Most printing facilities provided in IT Services clusters are charged using the IT Services Charged Printing System. This is also true for many of the photocopying and microfiche facilities which can be found in site libraries across campus.
You use this system by adding money to your account using the Autoloader Terminals which are in various cluster locations across campus.
Information on how to use this system will be detailed in these pages, for information on where you can find Autoloader Terminals, Change Machines Photocopiers and Printers please refer to the printer and photocopier locations page through the link below.
Most printers and photocopiers will support printing in both A4 and A3 and duplex facilities are generally available as well.
The current prices for printing and photocopying are,
A4 Black and White 4p
A3 Black and White 8p
A4 Colour 20p
A3 Colour 40p
When printing from an IT Services Cluster PC using the duplex setting you will be charged for the number of sheets of paper used rather than the page count of the document.
For example a 10 page A4 black and white document would cost 40p to print out without using duplex but only 20p using duplex.
Please note this is not the case when photocopying using the duplex option. When photocopying you will be charged per page copied rather than per sheet of paper used.
Most of our printers have a duplex option which can be accessed through the Preferences screen when selecting the printer you want to use as shown below.
To enable duplex simply select one of the 2-Sided options from the 'Document Style' section of the preferences screen and press Ok to finalise the changes.
If you need assistance with this please speak to the Service Desk.
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The Chargeable Printing System is used in the following manner; The System Relies on the use of your University Swipe Card. The Swipe card is used by the Terminal unit, (illustrated on the left), You first, swipe your card through the Swipe Card Reader. You will see your current balance Shown on the display. You then simply add coins or Paper Money (Through the insert notes) slot. Then you press finish to finish. For details of where you can find the Autoloader Terminals please refer to the Print Locations page at the URL below. http://www.clusters.bham.ac.uk/printlocations.shtml The Main Library has a Change Machine for you to change notes so you can credit your print account. |
When you print from a computer which is connected to the charged printing system the cost of the prints is automatically deducted from your account.
When you print a document the print job is paused while the system looks up your account and calculates the cost of the job. you are then presented with a pop up box which gives you details of the cost of the job along with how much credit you have on your account and how much will be left after the print. An Example of this popup box is displayed below.
Once you press the "Ok" button the funds are deducted from your account and your print job is released from the print queue.
If you are experiencing problems with printing in an IT Services cluster please contact the Service Desk. Details of how to do this are available through the link below.
http://www.clusters.bham.ac.uk/contacts.shtml
There are ten dedicated 'Print Stations' by the Service Desk in the Green Room of the Main Library (building number R22 on the University map). These PCs do not have an Internet connection and are reserved for printing use only. For more details please contact the Service Desk.
As mentioned earlier the charged printing system uses your University ID card to identify you when you are adding credit to your account using an Autoloader.
If you are issued a new ID card the number of that card will be slightly different from the old card. Because of this you will need to re-register your new card before you can use it to credit your account.
This can be done either at the Service Desk or by using the Self Registration Machine in The Green Room of the Main Library building. This will transfer the remaining balance from your old account and add it to the new card number and then remove the old card.
Only members of staff are eligible to submit a purchase order for Print/Photocopy credit.
Purchase orders can be created via the Proactis system or sent to us via the internal post system to;
Cluster Development IT Support Team
Main Library Building
