Networked Laser Printers

The St. Olaf Public Laser Printer Policy

St. Olaf provides network laser printers for academic uses in most public areas. However, students are expected to outsource or use their own printers for non-academic printing jobs or multiple copies. Students get 550 pages of printing free of charge; once the 550-page limit is reached, a student can purchase another block of pages. Reminders and updates will be sent periodically to students who approach the printing limit and students may view their printing usage through the Account Services web page. Questions about this policy should be directed to John Campion at x3550 or via e-mail at campion@stolaf.edu.

What if the laser printer is out of paper?

If the laser printer is out of paper, first check around the printer; most likely there is a box of paper nearby. Otherwise e-mail the HelpDesk at helpdesk@stolaf.edu or call x3830 and inform them where the paper is out and it will soon be delivered.

How can I use these network lasers?

PC instructions:

When using a public lab PC, you should be prompted to enter your username and password. If the computer you are using is at the Windows desktop, someone has forgotten to log off this computer; log off by clicking on the Start button and selecting Log Off. After you have logged on and wish to print, choose 'Print' from the File menu. A print window will pop up, stating what printer you are set to use. Verify this is your desired printer, check any options (which help conserve paper) and click OK.

Mac Instructions:

Connect to Sven with the "Connect to Sven" icon on the desktop. If the chooser is correctly set up, you can simply select to print from the file menu, and a pop-up window will appear with options for the print job. Newer Macs allow one to change the selected printer with a drop-down menu; however, if you don't have this option, you may want to select 'Chooser' from the apple menu, then select Laserwriter, then the printer you wish to use (printing from applications should now work fine). You should also check on the layout pull down menu to verify your paper conserving options.

How can I print to public laser printers from my own computer?

Connect to the St. Olaf network and then print using the same method as in a public lab. For details on how to set up your personal computer to work with the network, go to http://www.stolaf.edu/services/iit/resnet/. Then, follow the printer setup instructions for either the Macintosh or a PC-Compatible computer.

How can I conserve paper when using the network laser printers?

Duplexing, not having a banner page, and multiple pages per sheet are all good ways to conserve paper.

  • Duplexing is printing on both sides of the paper; it's highly useful for getting a quality printout using half the paper. Check below for instructions on setting up double-sided printing.

  • Banner pages are used to differentiate between print jobs by printing an extra sheet of paper at the beginning. Since you most probably know the document you're printing rather well, we suggest turning this feature off to conserve paper. Instructions for doing are included with the PC installation instructions.

  • Printing multiple pages per paper ("2 up" or "4 up") is very useful for large web printouts. It scales pages down so numerous seperate pages will fit on one sheet of paper. Selecting this option together with duplexing can dramatically reduce paper consumption. Multiple pages per sheet can usually be set up by going through the 'Page Setup...' selection of the File menu.

These settings and many more are found in your printer's settings; after you select Print from the File menu, choose Properties and browse the options available.

How do I get double-sided (duplexed) printing?

If you are getting single-sided printing output, but want double-sided, check the following options:

Mac

  1. Open your word processor.
  2. Go to the "File" menu and select "Print."
  3. In the print dialog box, click on the pull-down menu that says "General" and select "Layout".
  4. In the Layout dialog box, check the box that says "Print on Both Sides".
  5. Once this box is checked, click the "Save Settings" button.
  6. At this time, you can either print or click cancel to return to the word processor.

If duplexing does not show as an option, you need to do the following steps first:

  1. Go to Apple and then Chooser
  2. Click on LaserWriter 8 and then the correct zone (Software Servers for public printers)
  3. Click on the desired printer and click the Setup button
  4. Click the Configure button
  5. For Duplexing Unit, select Installed
  6. Click OK twice and close the Chooser
  7. Follow steps 1-6 above

PC

  1. Open your word processor.
  2. Go to the "File" menu and select "Print."
  3. In the print dialog box, click on "Properties".
  4. Under the "Finishing" tab, check the "Print on Both Sides" box.
    If there is no Print on Both Sides checkbox:
    1. Click on the Start Menu and go to Settings and select Printers
    2. Right-click on the desired printer and select Properties
    3. Click on the Configuration tab and check the "Duplexing Unit" checkbox, then repeat steps 1 through 4.

Last Revised: August 2005