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directprint.io Windows 10 Client Configuration Guide

James Gilmore
  • Updated
 

Introduction

This document explains the setup & configuration procedure for the directprint.io Windows 10 Universal Print Driver. The directprint.io driver allows admins to install directprint.io printers at the system level on Windows 10, allowing printing from Windows native applications (Word, Excel, etc).

 

Useful resources:

Supported platforms:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11

Background

The directprint.io client for Windows is functionally identical to the Chrome/Chromebook version. Functionality includes secure print, ink and paper saving, printer connectivity tests, logging, and statistics reporting.

 

directprint.io Windows operational features vs Chrome client

  • Printers are published to the system level - visible in the Windows printer list.
  • The Windows client is installed as an EXE installer package.
  • The Windows client may be manually installed by the end-user or installed by the GPO policy.
  • The Windows client is installed to the CURRENT USER - so that installation does not require elevated privileges.
  • Printer lists can be:
  • Automatically fetched based on G Suite User Single Sign On (easiest)
  • Administrator installed by specifying Windows Environment variables in GPO policies, see the following section.
  • Manually installed by the end-user via QuickCodes
  • The Client automatically runs at startup
  • The application interface is launched from the Windows toolbar menu (bottom-right of the screen)
  • Launching the application from the Start Menu is also supported.
  • The application will automatically update when new versions of the application are available. Logoff/logon or reboot is required to enable the new application version.

 

Launching the application:

The application will automatically start in the background at logon.

To display the application window, list of printers and current jobs launch the app from the taskbar, look for the black printer icon.

 

 

 

Installation of software and printer lists

 

Software Manual installation:

  1. Download the Windows client setup exe
  2. Follow the on-screen prompts to install the directprint.io client
  3. Launch the client from the Toolbar menu (bottom right)
  4. Enter a valid directprint.io QuickCode

 

 

Administrator remote installation:

  1. Deploy the setup.exe to the target OUs using your chosen software deployment system (SCCM, PDQ).
  2. To enable silent installation invoke the setup.exe with the following command line switches:  /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES

 

Printer list deployment

Option 1) Printer installation (automatic / preferred)

  1. End-user starts the dirctprint.io application.
  2. End-user signs-in using SSO - ‘Sign in with Google’
  3. Printers will be allocated according to OU of Group membership - please note that device-based allocation is not supported on Windows.

Option 2) Printer installation via Windows Environment Variables:

To automatically install printers for users set the DIRECTPRINT_QUICKCODES Windows environment variable to a valid directprint.io QuickCode or list of comma-separated QuickCodes via a Group Policy.

 

e.g. DIRECTPRINT_QUICKCODES=abcd,defg,hijk

Additionally for Windows Server environments here is an article explaining how to set env-var via group policy:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/25972.create-environment-variables-with-group-policy.aspx

 

Sample configurations

Setting a quickcode for all users on a machine via a startup script

Sample batch script for setting quickcodes at the Machine level (vs local user level)

This command will bind the printer list to the Windows device

*requires Administrator privilege* 

setx DIRECTPRINT_QUICKCODES abcd /m

 

Setting a quickcode for single user on a machine via a startup script

Sample batch script for setting quickcodes at the user (vs local machine level)

This command will bind the printer list to the Windows user

setx DIRECTPRINT_QUICKCODES abcd

 

 

 

Option 3) Installation of printers via manual QuickCode entry

  1. The end-user enters one or more QuickCodes into the directprint.io client to get permanent access to printer lists.

 

 Additional Information:

  • Due to the document conversion process, printing on Windows typically takes longer than on Chromebooks. The print speed will largely depend on the specifications of the host machine.
  • Printers are automatically updated every 30 minutes, at every logon, or when the user clicks the refresh icon in the client application.
  • The windows client should not be installed alongside the Chrome App client on Windows - the system will double-count printers in Chrome if both the Windows and Chrome Apps are installed concurrently. If you have both clients installed on a Windows PC you will need to apply a policy (https://directprint.io/admin/policies) to the user/group/printer/room/property or organization that includes ONLY ChromeOS.

Screenshot of required policy setting to prevent printer duplication on windows

 

This should prevent the Chrome app from listing printers in windows environments, thereby only listing printers from the Windows (native) driver.

  • If a printer requires duplex or color choice by the end user a secondary print window will be displayed after the user dismisses the Windows print dialog. Duplex and mono can still be enforced thru the directprint.io admin console using directprint.io policies. When printing large documents the time taken to display the secondary print window can be lengthy. This is a known issue and directprint.io will look to provide an update to alleviate the delay.
  • The only way to exit/kill the application and background process is to invoke the Task Manager (taskmgr) to end the direcprint.io process. This requirement is intentional - to prevent users from accidentally stopping the print service.
  • The installers are currently unsigned and therefore may require approval before installing. directprint.io will re-issue signed installers in a forthcoming release.
  • Launching the app from the Start Menu sometimes requires 2 attempts (the first launch doesn’t show the app Window). We suggest launching the app from the Taskbar (bottom-right).
  • Each printer can approximately 5 seconds to create at the system level, this leads to a delay in the availability of printers when initially provisioning long printer lists.

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