WolfPrint (NC State's Accounted Print Service)

For additional help with printing, see Printing from a Unix Unity Workstation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a charge for printing?
2. What is print quota and how much does it cost?
3. Where and how do I purchase print quota?
4. What if I need to print after hours, but I have no print quota in my account?
5. Can I buy print quota online with a credit or debit card?
6. How long does it take purchased print quota to become available?
7. Where can I print my work?
8. If I'm using a Windows or Macintosh computer in a computing lab, how do I print my work?
9. What if I am a Unix user and prefer to work from the command line?
10. How do I print via the Web from any computer with an Internet connection?
11. How do I check to see how much WolfPrint quota I have?
12. Is color printing available?
13. Can I charge printing to a departmental account?
14. How can I best conserve my print quota?
15. How can I find out what printers are available?
16. How do I report problems with printing?
    

1 - Is there a charge for printing?
Yes, there is a per-page charge associated with printing in public computing labs. Printing to any black and white WolfCopy printer costs $0.06 per page. Printing to any color WolfCopy printer costs $0.25 per page. Printing to a WolfCopy large-format printer will cost $0.80 per square foot.
NOTE: Some printers in DH Hill Library conform to a different pricing scheme. Printing to printers dhl-1102-1, dhl-1102-2, dhl-2144-1, dhl-5413-1, and dhl-6402-1 will cost $0.10 per page. Printing to printer dhl-2144-color1 will cost $0.60 per page.
NOTE: Please choose your printer carefully. Black and white printing on a WolfCopy color printer will cost $0.25 per page even if no color ink is used.

2 - What is WolfPrint quota and how much does it cost?
Your WolfPrint quota account is a debit account dedicated to covering the cost of printing. The balance in your WolfPrint quota account, known as print quota, represents the cost of the total number of pages that you could print. WolfPrint is the debit system by which WolfCopy accounts for your print quota charges. You must first purchase WolfPrint quota if you want to print to WolfCopy printers. The minimum quota purchase is $5.00, which will buy you approximately 83 black and white pages. The WolfPrint system will automatically debit $0.06 for each page of black and white printing, $0.25 for each page of color printing, and $0.80 per square foot of large format printing from your WolfPrint quota account.

3 - Where and how do I purchase WolfPrint quota?
You can purchase print quota at the following locations: (Note: No longer available in Talley Student Center)

• Wolfcopy service window at D. H. Hill Library, at the Photocopy Services desk adjacent to the main lobby
(building #47, campus map/north), is open 8:30AM-5:30PM Monday-Friday for immediate additions to your WolfPrint quota account.
• Administrative Services I (building #122, campus map/south), is open 8:00AM-5:00PM Monday-Friday for immediate additions to your WolfPrint quota account.
• Materials Management Warehouse, 3420 Ligon Road (building #161, campus map/south) is open 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday.

To purchase WolfPrint quota with cash or check, you must appear in person at either D. H. Hill Library, University Graphics or the Materials Management Warehouse. WolfPrint quota cannot be sold over the phone. If you need to purchase quota between the hours of 5:00PM and 8:00AM Monday-Friday or on weekends, you may visit the online print quota store at http://print.ncsu.edu. If you do not wish to buy quota online, you may request a WolfPrint quota IOU online at http://print.ncsu.edu.

4 - What if I need to print after hours, but I have no print quota in my account?
You may buy WolfPrint quota online at http://print.ncsu.edu. If you do not wish to purchase print quota online, you may request a print quota IOU online at http://print.ncsu.edu, and you will receive a temporary $10.00 addition to your account. After 48 hours, the $10.00 will be deducted from your account, and you must appear at a WolfCopy location to repay your print quota account balance into the positive. You are only responsible for paying back the amount of print quota you actually used. You will not have to pay back the entire $10.00 unless you have used it all.

5 - Can I buy print quota online with a credit or debit card?
Yes, you can buy print quota online at http://print.ncsu.edu. Cards bearing the Visa or Mastercard logos are accepted.

6 - How long does it take purchased print quota to become available?
Your purchase must take effect across several computer systems. WolfPrint quota could be available in as few as fifteen minutes or as long as an hour. Once you have quota in your account, you can print to WolfCopy printers in public computing labs, and charges are deducted from your account automatically.
NOTE: If you own your own computer and wish to avoid the per-page charge for printing, please bring your own printer with you to campus.

