Print-Limit/Print-Limit Pro

About Print·Limit and Print·Limit Pro
Save up to 70% on runaway printing costs with the new print management software designed specifically for schools. (See the chart below.) Monitor, restrict or analyze all student printing in your school, entire district or campus.

Features & Benefits	Save
Control printing costs Reduce paper consumption Set user quotas Monitor printer activity Administer via the Web Produce reports Customize alert messages	Reduce the amount of paper and toner used in your school by up to 70%, saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars from your school budget every year. (See the calculator below.)
Control Print Volume	Monitor Print Activity
Set print quotas and limitations on users to control the amount of printing and encourage the responsible use of valuable school resources.	View detailed reports showing how printers are being used, how much each user is printing and which print jobs are costing the school the most money.

Print·Limit®
Print-Limit is the easy-to-use solution that keeps computer printing costs under control, providing centralized management for all network printers and users.

Track printer usage and the cost of printing for every user
Budget printing for each user by setting an account quota
Set print restrictions for any user in the school
Disallow printing for specific users
Restrict print jobs by number of pages
Prohibit duplicate print jobs
Stop print jobs based on total cost
Deny or restrict color printing
Establish printing costs based on type of toner, paper size, single or double sided, and more
Users can compare print costs by printer and job type
Alert users to the number of pages they are about to print and the cost

Print·Limit® Pro
Print-Limit Pro is the premier solution for controlling printing costs in complex multi-platform environments with a scalable, intuitive web interface and advanced budgeting and reporting tools.

Print-Limit Pro includes all of the features of Print-Limit, plus:

Cross-platform: supports Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac systems
Scales to networks of all sizes
Application is open to allow customization and integration with your own database (like SQL Server and PostgreSQL)
Supports shared accounts for group billing purposes
100% web based interface is accessible from anywhere you can access the web
Supports Microsoft Clustering
Provides control of all print servers from a central location
Customizable web interface utilizing HTML
Supports standard and web-based print release stations

Print-Limit

Print·Limit Product Tour Use this page to see how to set up and use Print·Limit.

Administer user accounts

Use your network domain's users & groups or import them
Manage user credit and access
Monitor expenditures
Track pages printed

Setup printing costs

Set printing cost on a per printer basis
Monitor printer use and load

Control Groups

Monitor printing at the domain group level
Schedule automatic credit allocation on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis
Define rules for automatic account creation (self management)

Advanced Printer Management

Charge by page size or page area
Provide discounts for grayscale and duplex documents
Choose different charging methods for each printer
Filter (restrict) documents by size, cost, color mode or name
Automatically detect and delete duplicate print jobs

View Print History

Recent print jobs
Printing statistics
Other screens for detailed logs and reports

Details

Detailed printing audit on all printers
Export data to Microsoft Access or Excel for graphing and reporting

Web Tools & Administration

Administer user accounts remotely with a standard web browser
Users can track their usage and account status
Transfer funds
Use PrintCards to allocate or sell additional print credits.

Reporting

Use the pre-built reports for monthly tracking
Use network groups to construct department/grade-level specific reports
View printing trends in graphical format
Build your own custom reports using Microsoft Access
Advanced web reporting, including single click export to Excel
Export the raw data into Microsoft Excel for detailed trend analysis

The Print·Limit "User Inquiry Tool"

Display the user's account status on login
Warns user when balance is low
Install on network clients
Choice of Zero install deployment or scripts for automatic "push" installs
Optional (Print·Limit is 100% server-side. No client software is required)

Print-Limit Pro

Print·Limit Pro Product Tour Use this page to see how to set up and use Print·Limit Pro.

Administer User Accounts View user's printing activity Control user's allowance, quota and credit balance Track and compare users
Control Printers Manage and configure all printers from one central location Monitor and compare printer use and load Define printer costs
Advanced Printer Cost Full differential charging models Define costs on a per-printer basis Apply discounts to encourage use of grayscale and duplex printing
User Notification Messages Inform user’s of printing status through active pop-ups Notification Options encourage user cost awareness
Group Management Monitor printing at network/domain group level Schedule quota allowance at group level Define rules for new users that join the network (self management)
Logging and Auditing Audit of all print activity Audit of all transactions and adjustments Monitor user expenditure and allocation View time, date and who performed the action, adjustment or transaction Security auditing of all major system events and changes
Print history Audit of all print activity Apply filters to print log to locate jobs Export data in HTML, PDF or MS Excel ds
Charts and Statistics Track and compare printer use Access detailed statistics
Built-in reports Access activity reports with one-click Produce reports in PDF, HTML or Microsoft Excel Apply filters to build custom report lists
Simple end-user interface... Simple web interface allowing end-users to track their own use Allow users to transfer funds to other users Customize the look to match your existing website design with simple HTML Options to use pre-paid PrintCards to allocate or sell additional print credits.
User inquiry tools Display the user's account status on login Warns user when balance is low Optional install on all network clients including Windows, Mac and Linux Choice of "zero-install deployment" or scripts for automatic "push" installs Allow users to select a shared account for billing/accounting

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you?

Students and staff are sending very large print jobs to the school printers accidentally or unnecessarily.
Print·Limit allows administrators to limit the size of individual print jobs or place other restrictions on printing to encourage responsible use.

Schools are spending excessive amounts on paper and toner.
Print·Limit allows the school to set print quotas and restrictions on users, reducing paper and toner use by up to 75% and saving schools every year.

