In BarTender 2019 and later, you can manage printer usage and permissions with Printer Groups in the administration console. If you're not familiar with what Printer Groups are or where to find them, please see: What are Printer Groups?

Default Printer Groups

There are two printer groups created by default: Default and Blocked. These two printer groups cannot be renamed or deleted and will always remain regardless of the number of groups created. By default, the two groups have the following properties

• Default group - all printers in this group are allowed to print (given there are printer seats available)
• Blocked group - all printers in this group are denied regardless of if they are in another, allowed group.

These two groups form the foundation of managing printers with Printer Groups.

Managing Printer Groups

Creating a new Printer Group

To create a new Printer Group, open the Administration Console and click on "Printer Usage". Under the "Permissions" tab, click on the "Add a new printer group" button. This automatically adds a new, empty Printer Group with the default naming scheme of "Printer Group #".

Modifying a Printer Group

To modify a Printer Group, click on the name to expand the section. You can modify the name and the description. The name is used in Sorting Rules and can be changed at any time. There is no need to save the information. It will be updated once you click outside the text box.

Deleting a Printer Group

Aside from Default and Blocked, you can delete any printer group you have created. To delete a Printer Group, click on the gear icon  next to the Printer Group name and select "Delete Printer Group". All the printers that were once allocated to this group will be moved into the Default group.

 Controlling User Access

With the exception of the Blocked Group, each Printer Group allows for User Access controls individually. This will allow you to control who has access to which Printer Group and all the printers within the group. For more information on how to set User Access Controls, please see Controlling User Access in the Administration Console

Managing printers

Adding Printers

Printers are automatically added to one of the groups when used with a BarTender application. These printers are sorted according to the Printer Group Mapping Rules set in the Administration console. For more information about mapping rules, please see How to set and manage Printer Group Mapping Rules to automatically sort printers

Adding a printer manually

If you wish to add printers manually, you can do the following

1. Expand a printer group where you wish to add the printer
2. Click on "add a member printer". The Printer Group will be filled in automatically
3. Enter the information about the name, model (driver), location, and port.

This information will need to be filled out completely and accurately according to the printer you wish to add. You can find much of this information for your printer in the Printer Properties dialog in the Control Panel. If the information is incorrect, a separate printer with the correct information will appear sorted in one of the groups upon use.

Moving a printer to a new Printer Group

To move the printer, please do the following

1. Right click on the printer.
2. Select "Edit the selected printer."
3. In the dialog, select the new Printer Group from the dropdown list. You do not need to change any other information on the dialog.
4. Click OK to move the printer

Removing a printer

To remove a printer, right click on it and select "Delete the selected printer".