MyQ Integrates New Engine for Previewing, Archiving and Parsing Print Jobs

Starting with the new version of MyQ, 8.1, the Job Preview feature is available to MyQ customers as a standard part of the MyQ package – for free. The Job Archiving module has significantly reduced its price.

In short, Job Preview or print preview allows users to view content before printing in the MyQ Web UI. Job Parsing has been enhanced to be 2x faster – it gives a precise and real-time estimate of credit or quota to be consumed, so the user knows much the given task will cost if they print it out with current settings. Improved Job Archiving lets the user or admin find, check, archive or re-use previously printed documents from history. Now on to the long story – what do these features mean in practical terms and how can they make your life easier? 

Job properties screenshot from the MyQ Embedded Terminal 

Job Preview as a new standard in MyQ

Many of us have had to deal with this before – we went to pick up our prints, only to realize the document had come out all wrong. We reached for our wallet, on the verge of tears, and started all over again... That’s why being able to preview a document before printing is an important feature. Not only is it a chance to double-check for errors and formatting glitches, but it can also be practical in situations where more versions of the file had been sent to the queue previously.

Use case 1 – Noah the student:  

Noah has spent days writing his thesis. He has checked the content, spelling and layout a hundred times and then finally hit print. After skimming through the stack of paper coming back from the printer, he falls on a formatting error that has moved some of the text to the following line, completely destroying the layout of the whole thesis.  

With Job Preview, Noah can check and download his document in the pre-printing stage, because it’s automatically exported as a PDF. He can then decide whether to confirm printing or cancel it. In his case, all his printing attempts will be logged in a job list, and he can check and delete those with errors in his MyQ web UI. The only recycle bin he fills is the digital one. 

Use case 2 – Mark the exec: 

CEO Mark has sent several customer contracts for printing, but they didn’t arrive to the printer. He tries again and again, but the printer is mysteriously silent. Then he calls Mike (the system admin) to help him. When Job Preview is enabled, Mark can describe the documents to Mike, who finds them in the system and analyzes where the process got stuck and why they didn’t get printed.  

What does Job Parsing do exactly? 

Even with modern paper and ink-saving technologies, printing – especially color printing –can be expensive, and it’s practical to know the cost beforehand. The main benefit of the Job Parsing feature is that the system can, very fast and very precisely, give the user information about the cost of their job before it is printed out (or, for selected devices, even scanned or copied). The job parser is a “job analyzer” which identifies the complexity of the print-out, i.e., how many color pages or monochrome pages there are, or how many copies are to be printed. This feature goes well with credit or quota environments, often in the education sector. MyQ’s new integrated engine can process jobs up to two times faster and without any size limitation (previously it could only handle 2GB jobs at most). A wide range of print drivers and all principal Page Description Languages are supported: PCL 5, PCL 6, PostScript and PDF.

Use case 1 – Mia the teacher: 

Ms. Mia is ready to print her lesson materials. The printer notifies her this will cost 14 dollars, which will be deducted from her account. Not thrilled with the price, she can delete the job and change its properties to monochrome, making the handouts cost 5 dollars less.

Use case 2 – Mike the IT admin: 

To keep their printing cost under control, Mike can define conditions for certain jobs, for example: “If a job exceeds 20 pages, print it in mono”, or “If the print job comes from Outlook, notify the employee’s manager”.  

The perks of Job Archiving  

In work environments, there is often the need to go back to previously printed documents, and Job Archiving can be of a great assistance. With this feature activated, all printed, or if needed scanned, faxed or copied jobs are archived in the system for evidence. Administrators or managers can access them later if any type of review becomes necessary. If a company decides to use this module, it is strongly recommended to mention it in their internal GDPR policy and inform device users about it. 

Use case 1 – Sophie the assistant: 

Sophie works in the logistics department. Before the driver loads the truck, she needs to issue a logistics document, purchase order and delivery note. Each copy of a document that has been printed, faxed or copied is archived in the system, and she doesn’t need to worry they get lost in the warehouse. 

Use case 2 – Tim the manager: 

Tim is a security manager in a bank. After the bank adopts a new data protection policy, his job is to prevent all potential leaks through the printer fleet, and in the event of a breach, he needs to be able to find what happened and eliminate further damage. When the Job Archiving module is installed, the system stores duplicates of every printed, copied, scanned or faxed page, including relevant metadata for analysis. When a data leak occurs, all jobs transferred through the printer fleet can be tracked and checked. 

All wrapped up and tied in a neat bow, these three features are brought to you by MyQ’s latest update to version 8.1. Job Parsing has become more powerful, MyQ customers don’t need to purchase an extra 3rd party tool if they want to grant preview options to their users, and what’s more, thanks to this, MyQ has been able to push down the cost of the Job Archiver by more than a<span d