Schools are spending too much on expensive service calls and maintenance for their printers.
Cutting unnecessary printing not only saves money on paper and toner, it also reduces wear and tear on school printers so they last longer and need fewer service calls.

Students send jobs to more expensive color printers, even when they don’t need to.
Print·Limit can restrict the use of color printers, saving expensive cartridges for print jobs that really need color.

The school isn’t really sure who is using the most paper or which users are printing too much.
Print·Limit has detailed reporting that shows which users are printing the most, as well as a detailed history of the biggest print jobs and the most expensive print jobs.

Computer users printing web pages don't always realize how big a web print job can be, resulting in many unwanted pages being printed.
Print·Limit allows administrators to restrict a print job if it contains too many pages so users become more aware of what they are printing and can then change the settings for their print job.

The school would like to recoup some of their printing expenses or charge for extra prining on a per-user basis.
Print·Limit has special ‘PrintCards’ that can be created by an administrator and sold to students so they can add credits to their print account.

The school doesn’t know which printers are being over utilized and which ones are not being used very much.

Print·Limit can show administrators exactly which printers in the school are being used and how much they are being used, allowing them to redirect printing to more efficient printers.

Users are encouraged to print on the front and back of the paper but they don’t choose to do that, wasting paper.
Print·Limit lets administrators create ‘discounts’ for users based on two-sided printing, gray scale, or the choice of paper encouraging users to stretch their quotas by printing responsibly.

Print·Limit PrintCards - Optional Feature for User Account Credits
Print-Limit uses the concept of PrintCards to provide a convenient way for organizations to issue credit to users. Using the card is optional and is not required for simple quota management or silent logging. PrintCards are most suitable in a high school or university environment.

How PrintCards Work

The network administrator prints a set of customized cards. Each card lists a value, an expiration date, and a unique ID.
When a user requires additional credit, they either purchase or are given a PrintCard. In a school environment, cards can be sold at the library, cafeteria/canteen, or even in the candy vending machine.
The user logs in to the organization's Print-Limit web interface and enters the number on the card.
The user's account is automatically credited with the value listed on the card. The card then becomes inactive.

Over time, GenevaLogic has evaluated a number of payment technologies in conjunction with her education customers. These have included vending machines, smart cards, micro-payment systems, and manual processing. The PrintCard system has been by far the most successful and cost effective. PrintCards are also the defacto standard in other industries such as the mobile phone sector (used to handle pre-paid accounts). Users, particularly students, are familiar with the process.

Print-Limit provides the software, a card creation wizard, and a security framework to implement a PrintCard payment system. Now for a quick tour...

Creating Cards with the PrintCard Wizard

The PrintCard Wizard is a separate component installed with Print-Limit
The Wizard style interface guides you though the process of creating and using cards
Integrates with Microsoft Word

Defining a Batch ID

Each batch of cards is given unique batch ID
Batch ID's can be used to track card sale location
Use batch numbers to quickly track and cancel lost batches

Card Details

Allocate a value, and set an expiration date
Expiration dates ensure cards have a time limited life

Create batches of different sizes ranging from 5 cards to 10,000

Design your own card

Use Microsoft Word to design a custom look
Integrates in with Microsoft Word's mail-merge feature
Include your own logo, usage instructions, and other details

Generate and Print

The card wizard automatically creates a Word document ready for printing
Cards defaults to a common "Business Card" size
Need a professional look? Print to PDF and email to your local printing shop for professional printing onto card.

Using the Cards

Entering a number

Users log in to Print-Limit’s web interface and enter the card number under the card section
All activity is logged
Integrate the Print-Limit web tools interface into your organization's intranet site

Track

Import new batch of card numbers
View the status of all cards
See which cards are allocated, to who it was assigned
Review the time and date of card use
Delete or expire cards by number, date or batch ID

Security

Fraudulent card use attempts are detected, trapped and logged
Highly Secure - guessing numbers is statistically impossible (With 1,000 cards in circulation, the chance of guessing a number is 1-in-10,000,000,000,000, or in non-mathematical terms, it would take over 300,000 years to guess a number if a person enters one number every second.)

Technical Requirements

Server

Operating System
- Windows 2000, 2003 or XP (server, advanced server, enterprise edition, workstation*, professional* versions all supported) Microsoft Clustering Services supported at all application layers.
- Most modern Linux distributions including Red Hat, Novell SUSE, Debian, and others.
- Mac OS X Server (Coming soon. Please contact us for more information.)
Memory
- Primary Server : 384MB minimum supported. (512MB or higher recommended.)
- Secondary Server (optional) : 128MB minimum supported. (384MB or higher recommended.)
Processor
- Primary Server : 500-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor
- Secondary Server (optional) : 300-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor
Harddisk
- Primary Server : 150 MB, plus additional storage for logs and print
- Secondary Server (optional) : 5MB
Printers (if hosting printers)
- Printers that support Postscript, PCL (any version), PCL-GUI, HPGL, PCLXL, ESC/P2, ESC/PAGE, Ricoh RPCS, and others
- Many other printers will be supported on Windows.
- Networked printers recommended
- On non-Windows systems the CUPS or Samba print systems are required
User ID/Username
- Active Directory, Windows NT, or LDAP user ID/username.

Client Workstation (optional)

Operating System
- 4Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, 2003 or XP
- Most modern Linux distributions (requires Java 5.0)
- Apple Mac OS X 10.4 (requires Java 5.0)
- Other systems supporting Java 5.0
Memory
- 128MB or higher
Processor
- 300-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor
Harddisk
- 0MB - zero-install deployment (recommended)
- 70MB - full local installation