Posted by: Brian R. Kneebone
Technology Consultant, Imaging and Printing Group

Hi Everyone. This is the 2^nd part to the Universal Print Driver series. In the previous article we explored Installation Options for the HP Universal Print Driver. Take a look at that article first. This post explores the policy options for the HP Universal Print Driver which are available for exploitation using HP Managed Print Policies. This gives us the basis to explore the 3^rd part of the Color Access Control series.

I think I figured out what my issue was with the Group Policy Object I chose to leave in the article. Did you? Send me a comment online advising what you believe the fix to be. Some fancy logo ware is in it for the first correct reply.

Please note, the HP blogs will be migrating to a new platform over the next week. As of tomorrow, May 23, I won't be posting to my blog and won't be able to receive any comments submitted. Please hold your comments until June 1^st when our new site will be live.

Hint, some new firmware updates are available for your MFPs with some great new features. Be sure to check out www.hp.com/go/support to look up all the goodies. I’ll post on this in greater detail when the blog returns in its new format in June. Over and out...

There have been several new imaging and printing announcements today including new products. Visit the press-release home-page for more information. Be sure to visit the press kit as well for more key features on the products announced.

New Products:

There are new Monochrome LaserJets reaching speeds of 62ppm with new options including multi-bin mailboxes and numeric keypads for releasing private print jobs plus a greater input capacity. An important note for customers interested in protecting the environment: we’ve introduced low-melt toner which decreases the amount of heat (and by extension power) required in the fusing process. This in tandem with instant-on fusers which HP pioneered years ago, makes this the right choice for those sensitive to environmental concerns around power consumption and carbon footprints.

The 9040mfp and 9050mfp devices have been refreshed (now M9040mfp and M9050mfp) to introduce the new Easy Select Control Panel we have on the other M and CM series products.

The Color LaserJet CM6030mfp (30ppm) and CM6040mfp (40ppm) have been introduced with the same control panel now offered on our other touch screen models, excellent performance and some new features. I’ve been looking forward to this product. It has many of the same features our current MFP’s do plus some more I’ll let people discover without me spoiling the surprises. The basic models fit nicely into tight spaces. For those wishing to have more finishing capacity and options, an easy-to-attach stapler/stacker or multifunction finisher is available which makes booklets.

HP has also introduced the Color LaserJet CP6015 single-function. This product is amazing. It supports printing on HP banner media - something many schools will love and large companies can use for printing project schedules and workflow diagrams. It also has support for 3^rd party software RIPs for those wishing to use this in a MARCOM groups.

We also introduced a VERY important offering for areas that do high volume scanning and need speed, speed and more speed (did I say speed?). The ScanJet N9120 scans at 100 images per minute (50 sheets per minute), has imprinting capabilities and comes with SDSS software (like our other commercial ScanJets) and Kofax VRS Pro. I could go on-and-on (the feature set is impressive). Did I mention it supports scanning anything from checks to tabloid media? This product (along with the others discussed earlier) exemplifies just how seriously HP takes scanning with its commercial and public sector customers. If you have a service delivery, mailroom, etc. where centralized scanning is required, this might be the right solution for you.

And, last but not least, we introduced a replacement to the JetDirect wireless option for commercial customers. It’s called the JetDirect 690n which supports 802.11B and G networks including IPv4 and IPv6. IPSec was added for Layer-3 encryption (much like our JetDirect 635n has for wired gigabit networks). It has an EIO interface and will work with just about any EIO capable commercial LaserJet or Color LaserJet device. But if you remember anything from this, take note of this. There’s an Ethernet connector on this card for really-easy configuration. This is important for administrators who just don’t have a lot of time to play with wireless settings.

New Developer Program:

There is also a very interesting section around our solution developer program with formalized accreditation and certification processes for partners. This cannot be under-estimated. Normally customers expect a high degree of quality and support from products and technology that HP invents or acquires. However, we also work with (and recommend, sell and support) a number of 3^rd party solution partners as well.

Based on my experience with other customers, I think it’s fair to say that many have concerns around a manufacturer recommending product that is not theirs. Common questions include: “Who will support me if something breaks” and “will it really work reliably”. This revised partner program (which began membership last year) offers new software development kits to participating partners and includes accreditation and certification components from HP. There is often co-development as well. This means customers can have a much more reliable experience with 3^rd party solutions than any other manufacturer would be able to claim and more choices to pick from.

Ten partners, including Assentis, Capella Technologies, Captaris, Equitrac, Jetmobile, Kofax, MPI, Omtool, Pharos Systems and ReadSoft, are now accredited and have specific solutions in the certification process.

New Assets:

It’s here. Exstream Software is now part of the HP family. I recently had an opportunity to consult with one of their senior management and sufficed to say, some exciting new possibilities in the way customers interact with information, documents and paper come to mind. I’d really encourage customers to take a look at the Dialog Live multimedia presentation if you are at all interested in topics like document automation and variable data printing.

