphics in Web browsers to minimize the number of pages in Web output.
• Print 2-up or 4-up to include even more printed pages on a single sheet of paper.

Question 4.2 My jobs all print on both sides of the page (duplex). How do I print jobs simplex (single-sided)?

Duplex (double-sided) printing in the default setting on ACCC printers. If you need to print a job single-sided, follow these steps:

For Windows:

1. Go to the File menu
2. Select Print
3. Click on Properties
4. Select More Options
5. Click on None to remove double sided printing
6. Click on OK
7. Click on Apply
8. Click on OK
9. Click on OK to print the job.

For Macs:

1. Go to the File menu
2. Select Print
3. Select Presets:
4. Select Standard
5. Click Print to print the job.
6. Note the Preview option - use it to confirm your output is paginated correctly.

Question 4.3 How long will my jobs remain in the queue?

Jobs that you have submitted for printing but which have not been printed will remain in the ACCC U-Print queue for 12 hours. The jobs will automatically be purged and cannot be recovered. You are not charged for purged jobs, only those that are released to the printer.

Question 4.4 What else should I be aware of when printing?

• Drivers and Printers

  While jobs can be printed from any ACCC Public Computing Lab computer, and released from a U-Print station in any other ACCC Public Computing Lab, it assumes that the printers in the labs are similar. For example, you could not submit a file to the ACCC U-Print queue and expect it to print on the plotter located in the Art and Architecture lab. The appropriate plotter driver files would need to be used when submitting the job for printing from any ACCC Lab, but the job can only be printed in the A&A Lab.

• Acceptable Use Policies

  Acceptable Use Policies apply to printing services. We will not tolerate misuse or abuse of the printer, U-Print station or card reader. You should not print offensive material or output related to a business or for-profit ventures. Familiarize yourself with the ACCC Policies to prevent suspension or loss of ACCC account privileges.

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