7 - Where can I print my work?
Most computers in NC State computer labs are configured to print to a printer within the lab. You can also print from any computer with an Internet connection to any of the WolfCopy printers in public computing labs via the Web at http://print.ncsu.edu, and charges will be deducted from your WolfPrint quota account. This Web-based printing service is available from personally-owned computers in residence halls or computers connected to the campus wireless network.

8 - If I'm using a Windows or Macintosh computer in a computing lab, how do I print my work?
Most applications on Windows or Macintosh computers place a Print option on the File pull-down menu, so when you need to print your work, select Print from the application's file menu. On Windows, you may also right-click a file icon, and select Print from the pop-up menu.

If there is a Print... option on the menu (note ellipsis dots), it can be selected to adjust the default print settings, e.g., number of copies, range of pages, etc. Among the options generally available from Print... is "Print to a File," which means that you can send your output to a file rather than to a printer. Then, you can print the file whenever you want without opening the application.

9 - What if I am a Unix user and I prefer to work from the command line?
On Unix/Linux machines, your print job is a "PostScript" file with a .ps extension. To print a file that has been formatted for printing, type lpr (line print) followed by the file name or the path to the file, e.g., lpr filename.ps or lpr dir/filename.ps.

The workstation you use will automatically route your files to its default printer (see list at http://print.ncsu.edu/listofprinters.php). However, you can route print jobs to other printers in one of two ways:

• Select the printer you want from the Print options available inside the application
• Choose Print to a file and then send the file to the printer you specify.

The latter is done by adding -P after the lpr command followed immediately (no space) by the name of the printer you want to use (see list at http://print.ncsu.edu/listofprinters.php) and the print-formatted file you want to print. For example, if you want to print to the printer in 242 Daniels, you would specify that printer's name and the file you want to print, e.g., lpr -Pdan242 file.ps.

To see what print jobs are queued for the printer, type lpq.
To remove a print job before it prints, type lprm job#. You may remove only your own print jobs.

On Unix, the default printer is set in the PRINTER environment variable. To find out your default printer, type printenv PRINTER. You can change the default printer by typing setenv PRINTER followed by the name of the printer you want to use. When you want to specify a printer other than the default, use the -P option (see above) to override the default setting in your environment.

On Windows, the default printers are listed in My Computer -> Printers, but because of the high-security settings on the lab-installed workstations, users cannot add printers or change configurations.

1. Point your Web browser to http://print.ncsu.edu.
2. Scroll down the page until you see the Print a File box.
3. Use the Browse button to navigate to the PDF, PostScript or text file you wish to print.
4. From the pull-down menu, choose the printer to which you would like to send your print job.
5. Select Print to send your job to the printer.

Print quota will be deducted from your print quota account automatically. For more detailed instructions on using http://print.ncsu.edu or on converting files to PostScript format, see our "How To" documentation at http://print.ncsu.edu/faq.php.

11 - How do I check to see how much WolfPrint quota I have?
The easiest way to check your print quota is online at http://print.ncsu.edu. You will be asked to log in with your Unity ID and password. Once you have logged in, you will see your print quota account balance displayed in the box marked "My Print Quota." You may have to scroll down the page to see the "My Print Quota " box.

12 - Is color printing available?
Yes. Color printing is available in a variety of locations including the DH Hill Library 2413 and Avent Ferry 104 Unity Labs. Color printing, including large format color printing, is also available in several other labs on campus. Check with your college or academic department's Help Desk for specific location and pricing information for WolfCopy color printing or for large-format color printing. Or you can check the list of available printers.

14 - How can I best conserve my print quota?
See the tips on conserving paper and print quota.

15 - How can I find out what printers are available?
OIT maintains a list of all available WolfPrint printers at http://print.ncsu.edu/listofprinters.php.

16 - How do I report problems with printing?
If you have trouble printing in a lab, the easiest way to report it is via the Web at http://print.ncsu.edu/reportaproblem.php. You can also call the NC State Help Desk at 515-HELP(4357), or send email to help@ncsu.edu.

Content last updated March 3, 2008 by Jessie Henninger, Distributed Support person for WolfCopy.
Page last modified March 3, 2008 by Jessie Henninger, Distributed Support person for WolfCopy.