HP and Tower Software also recently announced that they have signed a pre-bid agreement for HP to acquire Tower, a document and records management software company. The deal will enable HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic discovery and compliance software market.

I want to take a moment to highlight some of the very interesting offerings in the personal and small work-team space. This includes new printer, all-in-one (multifunction) and scanning devices.

Take a look at this press announcement for new personal and small work-team OfficeJet (printer and multifunction) and Color LaserJet (printer) devices. I’ll simply add the following comments:

• Most corporate and public sector customers don’t think of ink as being able to save them money. With the OfficeJet Pro platform, the costs are extremely competitive with LaserJet and Color LaserJet offerings. Consult with your sales representatives to see if an OfficeJet Pro K-series (single function printer) or L-series (multifunction all-in-one) is right for your needs based on how it’s used, the type and volume of jobs, etc.
• Color laser devices have traditionally been cost-prohibitive for large corporations or cheap from competitive manufacturers and unreliable or costly to maintain. With the announcements in the Color LaserJet printer series, HP brings its legendary reliability and maintenance free operation into Color LaserJet devices as low as $299 USD. These devices produce amazing output previously capable on commercial network print devices only. Many include an HP In-house Marketing Kit as well.

Before the winter holidays, HP announced a roll of its commercial ScanJet platform. Many commercial and public sector customers may see this as a minor announcement, but after having had direct experience with the hardware, software and solutions (and being wildly impressed) I have to share a few key findings:

• These scanners are amazingly quick. With instant-on lamps and dual-headed CCD scanners, 2-sided documents can be scanned at an impressive 70 images-per-minute.
• These models include ultra-sonic multi-feed detection catching paper-jams earlier in the process and ensuring documents are scanned in their entirety.
• Kofax Virtual Re-Scan (VRS) is included in-box. If you’ve not seen a demonstration of VRS, simply-put it cleans up documents (mitigating highlighter marks, stains, gradients, etc.) to make them readable or OCR and archive purposes with highly-compressed output.
• The included software footprint is quite manageable with an enterprise focus using the HP Smart Document Scan Software (SDSS) – which takes advantage of Kofax VRS optionally above as well. This SDSS software allows administrators to pre-define workflows to destinations (including the ability to push a scanned document against an application, printer or remote folder). The software includes the ability to preview documents before submission, logical document separation in batches using barcode split sheets, blank page suppression, auto orientation, etc.

While familiarizing myself with these technologies and working with another customer who had adaptive technology interests, something very interesting began to gel for me which this low-cost commercial scanning solution is able to offer.

With the touch of a physical button on these devices, a person who has a visual impairment can take a paper document (regardless of orientation or number of sides) directly into their Kurzweil application to do an automated document-to-text-to-speech translation with optional direct output to a Braille/Ink combo printer. These devices and bundled software solutions help to offer possibilities that may have been costly to implement or not easily implemented by administrators. More information on accessibility for persons with disabilities or age related limitations is available here. What’s more, because this offers simple one-touch capabilities, this provides an attractive copy and/or paperless workflow solution for other cases where the user is expected to maintain face-contact with a client or processing high-volumes of jobs.

So what’s next? There are some other very interesting technologies and products around the corner. I’ll communicate those as they’re announced publicly. For the next article, I’ll be completing Part 3 of the color access control series using the Universal Print Driver.

You tell me. Is there any interest in delving into the world of print solutions? Maybe a focus around security is of interest? Are there any examples you’d like to share about how you are using printing and/or capture technology? Maybe you have a question about how to route a document using a paper-based workflow using electronic means we can cover.

Send me your comments and topics you’d like to see covered.

Just a quick news release posted to HP.com I figure I’d link to here. On Jan 22^nd, HP signed a definitive agreement to acquire Exstream Software, LLC. I wouldn’t be doing the solutions justice trying to simplify them in a paragraph or two here. So take a look at the press release as well as visit the company website. There are some very interesting online demos that are worth the investment of time.

Well, it’s been a while since my last post, so I thought I’d do something special. I wanted to make a “Part 2” to the Colour Control Options I discussed earlier. It covered some high-level topics, but I didn’t go into any depth showing them in action. This article casts a very bright light on just what can be done with embedded Color Access Controls under the “Settings” -> “Restrict Color” menu in the device’s embedded web server.

Alternate colour control methods become increasingly important for administrators who wish to manage colour access especially where centralized print queues (on print servers) are being retired.

So which devices support embedded “Color Access Controls”?

Okay, before we get started, I’m Canadian and you’ll notice I normally spell “Colour” with an extra vowel (except when it’s being used to refer to a brand name or trademark or technology). My spelling can be terrible at times, but this one is on purpose.

Generally “Color Access Controls” (CAC’s) are available in Commercial Color LaserJet devices launched in fall 2004 and later. Note that some of these products will require a firmware update.

