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MobilePrint - Setup and use instructions

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5.0 - Updated on 08-20-2020 by Arianne Waddington (avw21)

4.0 - Updated on 09-25-2019 by Arianne Waddington (avw21)

3.0 - Updated on 09-20-2019 by Arianne Waddington (avw21)

2.0 - Updated on 06-26-2019 by Arianne Waddington (avw21)

1.0 - Authored on 12-14-2017 by Stuart Nicoll (swn5)

Penn State Labs MobilePrint

What is MobilePrint?

Penn State Labs MobilePrint enables users to upload documents from personally owned devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops/desktops to then be released at any Print Release Station as part of Penn State Labs Mobile Printing. Jobs printed via MobilePrint are counted against the same semester quota that is utilized when printing in the labs, i.e. from the same 110-sheet allocation per semester.

This page describes how to upload and print documents with MobilePrint.

 

Requirements

To print using MobilePrint, you'll need the following:

  • A valid Penn State Access Account
  • Internet connectivity
  • Physical access to a Release Station within 5 days of uploading a job
  • A mobile device running Apple iOS 7.0 or Android 4.03 or later to use the Pharos Print app.


Document Upload Methods

There are two ways to upload documents that can be released at a Print Release Station:

  • Web using the MobilePrint MyPrintCenter website
  • Smartphone/Tablet with the free iOS or Android Pharos Print app


Web Upload Instructions

To upload documents using MyPrintCenter, follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and go to https://print.labs.it.psu.edu. If you are not redirected to a Pharos secure login page, use https://print.labs.it.psu.edu/MyPrintCenter/.
  2. Enter your Penn State Access Account credentials in the Username and Password fields. Click "Log in".
  3. While on the "My Printing" tab, click on "Job List", then "Upload".

  1. A file upload box will appear. Browse to the location of the document you'd like to upload/print.
  2. Select the file and click "Open".
  3. The document upload processing may take a few seconds, depending on the size of the document. The red text to the right of the file name indicates the status of the upload and will disappear when complete.
    Note: Not all file formats are supported. Support for additional formats will be evaluated upon request.  

  1. Your document is now ready to be released at a Print Release Station within five days. Additional documents may be uploaded at this time.  You are not charged when uploading, sheets are only debited from your account when jobs are released at a Release Station. 

    Note: Even if you have 0 sheets, you will still be able to upload your document. However, you will get an error when trying to release your job, stating "Job with # sheets Canceled: User abc123 reason 'No pages remaining.'"  In order to release your job you will need to purchase additional sheets; that error will remain until you buy more sheets and try to release the job again. 


    0 sheets



  2. Currently, there is a known issue that you may not be able to change the properties of your print job. Once that functionality is restored, you may modify the properties of each document that will be reflected in the final print document (duplex, monochrome, pages per side) by selecting the file and changing the Print Options found in the lower right side of MyPrintCenter.

 

 

iOS & Android App Instructions

  1. Go to the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android) and search for "Pharos Print". Install the App and proceed to launch it.
  2. When prompted, use print.labs.it.psu.edu for the Server Name and 443 for the Port. Click "Connect".

       
  1. When prompted for your Username and Password, enter your Penn State Access Account credentials and select "Log On".
  2. Once authenticated, you will see any recently submitted documents being held.
  3. iOS users may upload documents by holding down on a supported document to bring up the file handling menu. Android users are able to browse for documents to upload from the Pharos Print App interface, similar to uploading using the MyPrintCenter page.
  4. Uploaded documents can now be released at a Print Release Station within five days.

 

Supported Document Formats

  • Microsoft® Word
  • Microsoft® Excel
  • Microsoft® PowerPoint
  • Microsoft® Visio
  • Microsoft Publisher
  • Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)
  • Text (CSV, RTF & TXT)
  • Images (JPG, TIFF, GIF, BMP)
  • Open Office 4.0 or greater documents

 

Printing or "Releasing" Your Document

What is Release Printing? In traditional lab printing, the user opens their document, hits File>Print, selects a printer and the print job immediately prints out on that printer.
MobilePrint uses a different workflow.
A user uploads their print job to a server but does not choose a printer.
The print job sits waiting on the secure server until it is "released" by the user.
Print jobs can be released from any print release station and will print on the printer attached to it.
To do this the user would log into the print release station using their PSU access account, there they will see a list of all the print jobs they have uploaded - select which they want to print, at which point the user will be charged the appropriate number of sheets for the print.

 

Release Station Locations

University Park Campus

  • Release Stations and Student Printing at University Park have been replaced with Paw Prints. For more information please see https://pawprints.psu.edu/


Commonwealth Campuses

  • Please check with local IT staff for current release station locations

 

My Funds

In the bottom left corner of MyPrintCenter, you will notice a "My Funds" section, displaying a $0.00 balance.
This does not refer to your PSU printing account, it is a reference to the Pharos bank which we do not use.

To see your actual printing account balance, please go to https://my.labs.psu.edu/printing/

 

 

Revised by Arianne Waddington (avw21)
Last modified 08-20-2020 02:06:12 PM