Render Printer Pools

NOTE: This feature is available in the Essential, Professional, and Enterprise versions of both Spectra and Stratus Desktop.

Printer pools are an optional part of the printing workflow. They are used to group printers together to be used as a “pool” of printers. Advantages of using printer pools include:

• For Enterprise clients – It’s easier to manage print settings because printer pool settings can be established at the corporate level. Note: Individual printer settings are defined at each location. 
• A render profile can be linked to a single printer pool.

Setting up a Printer Pool #

1. Go to Maintenance > Digital > Render Printer Pools.

   

2. Click the first line in the grid to add a printer pool.

3. Give the pool a descriptive name.

4. Choose the following options:

   • Job Split – Check this box to allow each print job to be split between the printers in the pool. For example, if two printers are available, a single job would be split between the two printers to speed up the printing process.

   • Allocation Method – This setting determines how jobs should be allocated between printers. Choose Round Robin to evenly distribute jobs between the printers. Choose Priority Code to always give preference to printers with a higher priority. Priority settings for each individual printer are chosen in Maintenance > Digital > Render Printers. See also: Render Printers

   • Inactive – Check this box to take a printer offline.

5. Repeat to create another pool.

6. Close the window when finished.