What Is Print Management?
The Print Management snap-in is available in the Administrative Tools folder on computers running Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Server 2008. You can use it to install, view, and manage all of the printers and Windows print servers in your organization.
Print Management provides current details about the status of printers and print servers on the network. You can use Print Management to install printer connections to a group of client computers simultaneously and to monitor print queues remotely. Print Management can help you find printers that have an error condition by using filters. It can also send e-mail notifications or run scripts when a printer or print server needs attention. On printers that provide a Web-based management interface, Print Management can display more data, such as toner and paper levels.
Who Should Use Print Management?
This guide is targeted at the following audiences:
• Print Administrators and Help Desk professionals.

• Information Technology (IT) planners and analysts who are evaluating the product.

Enterprise IT planners and designers.


Benefits of Print Management
Print Management saves the print administrator a significant amount of time installing printers on client computers and managing and monitoring printers. Tasks that can require up to 10 steps on individual computers now can be accomplished in 2 or 3 steps on multiple computers simultaneously and remotely.
By using Print Management with Group Policy, you can automatically make printer connections available to users and computers in your organization. In addition, Print Management can automatically search for and install network printers on the local subnet of your local print servers.

Print management can have many definitions. It can be best described as controlling, maintaining and monitoring a printing environment and its productivity levels. Generally, an administrator who engages in print management can manage all the printers on his network. He is provided with real-time status updates on printers and the network on which they operate. In essence, he can manage numerous printers and their environments from one computer. If the administrator were not engaging in printer management activities, he may have to tend to each computer individually.
Printing management is meant to provide companies and organizations with the tools to make the most of their resources. Space, hardware, software and time — as with deadlines — are all considered when attempting to streamline printing operations. Business owners may choose to outsource their printing management activities and heed the advice of professionals who supply printing management services. For example, a third-party printing management service may assess a company's printing processes and offer suggestions like hardware and software upgrades, the relocation of equipment or the addition of an employee to increase productivity.

Reports provided by basic print management activities can aid an administrator in keeping on top of what is happening in his printing environment. If an administrator identifies activities that he thinks may contribute to a problem later on, he may take steps to change those behaviors in the printing environment. For instance, an administrator who notices paper being wasted may impose printing limits or require that users utilize options that allow for double-sided printing.
Print management can also help an administrator in their troubleshooting efforts. Notifications and scripts can be remotely sent through the system to address problems. These problems may range in scope from simple toner and paper changes to system failures. Since small issues are caught before they turn into bigger ones, the need for major technical support can be reduced.
Besides streamlining operations, printing management can help in saving money and increasing productivity for a company or organization. For example, beneficial print management activities include those that reduce waste and minimize the amount of repairs required to keep a printing environment operational. To truly experience the benefits of print management, changes will have to be made according to a business's specific needs.

Printing companies are not all equal. A printing Melbourne company that can deliver the best results usually has a print management system in place. Having one is the best clue that a printer can provide outstanding work quality.
In a more traditional sense, the term is linked to a process that starts when output is in the course of being generated from a printing machine. Managing a project means key personnel or a main manager is put in charge of ensuring that the output goal is achieved without a hitch. This may entail watching over processes from a central position or monitoring tool. Key points to look at are proper design and color execution. For bulk projects, this means performing appropriate spot checks on initial results. Proper time frame and quantity output are also major concerns.
Currently, new print management services have identified newer goals to focus on. Aside from making sure materials are printed properly, they also need to make sure that there is little waste and that cost is reduced. These new goals address more than just the client’s need for affordability. They also seek to establish environmental accountability. Simply put, selections such as recycled materials and single sheet designs can increase customer savings and limit the bad effects of the printing process on nature and natural resources.
The additional goals have already changed the definition of print management. There is however, even more to look forward to in a modern print management solution or system. Today’s systems give customers so much more value in the form of design advice, delivery, installation, storage and inventory options. These go well beyond a printer’s primary role of providing high quality printed materials.
The stage before printing begins is significant for a number of reasons. It is mainly crucial because the result of pre planning can determine results and cost to a large extent. Hence, a printing company with a solid print management system should only rightly provide advice from start to finish. Since company representatives are experts, their advice would make better sense than simply fumbling around and risking missing the mark on the correct steps. Clients who know nothing about the process should put their trust on the experts.
The tasks that print management services need to complete after the printing process is just as important as the pre printing stage. Clearly, business owners and event organizers have a lot of important things in their minds. They probably don’t want to have to deal with the small details of tracking deliveries and stocks. Print companies today help customers get on top of everything by taking care of these details.
With big print jobs, inventory and delivery tracking services are especially crucial. Printing companies can assist customers with these concerns by delivering materials in predefined batches, storing undelivered materials and monitoring how much stock is left after initial deliveries.
A print management system is never just about monitoring the process of printing. These days, it’s all about managing every step of a print project from designing to delivery or installation. A system with the works is just what you need to make sure your printed materials make the cut.