• HP Color LaserJet 3000 Printer Series
• HP Color LaserJet 3800 Printer Series
• HP Color LaserJet CP3505 Printer Series
• HP Color LaserJet 4700 Printer Series
• HP Color LaserJet 5550 Printer Series
• HP Color LaserJet 4730mfp Series
• HP Color LaserJet CM4730mfp Series
• HP Color LaserJet 9500mfp Series
• HP Color Multifunction CM8050 MFP with Edgeline Technology Series *
• HP Color Multifunction CM8060 MFP with Edgeline Technology Series *

* Note that the HP EdgeLine devices support the ability to enumerate groups (not just users) because of advanced features built into its embedded companion that don’t exist on LaserJet and Color LaserJet devices. The colour controls look a little different as a result in the embedded web server including the ability to differentiate between the two major colour modes, but conceptually are the same.

So which devices support the older Access Control Lists?

If embedded Color Access Controls aren’t available for your older device or if sticking with ACL’s is more practical in your environment, that option is still available of course. Generally any device with a commercial JetDirect solution which is a JetDirect 610n or higher, USB connected 300-series or full-feature embedded JetDirect supports an access control list. This at least limits traffic to/from a specific IP/Mask combo (print server for example) where controls are managed at the print queue.

What is this driver pre-configuration software to lock in features?

So I made a brief mention about “Driver Pre-configuration Software”. This software lets administrators modify most modern commercial printer drivers. There are features which allow administrators to define defaults and even go so far as to lock in features (including B/W printing only, duplex only, etc).

Modifying the driver does break the WHQL signature since a configuration file is being modified. This is expected. But if all you need is the B/W version of the driver only for a color device, it’s usually posted on the support portal for your product.

There are other tools from HP that might be available. As they become public, I’ll do my best to share them here.

What next?

So this is the world of embedded controls, next I hope to show people the world of our “2^nd Generation Color Access Controls” used in the HP Universal Print Driver. This is fantastic stuff which can be manipulated through either an IIS based web-service or Active Directory using ADM templates (with group policy objects). So look forward to a “Colour Control Options (Part 3) – Universal Print Driver Controls”. I’ll cover the GPMC from Microsoft as wells as a few other goodies for those new to GPO management (this will be new for a lot of print administrators, although something many domain administrators have been comfortable with for some time). Coming soon...

Have you ever been asked to define new printing defaults for end users? I've put together a video tutorial targeted for new printing administrators. And for that matter existing print administrators who have only recently looked at applying settings by default.

Speaking personally, I know that I had to discover some of this (earlier in my career) by trial-and-error and got some bruises along the way. My hope here is that I can share out what I've learned and let administrators make their own decisions about how best to proceed in their organization.

Rather than go into a full on discussion here in email, take a peek at the video tutorial below:

In summary, printing defaults can be defined at the hardware level or the driver level. Drivers trump hardware settings (except when using advanced Color Access Controls for select colour devices which we'll explore in some future post). Also, printing defaults (when properly defined in "Advanced" -> "Printing Defaults..." are used by clients who point-and-print-connect the first time or have existing connections where the end-user has not saved any permanent defaults themselves in their Printers folder.

Next we'll take a look at driver deployment and preconfiguration utilities HP like HP Web Jetadmin as well as tools like the Microsoft Print Management Console in a future series.

I get a few of these questions from time to time about how to control printing costs (specifically colour printing). Of course I can’t help but point out the benefits of lower-cost colour output on devices like HP EdgeLine. However, there are times when organizations place Colour devices where there is concern about abuse. There’s really a few different ways to do this, addressed at a high-level below.

Secure the device for limited access

For almost a decade now, network administrators have typically limited access to colour devices by locking down permissions at the print queue on a print server. In Windows print servers, this is done from the “Security” tab (only allow the “print” for groups or users you wish to give access to). If you want to take the extra step to protect against crafty users bypassing the shared print queue, take advantage of “Access Control Lists” in the JetDirect print server. This is one of many recommendations for print security recommendations using Web Jetadmin.

Enable Color Access Controls

With commercial Color LaserJets and EdgeLine devices introduced 2004 and later, advanced Color Access Control is available. Rather than go into full detail here, anyone interested in this should visit the main “Color Access Control” website. There are a number of configuration options including restricting by user, application, time-of-day, etc. While many smaller organizations may find it preferable to use the hardware controls, there are advanced driver controls for the HP Universal Print Driver as well. For commercial colour multifunction devices, enable some form of authentication to limit color copying if desired as well like device or user pins.

Adopt enterprise solutions

What about organizations who want more? A number of HP’s solution partners offer things pull-print solutions, low-cost re-routing and clustering solutions through partners like Capella/JetMobile, Equitrac, Ringdale, Safecom, Pharos, LBM Systems, etc. Take a look at the HP Global Solutions Catalog for more details.

I’d encourage you to chat with your HP sales representative around your particular needs whether limiting access, purchasing devices with color access controls or looking at adopting an enterprise solution. At some point in the future (depending on feedback) we may delve into more detail on these topics in this blog.