How to Add Printer Pools and License Partitions to a License
Overview
In BarTender 2019 and later, you now have the option to segment a printer-based license and control access to each segment. This is done by using Printer Pools and License Partitions. If you're not familiar with either, please see these two articles to get you started:
Applicable to
BarTender 2019 and later
Printer-Based License
Information
A License Partition and a Printer Pool can be set up in any order. One does not need to be created without the other.
While unlinked Printer Pools have no impact on your license or on printing, unlinked License Partitions contain printer counts or seats that go unused. The exception to this is if the Partition contains a printer count of 0.
Creating License Partitions
In the Administration Console, you can create new partitions and allocate printer seats to it from an unallocated printer count as well as taking from existing partitions using the Create a New Partition dialog.
By default, your license will have one License Partition already set up, but you can add as many as suits your needs.
For full information on how to add a License Partition as well as an explanation of the dialog's features, please see Creating, modifying, and managing printer counts with the License Partition dialog.
Creating Printer Pools
In the Administration Console, you can create Printer Pools which help License Partitions control user access. Printer seats in a License Partition cannot be used without a linked Printer Pool, and you cannot print at all if your license has no Printer Pools at all. They are a crucial part of managing printer seats.
To add a new Printer Pool or manage one already created, please see Creating, modifying, and managing Printer Pools.
Connecting the Two
While you can link Printer Pools and License Partitions upon creation, this section will detail how to pair the two after creation. You can pair the two together using either the Printer Pools or the License Partitions. Both have the same result and neither has an advantage over the other.
Linking from License Partitions
To link the pair using the License Partitions, navigate to the License Partitions section of the Administration Console. Double click on the Partition you wish to link. You can also click on the pencil icon or right click and choose to edit.
This will bring up the Edit Selected Partition dialog. Here you can choose which Printer Pool you'd like to link to the selected License Partition. Choosing the blank option at the top unlinks a Partition from a Pool:
The bottom of the dialog lists which Pools are linked to the other Partitions on your License (if you have more than one).
Once you select the Printer Pool, click OK to confirm your selection and the two are now linked.
Linking from Printer Pools
To link the pair from Printer Pools, navigate to the Printer Pools section of the Administration console. Open up the desired Printer Pool's section by clicking on the Pool's name. Click the Select Partitions button
When you click the Select Partitions button, the dialog will list all available License Partitions that are not currently linked:
Check the box in the Add column next to the License Partition you wish to link. License Partitions are not named but instead identified by the Allocated Printer Count. Once you have made your selection, click OK and the Partition and Pool will now be linked.