Common Global Print Driver Questions

Most information about the PaperCut Global Print driver can be found in this section of the manual or on the Global Print Driver Tour page. This FAQ page is curated by the PaperCut Support Team to answer any additional questions about our Global PostScript driver and how it can help you implement Find-Me Printing. What is the PaperCut Global Print Driver? The PaperCut Global Print Driver is a driver that we’ve built to enable Find-Me printing and printer load balancing in environments with printers and copiers from many different brands. Before the PaperCut Global PostScript driver, customers would have to have one Find-Me queue per brand of printer. With the PaperCut Global PostScript Driver, customers need only install a single print queue on user’s workstations that can be compatible with any printer or copier in their organization. Part of the magic of the PaperCut Global PostScript driver is that it allows users to select different finishing options like Color, Duplex, and even Stapling. When the document is released at a specific printer or copier the PaperCut server will modify the spool files of the print job in the background (using PDL Transforms) to give the printer the correct instructions for the print job. The PaperCut Global Print Driver is signed, is available for Windows print environments, and is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit clients. Do I have to use the PaperCut Global Print Driver with PaperCut? Nope. The PaperCut Global Print Driver is a good choice for specific situations, but it is not mandatory. In fact, if you have a fairly homogenous fleet of printers (mostly from one printer manufacturer, or one model of printer) it’s usually advantageous to use that same manufacturer’s model-specific driver or “universal” driver instead to get the most out of your printer’s features. How does the PaperCut Global Print Driver compare to “universal” drivers? The PaperCut Global Print Driver should not be confused with “universal” drivers offered by leading printer manufacturers. Manufacturer universal drivers are designed to work with multiple models across a single brand. PaperCut’s Global Print Driver works across both multiple models and multiple brands. If you have a homogenous fleet of printers, all from the same brand, we recommend using that manufacturer’s Universal Driver for your “Find-Me” print queue. If you have a mixed fleet of printers, all from different brands, then consider using the PaperCut Global PostScript Driver for your “Find-Me” print queue. Manufacturer’s “Universal” Driver Designed to be compatible with most or all models of printer from that brand. Generally supports advanced finishing options like hole-punching and stapling. Recommended for your Find-Me queue when all your printers are from one manufacturer to get the most functionality from your printers. PaperCut Global PostScript Driver Designed to be broadly compatible with most makes and models of printer from any brand. Limited support for finishing options. Supports stapling for specific brands. Recommended for your Find-Me queue when your printers are from various manufacturers to keep things simple for your users. What finishing options does the PaperCut Global Print Driver support? We’re glad you asked! The PaperCut Global Postscript Driver let’s users choose… Color or Grayscale Simplex or Duplex Paper sizes Tray Selection Stapling* ×_As of version 18.3.3 of PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG, the Global Print Driver now also supports stapling when used in conjunction with certain vendor drivers. Such as Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Xerox, Kyocera, Riso, Lexmark, Sharp and Toshiba. We are currently tracking demand for other vendors drivers, so please raise a support ticket and let us know if you would like your printer manufacturer to be added to this list._ Where do I get the PaperCut Global Print Driver and how do I install it? The PaperCut Global Print Driver is included with the installation files of PaperCut NG/MF. The files can be found in [app-path]\providers\print\drivers\global\win\ (on a 64-bit server running PaperCut MF, this path would be C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\Providers\Print\drivers\global\win). To install the driver, just log onto your PaperCut server and follow these instructions. Why are some driver options missing in the user interface? The PaperCut Global Print Driver uses the Windows PostScript UI component which behaves differently depending on the Advanced Printing Features setting. This is consistent with other print drivers that use the same UI component as demonstrated in the video below. Why isn’t Duplex/Stapling/Tray Selection working as expected with my printers? We’re constantly looking to improve how our driver works and make sure it is compatible with as many printer brands as possible. If you encounter trouble, please have a look at our article Troubleshooting the PaperCut Global Print Driver and follow the steps to raise a support ticket with us so we can address the issue. What driver should be used for the destination print queues? We recommend using the manufacturer’s model-specific driver or “universal” driver on the destination queues. PaperCut will read the name of this driver on the destination queue, and will use this information to adjust the print job so that finishing options like stapling are applied correctly. You could use the PaperCut Global PostScript driver for the destination queue as well. This won’t hurt but it also might prevent a document from being stapled correctly. Will this slow down my printing, especially if a transform is used? If no transforms are applied, there should be no change in the print workflow or performance. When the transforms are applied, there might be a small delay as the spool file needs to be analyzed and transformed to be printed on the destination printer. If you are having trouble with slow printing and PaperCut, we recommend having a look at our article Troubleshooting Slow Printing. Is there a macOS version of the PaperCut Global PostScript driver? Not at the minute, but we are tracking demand though. If this is something you’re interested in, please start a support ticket and tell us a little bit about how this would help you. For the time being, in macOS and Linux environments we recommend using the “Generic PostScript Driver” that comes bundled with these platforms. I saw that Mobility Print uses the PaperCut Global PostScript Driver, does that mean it supports stapling? Yes, under specific circumstances. Windows Mobility Print clients use the PaperCut Global PostScript driver, and this allows users to staple their documents if certain requirements are met. It must be a Windows client It must be a Windows Mobility Print server The print queue on the server must also be configured to use the PaperCut Global PostScript driver The print job must be redirected to a queue configured with a staple supported vendor driver When the client and server both use the PaperCut Global Postscript driver, then that enables what we call “passthrough mode”. This should allow Windows Mobility Print clients to have the option to staple their documents. You can find all the details on how passthrough mode works here . Still have questions? Let us know! We love chatting about what’s going on under the hood. Feel free to leave a comment below or visit our Support Portal for further assistance.