Printers

Use this screen to review/edit/delete existing devices and to add a new device after it has been attached to the network. First, you can read background information about print modes.

To add a new device:

  1. Click Add New.
    The Add Printer screen opens.

  2. Configure the parameters described below.

  3. Click Save.

 

Parameter

Explanation

Device Type

  • External – Sentinel Touch Screen Controller or Sentinel Light Controller. Assumes pull printing.

  • Internal – Sentinel embedded in a BSI-enabled device

  • Virtual – Virtual printer, saves print jobs as files on Sentinel server

  • Push Printing – The system does not hold the jobs, just monitors them, and jobs are printed as soon as they are sent.

(Read about print modes.)

Printer Type

The type of printer most relevant for your device. For example, black and white.

Printer

Select the printer from the list of printers attached to the device.

IP Address

The fixed IP address of the new device (numeric).

External Controller

For a Sentinel light controller combined with a BSI-enabled device. The IP address of the controller.

Location

A short description of where the device is located. For example, on a particular floor or in a room or department.

Description

A short description of the device. For example, “high-quality printer for marketing material”.

Site

Usually a physical site. For example, your organization has offices in two different cities, and both locations use the same Sentinel database.

Device Group

Assign the device to a Device Group.

Device Profile

Assign the device to a Device Profile.

Copier

If the device is attached to a copier machine that is not a printer, you must give it an identification name since it doesn’t appear in the Windows printers list.

Supported Types

Available additional printer types. Select from this list if your device supports more than one type of printing (in addition to the type you defined in Printer Type.

Print or Copy

The device type: printer only, copier only, or a multifunction machine:

  • Printer – The waiting print job is released according to the defined print and user options. This device type does not allow scanning or copying.

  • Copier Sentinel opens the copier machine for a predefined period of time (see the Time-Out Copy field) in which the user can make copies. When the time period ends, or after the user presses the <ESC> button on the device, the machine is locked again and the number of copies printed is written to the server database. This device type does not allow scanning or printing.

  • Multifunction – The controller on the device asks which function to perform (usually "Print" or "Copy"). This is the only device type that allows scanning. 

Port Name

If you are using the SNMP Count option, ensure this field contains the IP address of the physical printer.  Sentinel attempts to figure out this information from the Windows port, but it is not 100% accurate. If you are not using SNMP, then this information is not used.

Default Printer Permissions

Whether Sentinel should allow or deny printing from everyone, with exceptions.

Time-Out Copy

Overrides the default values defined in the device profile and in Card Reader | Timeout. Indicates the number of seconds that the copier device remains open for the user to make copies. 

Use Bill Code

Useful when you have installed an external client. Defines the maximum number of pages that can be printed without entering a bill code. When the user exceeds the maximum, a notification appears on the user's screen. If zero, there is no limit.

Scan Direct

Allows you to scan documents to a specific user folder or email.

NOTE: Only relevant for external Sentinel controllers. (For BSI-enabled printers, ensure you have configured the Authentication Settings.)

It is not enough to simply enable this option. In addition:

  1. When enabled, Sentinel creates a new subfolder in the Sentinel queue folder, for example, C:\Sentinel\Queue\printer. (If not created, you have to create it manually.)

  2. Redirect the internal device settings (not via Sentinel) to scan to the subfolder.

  3. In Sentinel, ensure the Print or Copy type is Multifunction.

  4. For each user, type the appropriate values in the Mail and Scan to Folder fields.

For these users, their card identification triggers Sentinel to take the file in the printer subfolder and send it to the user email or copy it to the user folder.

Count Ps/Pcl

Useful when Sentinel page counts are wrong. Counts the number of pages and copies in the print job by parsing the actual print job. This is only possible if the print job is in PostScript or PCL5 languages.

Usually, when printing from Windows applications, the number of pages and copies in the print job is reported by the Windows spooler subsystem to Sentinel. Incorrect results may be due to

  • Collated copies
  • Print jobs arriving from non-standard applications
  • Printing from non-Windows applications such as UNIX, DOS, AS/400, and Mac OS.
CAUTION! Using this checkbox with a printer driver that is not PCL5 or PostScript (that is, PCL6 or GDI) can lead to extremely inaccurate page counts.

Active if number of pages is 0

Allows Ps/Pcl to operate automatically if the number of counted pages is zero. (You must have selected Count Ps/Pcl.)

Open Copier Before Printing

Opens the multifunction device for copy before printing. The user's waiting print jobs will be released, and if not, the copier function is automatically available. This option eliminates the user’s need to select a print or copy function each time.

Open Copier After Printing

Opens the multifunction device for copy after printing. The user's waiting print jobs will be released, and if not, the copier function is automatically available. This eliminates the user’s need to select a print or copy function each time.

SNMP Count

Allows the Sentinel server to communicate with the printer to verify exactly how many pages were actually printed (even if the user cancelled the job in the middle).

Ensure that Port Name has the correct IP address value of the machine; otherwise, the server can receive unexpected results.

Delete Job on Error

Allows Sentinel to check if the printer encountered an error during printing (using SNMP, so you must define SNMP communications properly first).  If an error is discovered, Sentinel deletes the job from the printer queue and sends HTTP messages to the printer so it will purge the rest of the print job. No additional pages of old print jobs are printed until the malfunction in the printer is fixed.

Only works with specific printer models. Consult your Sentinel vendor.

Printer Exception Groups

If you select Allow all or Deny all in Default Printer Permissions, you can add exceptions here. Select a group from the group list and click Add Group to add that group to the exception list. To remove a group, select from the exception list and click Remove Group.

 

You can take the following actions: