Choose your language

Choose your login

Contact us

Mobility Print FAQs

This page applies to:

General

Why should I choose Mobility Print over other PaperCut BYOD print solutions?

Mobility Print offers a unified and secure solution for printing from BYO mobile devices and laptops that are not managed by your organization (they are managed by the end user instead). There are pros and cons for all options and many of these are listed in the PaperCut NG/MF Manual. However in general, Mobility Print excels because it:

  • offers a native print experience with more print options
  • supports printing from any application (not just limited file types)
  • for regular users that bring their own devices, maintains the same print experience as a traditional networked desktop system with a print driver installed
  • is often quicker (after initial setup) to print via Mobility Print.
Do I have to install PaperCut NG/MF for Mobility Print to work?

No. Mobility Print can run “standalone” so any users can print. However there is no user authentication or secure printing when Mobility Print is not connected to PaperCut NG/MF.

NOTE: If you do want to take advantage of everything PaperCut NG/MF has to offer and end up installing it, you’ll need to reinstall Mobility Print.

I have downloaded Mobility Print as a replacement for Google Cloud Print (GCP). Now how do I install PaperCut NG/MF?

Mobility Print is compatible with PaperCut NG/MF. Use the two products together to get all the cost-cutting and document security value these products bring.

Contact us at sales@papercut.com to download PaperCut NG or PaperCut MF for your organization.

NOTE: After you install PaperCut NG/MF you need to reinstall Mobility Print.

You can find everything you need to know about installing PaperCut NG/MF in the PaperCut NG/MF Help Center (often referred to as “the Manual”).

Where do I install the Mobility Print Server?

IMPORTANT: Do not install Mobility Print Server on a domain controller. For more information, see Can I install PaperCut on a Domain Controller?

For the vast majority of organizations, you install Mobility Print on the system running the PaperCut Application Server and hosting your print queues. Some organizations have secondary print servers that you want to set up to support Mobility Print on. This configuration is supported, too, by installing Mobility Print on those secondary servers (that is, servers running the Print Provider).

Can I use Mobility Print on any print server?
Mobility Print works on Windows, macOS, and Linux print servers.
Can I use Mobility Print on multiple print servers?
Yes. You need to install Mobility Print on each print server. For more information, see Setting up Mobility Print .
If I have multiple Mobility Print servers, can I administer them all from a central Admin interface?

Each Mobility server is maintained independently. You can monitor your Mobility Print servers through the PaperCut NG/MF Admin web interface, but do the configuration on each Mobility Print server.

You can see a list of all Mobility Print servers in the PaperCut NG/MF Admin web interface in the Mobility Print area under Options > Mobile & BYOD. From here you can access the Mobility Print Admin web interface for each Mobility server.

When trying to add a printer on macOS we get the error 'Unable to verify the printer on your network' or 'An error occurred while trying to add the selected device'. Why does this happen?

This might occur when a user moves from a network where their client can see the printers, to a network where it cannot. The problem is that they are trying to connect to a cached DNS record of a printer so the Mac is unable to resolve the address.

To test this, flush the DNS cache on the Mac by opening a terminal window and running sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder. If that doesn’t help, contact support.

Printing

Which printers are supported by Mobility Print?
Mobility Print supports all printers that have drivers for modern Windows operating systems except label printers and plotters. This is because the drivers for label printers and plotters use non-standard page sizes. If you find any exceptions, or have problems, please let us know.
What paper sizes does Mobility Print support?

3x5

4x6
5x7
5x8
6x9
6.5x9.5
7x9
8x10
8x13
9x11
10x11
10x13
10x14
10x15
11x12
11x14
11x15
11x17
12x18
12x19
13x19
EnvPersonal
Monarch
EnvMonarch
Comm10
EnvA2
Env9
Env10
Env11
Env12
Env14
Statement
Executive
Quarto
EngQuatro
Letter
LetterExtra
LetterPlus
Legal
LegalExtra
FanFoldGerman
Foolscap
FanFoldGermanLegal
GovernmentLG
SuperA
SuperB
Tabloid
Ledger
ARCHA
ARCHB
ARCHC
ARCHD
ARCHE
AnsiC
AnsiD
AnsiE
AnsiF
F
roc16k
roc8k
PRC32K
EnvPRC1
EnvPRC2
EnvPRC4
EnvPRC5
EnvPRC8
EnvPRC6
EnvPRC3
PRC16K
EnvPRC7
A0
A1
A2
A3
A3Extra
A4
A4Extra
A4Tab
A5
A5Extra
A6
A7
A8
A9
A10
ISOB0
ISOB1
ISOB2
ISOB3
ISOB4
ISOB5
EnvISOB5
ISOB5Extra
ISOB6
ISOB7
ISOB8
ISOB9
ISOB10
EnvC0
EnvC1
EnvC2
EnvC3
EnvC4
EnvC5
EnvC6
EnvC65
EnvC7
EnvDL
DLEnv
RA0
RA1
RA2
RA3
RA4
SRA0
SRA1
SRA2
SRA3
SRA4
JISB0
B0JIS
B0
JISB1
B1JIS
B1
JISB2
B2JIS
B2
JISB3
B3JIS
B3
JISB4
B4JIS
B4
JISB5
B5JIS
B5
JISB6
B6JIS
B6
JISB7
B7JIS
B7
JISB8
B8JIS
B8
JISB9
B9JIS
B9
JISB10
B10JIS
B10
EnvChou4
Hagaki
JapanesePostCard
Postcard
EnvYou4
EnvChou3
Oufuku
DoublePostcardRotated
EnvKaku2
om\_small-photo
EnvItalian
om\_large-photo
Folio
FolioSP
EnvInvite
8Kai
8K
16Kai
16K
Why do the page size names differ on some clients?

Paper size options for Mobility Print printers on ChromeOS and iOS can be displayed with ISO names (for example, “ISO_A4”) instead of simple names (for example, “A4”) like on Windows. This is because for each paper size provided in the printer capabilities, Mobility Print retrieves two properties: Name and CustomDisplayName. Then it passes them to the print clients.

  • The ChromeOS print dialog understands only the Name property. That’s why it can be displayed as “ISO_A4”; it’s exactly the value Mobility Print received from the printer driver. Some other printer models could provide “A4” in the Name property, so for those printers ChromeOS would display “A4” in the dialog.

  • Some other operating systems are able to show the CustomDisplayName, which in most cases contains the more friendly name.

  • Windows is unique; it displays its own default-supported set of paper sizes and they have user-friendly names.

Can I change the driver used by Mobility Print?

Yes! By default Mobility Print for Windows uses the PaperCut Global PostScript driver, which supports basic finishing options such as Color versus Grayscale or Simplex versus Duplex. However, many customers request more advanced options such as stapling and hole punch that are only available with print drivers from their manufacturer.

PaperCut NG/MF customers can push out a Mobility Print queue to their users workstations with a custom driver using PaperCut Print Deploy following the instructions here .

In a nutshell, you will need to..

  • Be running either PaperCut NG or MF
  • Set up a “reference computer” to copy (or clone) the print queues from
  • Install the Mobility Print queues on the reference computer
  • Change the print driver used by the Mobility Print queue on the reference computer as needed
  • Run the Print Deploy Cloner tool on the reference computer
  • Use Print Deploy to create “zones” to push out your printers.

Note: if you use the “Import BYOD-Friendly queues” wizard in Print Deploy, this will let you add your Mobility Print queues to zones, but you won’t be able to change the driver. You will need to use the cloning method above to switch the driver.

How do I control black & white / color, and simplex / duplex defaults on the Mobility Print clients?

Currently Mobility Print doesn’t check the Printer Properties options on a print queue to see what the default is. It ignores the color and duplex settings.

For example, if you set the properties on the print server to Black and White, on the client device adding the printer it will be set as color by default.

We have an open feature request to be able to have more control over the print queue defaults.

In a managed environment, there are two ways you can enforce these printing preferences:

Is it possible for users to staple when printing through Mobility Print?

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, that enables what we call “passthrough mode”. This should then 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 .

Alternatively, another way to get stapling with Mobility Print is to push out the print queue with a different print driver, using PaperCut Print Deploy as described here .

 

Administration and Configuration

How do I update my Mobility Print server?

You don’t need to! It’s automatic! We know that updating software is both important and often difficult. Updating server infrastructure is even more crucial in the BYOD and mobility space. Why? Because end-user devices just update and often with little or no forewarning. To remain compatible with this fast pace, the following components auto-update:

  • Mobility Print Server
  • Android Mobility Print App
  • Chromebook Mobility Print App Auto update checks are performed nightly during periods of low activity (sometime between midnight and 1:00 am), and updates are applied in the background with minimal or no downtime. Updates might incorporate bug and security fixes, add new features, and improve the user interfaces.

Automatic update checks are performed over a secure HTTPS connection. No personal or system information is shared during this process. Update signatures are verified before installation.

If for some reason your print server does not have access to the internet, you can manually update it any time by downloading the latest version and installing it over the top of the existing version.

Can I modify the size of the server log files?

Yes, you can! 

  1. Open the mobility print executable configuration file <Applications folder>/PaperCut Mobility Print/pc-mobility-print.conf
  2. Find the section for "ServiceConfig":
  3. Modify the LogFileMaxSizeMb to a larger size.
    For example, increasing this value from 200 to 2048 will provide an increase from 200 megabytes to 2 gigabytes of total log retention

The output should look something like this:

“ServiceConfig”: {

   "LogFile": "data/logs/${ServiceName}.log",

   "LogFileMaxSizeMb": 2048

}

Can I deploy Mobility Print queues to a specific group of users/groups?

Yes! But not with Mobility Print alone. We have a number of methods available to ensure that users can only see or print to an approved set of Mobility printers. We describe and compare these methods in our article Deploy Mobility Print Queues by Group .

A: Configure Mobility Print to restrict printer access per subnet

B: Push printers to groups of users with Print Deploy

C: Deploy a single Find-Me Printer instead

D: Configure Restrictions PaperCut NG/MF

The surest way to achieve this is by using Mobility Print in tandem with Print Deploy, available with PaperCut NG and MF. 

How can I rename printers?

Printers must be renamed using the print server’s operating system. Mobility server will automatically use this new name. When you change a printer’s name, the change will flow through to the Mobility Print server web interface after about five minutes. You should also consider cleaning up the old print queues .

Always be careful when renaming printers. If you rename a printer, Windows and macOS end users need to remove the old printer queue and add the new one into their printer list.

I don't want to share my Mobility Print anonymous setup information

We use anonymous setup information to prioritize feature development and functionality to address the majority of our users’ configurations. If you wish to opt out of sharing your anonymous setup configuration with PaperCut, please follow these steps:

  1. Open the following file in a text editor:

    [app-path]/data/config/mobility-print.conf.toml

  2. Set the following value:

    DisableAnalyticsSubmission = true

  3. Save the file.

  4. Restart the PaperCut Mobility Print service.

Can I change the default ports?

Yes, the Mobility Print server will allow you to customize the accessible port either by changing its listening port or by presenting its client links using another port such as 443 rather than the default 9164.

You can find the details on making this configuration change here.

What controls the region or locale of the Mobility Print Admin interface?

The Mobility Print Admin interface locale is controlled by the Internet browser’s language setting.

For example, in Chrome if you want the locale used by the Mobility Print Admin interface set to en_UK, in the Languages dialog > Order languages based on your preference list, move the English (United Kingdom) option to the top of the list.

Cloud Print

How much does Cloud Print cost?
Cloud Print is free.
Do I need to have valid M&amp;S for Mobility Cloud Print?
No, Mobility Print and the Cloud Print feature are available free of charge.
Is Mobility Print's Cloud Print GDPR compliant?

Mobility Print’s Cloud Print service does not access any personal information, whether it is personal metadata or print jobs, and will therefore not compromise your organization’s compliance to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For more information, read the Cloud Print security section.

If you’re interested in what other capabilities PaperCut NG/MF provides to help your organization comply with GDPR, take a look at the PaperCut GDPR compliance guide .

What credentials do users need?
Users are only prompted for credentials if you’re using PaperCut NG/MF, in which case they use their existing PaperCut credentials.
Can I limit which printers users can access via the cloud? For example, staff can print from the cafe down the road, but students cannot?
No, users will have access to all printers you publish from the Mobility Print server. If you want different users to have access to different printers, then either deploy additional Mobility Print servers/VMs or use Print Deploy.
What does STUN and TURN stand for?
For information about STUN and TURN, see Cloud Print Security in Mobility Print .
Are there size limitations for printing with Cloud Print?
No, there are no job size limitations in place.
I see Cloud Print uses Twillio. Can I trust Twillio?

Cloud Print makes use of Twillio’s Global Network Traversal service. That means when a client establishes a STUN or TURN connection with the Mobility Print server, it’s done over Twillio’s service.

Twillio doesn’t process any personal information at any level, whether it be the organizational, user, or print job level.

PaperCut MF’s Cloud Services still establish the end-to-end trust between the client and Mobility Print service. Twillio is only responsible for providing the transmission channel between the two.

Using Twillio or PaperCut’s MF’s Cloud Services will not compromise your organization’s GDPR compliance.

What clients does Cloud Print support?

Cloud Print supports Chromebooks, macOS and Windows devices.

We’re monitoring demand for both iOS and Android. If this is critical for your organization, let us know at PaperCut Support . You can still print fom your local devices on the network using Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iOS and Android. For more details see the Setting up a device page.

What's the difference between the invite link expiration date and printing expiration date for the Cloud Print links?

So the invite link expiration date determines at what point end-users can no longer set up their devices using the link.

And the printing expiration date determines at what point printing stops for users after they have set up their client using the related invite link.

This means that you can allow a given period for users to sign up, and after that period expires no new users can sign up. The signed-up users can still print up to the printing expiration date.

For example, maybe you set up a link to allow a contractor to print for a certain period of time.

Can you adjust the link after creation? Say, if I have set the invite expiration date a little too early, I can go back and change the expiration later, right?

Not at the moment. Currently you can disable or re-enable a link that hasn’t expired. It might be something we look into in future.

You can create as many new links as you like, but understanding that rolling these out again may not be what people want.

Can I see the number of print jobs printed via an invite link?
Yes. Have a look at the Manage Cloud Print page .
If I don't manually select an expiration date (for the invite link or printing) does it default to 'forever'? Or is it mandatory to select a date?
There is no default setting. You need to explicitly click No expiry or select a specific date.
Can I track, control, and monitor print jobs sent by users when using Cloud Print?
Yes, if you’re using Mobility Print together with PaperCut NG/MF. Check out the product comparison page.
Does Cloud Print scale?

When it comes to scale, you need to consider two ends. PaperCut MF’s Cloud Services and your Mobility Print server.

PaperCut MF’s Cloud Services are built on top of Google Cloud Platform and also makes use of Twillio’s Global Network Traversal service. The Cloud Print service scales horizontally and can handle pretty much any load thrown at it.

In regards to your Mobility Print server, there are a few factors to consider, including:

  • the typical document size being printed

  • your internet speed

  • the server capacity.

If you have a decent machine with a decent network connection, then you should be fine with around 10,000 print jobs a week. If you are expecting more than this, especially if you expect spikes in printing, then consider deploying multiple Mobility Print servers.

At the moment you can’t yet deploy multiple Mobility Print servers in an active-active configuration to process your cloud print jobs. Instead, you will have to segment your usage and send different users invite links to different Mobility Print servers.

Using Mobility Print with PaperCut NG/MF

I already am running PaperCut NG/MF. Can I install Mobility Print on my main server/secondary server/site server??
Yes. The only pre-requisite is that you need to upgrade Papercut NG/MF on your print servers to be version 17 or greater.
Why am I being asked to create an account when I'm already using PaperCut NG/MF?

That’s because Mobility Print couldn’t detect a PaperCut Print Provider running on the server you installed Mobility Print on. Mobility Print requires a Print Provider to connect it to the PaperCut Application Server.

If you are seeing a user account with the name of  mobility-print-user, this account will be associated with Mobility Print jobs when operating in standalone mode (i.e. without PaperCut NG/MF). This is because in this mode Mobility Print does not perform authentication, and all jobs are ultimately attributed to a hardcoded value of mobility-print-user.

If you already have PaperCut NG/MF installed, ensure you install Mobility Print on the same machine as the PaperCut Print Provider.

This can be your PaperCut NG/MF Application Server or a secondary print server. If it’s a secondary server, ensure it has a Print Provider installed on it .

After the Print Provider is installed on the server, rerun the Mobility Print installer and it will connect with your existing PaperCut Application Server.

How does account selection work with Mobility Print?
Account selection works in the same way as it does for any other PaperCut Mobile & BYOD solution. Users can assign an account at the MFD, via the User Client, or via the Mobile web client (or Mobile web client - web clip (for iOS devices). For more information, see Configure cost allocation
Will PaperCut NG/MF print restrictions work?

All print restrictions work, however, notifications of “denied jobs” might be limited depending on your notification settings.

For example, if notifications are delivered by the client software only, end-users using a mobile phone or Chromebook will not know that their job has been denied. Some restrictions, such as group access, are checked immediately at the time of print. These restrictions are always applied and users will be aware of them.

For more information, see Configure system notifications .

Will PaperCut NG/MF print conversions, such as forcing duplex, work?
All PaperCut NG/MF configured print attribute conversions (for example, converting color jobs to black and white) work when you use Mobility Print.
Is secure print release compatible with Mobility Print?
Of course! Mobility Print supports secure print release and find-me printing .
How do I delete a Mobility Print Server from the PaperCut MF Admin Interface that is no longer in use?

If you have a Mobility Print server that has been uninstalled or is no longer in use and is showing as offline in the PaperCut MF Admin Interface, there are two options to remove this:

  1. The entry in the admin interface will be automatically removed after it has been offline and not heard from for 7 days.
  2. Restarting the PaperCut Application Server Service will remove the entry immediately.
Does Mobility Print work at a site with a Site Server rather than an Application Server?
Yes! You can set up Mobility Print on any Windows secondary server, including sites with a Site Server instead of an Application Server. With PaperCut 17.0, you need to perform a few extra setup steps to get this working. For more information, see Set up Mobility Print with a Site Server .
Does Mobility Print work when the connection between the Site Server and Application Server is down?
If you are running PaperCut NG/MF 17.1 or higher Yes. Otherwise, there must be a connection between the Site Server and the Application Server for Mobility Print to work. See [Set up Mobility Print with a Site Server](/mobility-print/set-up/configure/advanced-configuration/site-server-support/)

Authentication with PaperCut NG/MF

Is the user authentication between devices and the Mobility Print server secure?
All user login credentials are secure and encrypted. Where possible, industry standard HTTPS/TLS is used. Print jobs on Android, macOS, and iOS are secure as they use HTTPS. Print jobs on Chromebooks are encrypted using AES with a 256-bit key length.
Are jobs authenticated at the time of print?
Absolutely. Mobility Print has the same level of security and authentication as any other PaperCut NG/MF feature. User identification is checked before a job is accepted. See User authentication in How it works for details.
Will my device remember my user login details?

The answer to this question depends on your device.

  • iOS - You need to enter your login details the first time you print, then your device will remember your details forever. On iOS 10, you can, however, ask your device to forget your details. To do this:

    1. When you print from your device, a Printer List is displayed. Tap the Information icon next to a printer.

    2. At the bottom of the Details screen, tap Forget my Username and Password.

  • macOS - On the login screen, there’s an Add to keychain checkbox. If you select this checkbox, your login details will be remembered forever. If you come across “hold for authentication” when printing, see Hold for Authentication KB article for more details.

  • Windows - You don’t need to enter your login details when you print a job; you enter them only once, when you add a printer.

  • ChromeOS - On the login screen there’s a Remember me checkbox. If you select this checkbox, your login details will be remembered for the selected printer for 30 days.

  • Android - On the login screen there’s a Remember me checkbox. If you select this checkbox, your login details will be remembered for the selected printer for 30 days.

Is it possible to extend how long ChromeOS and Android users are authenticated with Mobility Print?

By default Chrome and Android users are prompted every 30 days to re-enter their passwords for Mobility Print. However, it’s possible to extend this period up to 365 days. Here’s how:

  1. Browse to the config folder where Mobility Print is installed:  [app-path]\Program Files (x86)\PaperCut Mobility Print\data\config\ or Applications\PaperCut Mobility Print\data\config
  2. Open the file mobility-print.conf.toml with a text editor.
  3. Change the line RememberUserLoginDurationDays=30 to the number of days that you want the login to be remembered (up to 365).
  4. Restart the PaperCut Mobility Print service.

A few things to note:

  • this change won’t affect users that are already authenticated, but will take effect the next time the user is prompted to log in.
  • If you want to force re-authentication, for an Android device you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall the app, and for a Chrome browser you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall the extension.
Why can't I set per-job authentication for my Mobility Print published printers?

Most likely this is because Mobility Print is not set up to work with PaperCut NG/MF.

On its own, Mobility Print doesn’t offer authentication. But when you’re running Mobility Print without PaperCut NG/MF, users won’t need to authenticate when printing to published printers.

I have both Mobility Print and PaperCut NG/MF installed. Why isn't authentication working for Mobility Print?
You might need to install a secondary server in the same location that you installed Mobility Print. After you’ve installed it, you’ll need to rerun the Mobility Print installer.

Comments