PrintSmart Student Frequently Asked Questions

Print allotments help make the most responsible use of Butler's printing resources and support our commitment to be environmentally responsible. The numbers below show the number of pages printed by students over time. Note: allotments Started in '10-'11.

Allotments are made for an academic year. An academic year is the 12 month period beginning August 1 and ending July 31. Student PrintSmart accounts are credited on August 1. If you graduate from Butler, printing ends the day after commencement. Students who enroll after August 1 are given a pro-rated allotment when their Butler network account is created. Allotments do not roll over from one academic year to the next.

For academic year 2012-2013, if you exhaust your allotment, PrintSmart will continue to let you print and will show your balance in negative dollars. In future academic years you will most likely be required to add money to your account to continue to print.

Your PrintSmart account balance appears in the upper right corner of computer lab computers when you login. You can also check your account balance and printing history by visiting http://printsmart.butler.edu (on campus only).

After you choose print, you will need to verify and approve your print job before it is processed. This is done by reviewing the window that pops up and then clicking Print.

Your print allotment includes a 50 page allowance to cover PRINTER ERRORS and JAMS. Please report printer problems to the Help Desk as soon as possible to ensure they are resolved quickly. 

Because an allowance is made for errors, IT only accepts requests for account adjustments in extreme circumstances. If you believe you have an extreme circumstance take evidence of your case to the Help Desk.

Students can print in the following locations using their print allotment. Printing by students to printers other than those in public or departmental computer labs is only allowed when doing so as part of university business.

No. Instead, student employees will see the option to choose which account items for work purposes should be charged to. Items charged to departmental accounts are not deducted from student print allotments. Students should only charge work related materials to their work account.

No. The type of paper used in lab printers is selected to minimize jamming and extend the life of the printers.  Regardless of what paper is used in lab printers the account of the person printing will still be debited for the prints. If you have special printing needs, contact Campus Impressions.

Any printing done in computer labs will be charged to the account of the person printing regardless of why it is printed.  If you need to make multiple copies of a document for a student organization consider printing one "master" in the lab and take it to Campus Impressions to have copies made. You can charge these copies against the student organization's account. Campus Impressions also accepts electronic submissions.

If you need your student organization's account number to use at Campus Impressions contact the PuLSE office in AU 101 or call them at 940-9262.

Color printing is available in the Irwin Library or Campus Impressions.

Guests visiting a library or who are on campus for a conference will need to contact either the Library or Conferences and Special Events for information on how to log onto the network and print.

The fastest way to print from your personal computer is to use Web Print. Web Print allows for duplex printing of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, PDF and XPS documents to selected lab printers via a webpage. Please note that Web Print is unable to print PowerPoint slides any way other than one slide per page. If you would like to print PowerPoint slides in any other format e.g., notes pages, four up, etc., first print it as a PDF in the format you would like then print the PDF using Web Print.

If you need to print single sided or print any other type of document from a personal computer you will need to install the PrintSmart client software or visit a computer lab.

To use Web Print, login to  http://printsmart.butler.edu (on campus only), click Web Print on the left side menu, and follow the directions.

To install the PrintSmart client on your personal computer follow the directions on this page.

Print allotments were determined by looking at student printing data from previous years, the amount of waste discarded in labs, and by evaluating how other schools structure their printing programs.

No. Your print allotment is not a grant. It is simply an agreement that the University will pay for the allotted amount of printing, should you need it. 

COPHS students (except PA1) are part of the COPHS Mobile Computing Program. Program participants pay a fee of which a portion goes to cover additional printing.

No. The PrintSmart system is not set up to allow for this type of transfer between accounts.

• Utilize other file storage options such as your network storage space on BUfiles or a USB flash drive to save documents instead of printing.
• Use online collaboration tools such as Google Docs instead of trading documents via email.
• Read materials from the computer screen instead of printing.
• Ask your professors if you can submit work electronically via email or through Blackboard instead of printing.
• When reviewing journal articles, have the PDF or text of the article emailed to you instead of printing.
• Use the comment and track changes features in Microsoft Word and other programs to provide feedback to others (instead of printing and marking up by hand).
• When printing materials:
  • Use the print preview feature to preview what will print before you print.
  • When printing website materials, look for a link to a "printable version" of the document. This will format the content for printing.
  • When printing website materials, make sure the last few sheets are not just advertisements or footer information.