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Printing

The Computer Sciences department has limited printing resources. Before resorting to limiting resources, the department requests that users do the following:

  1. Preview any document rather than blindly printing it out.
    • There are several good previewers for PDF, TeX, and Postscript files. Consult the printing faq for more info on previewers.
  2. Select specific pages to print.
    • If you have a document where only a page or two has changed since you last printed it, print only the changes. Consult the printing faq for more info on printing selected pages.
  3. Use the department's printers only for departmental work.
    • Using the Computer Sciences department's printers for personal documents or for work done for courses outside the department is a misuse of the resources. State law prohibits the use of State resources for private purposes. You may wish to investigate UT Print for other printing needs.
  4. Use the printers only for single copies of a document.
    • Printing multiple copies is prohibited. The printers aren't copiers.
  5. Do not print documents that may easily be viewed online.
    • Manuals may be viewed on-line, as may web pages; do not print out documents that can be viewed easily on-line as needed. This applies particularly to man pages.
  6. Laser printers should not be tied up during peak hours.
    • Peak hours are generally between about 10 am and 4 pm, but make a point of checking how heavy the printer usage is (using "lpq") and don't print long documents during those times. If you have a lot of files to print, print them in bursts (queue five files, then wait a few minutes before queuing another five) to avoid monopolizing the printer.
  7. Print jobs should not be left unattended.
    • If you are printing a document, you must be physically present to monitor the printer status. If the printer runs out of paper or gets jammed, you should be on hand to deal with it-- don't start a print job and then leave the lab.

Users are requested to be courteous to other users. Hopefully, by paying attention and working together, we will be able to maintain a pleasant, open printing environment.

Violation of this policy may result in a loss of printing or account privileges.