Pitt Lab Printer


Pitt Lab Printer v1.7, Created by Corey J. Bonnell, updated 08/23/2009
This version features the program with a Windows "look-and-feel", Created by Justin Murray

License

Pitt Lab Printer is released under the GPL v.3 license; you can find a copy of the license here. Source code for Pitt Lab Printer and the Windows installer program can be downloaded at http://printing.thesck.com/source.php. Note that the GPL license may not extend to other components bundled with Pitt Lab Printer, as they have their own licensing; see the Acknowledgements section of this page for hyperlinks to each component's website (which will contain licensing information for that component).

Usage Agreement

This software is provided AS-IS. Use this program at your own risk. The creator of this product cannot be held responsible for any damages or loss directly or indirectly related to the use of this software.

Although you're not physically in the computer labs when you print using this program, you're still using University computing resources. This means that you still must abide by the University of Pittsburgh's Computing Policies and Procedures.

By using this software, you agree to the above conditions. If you do not agree, then immediately cease using this software.

If you have a problem using this program, don't call the Technology Help Desk nor ask any of the Computing Lab Consultants for help, because the University of Pittsburgh had no part in creating or supporting this product.

Privacy Policy

This software contains absolutely no malware or spyware of any kind. There is an opt-in anonymous debugging participation program. This information allows me to make bug fixes more rapidly. The information collected is the Unix output and whether or not the printing was successful. I do not collect user names, passwords or IP addresses.
I will not give out any of the information recorded (described above) to anyone.

System Requirements

This program requires an active Internet connection and the .NET framework (at least version 2). Most Windows computers already have this installed; if not, you can download it here.

How to Print Documents

  1. If the file you want to print is a PDF or PostScript file, go to the Start menu, select Programs, and open Pitt Lab Printer. Select the file that you wish to print.
  2. If the file isn't a PDF or PostScript, open the file in the program you created it with (for example, open it in Microsoft Word for a Word document, etc.). Select the print option and choose the printer named "Pitt Lab Printer". Click Print. After a few moments, Pitt Lab Printer will open.
  3. Select the destination lab, and select the simplex/duplex setting.
  4. Enter the number of copies that you wish to print (the maximum amount is 5). This option is disabled when using the virtual printer. When using the virtual printer, specify the number of copies you wish to print from the printing options dialog.
  5. Enter your Pitt user name and password.
  6. Click print. You will see a bunch of text appear in the black window that opened. You can ignore this information (or check it out if you're curious; it's data about your computer negotiating with Pitt's servers).
  7. You will receive a confirmation message saying that the print job has been sent to the printer. Note that depending on your connection speed and size of the file, it may take over a minute to completely send the print job.
  8. To check that it is being printed, click on the "Check Print Quota" button on the window.

Known Issues:
  1. When specifying the number of copies to print in the Pitt Lab Printer window, note that it sends a separate print job for each copy.
    To combine all copies into one print job, specify the number of copies in the printing options dialog.

Acknowledgements

I welcome feedback and questions that you have about the program. Please send any questions and comments to corey.j.bonnell@gmail.com.