Direct Print Overview

Direct Print is a cloud-managed print solution that delivers jobs directly to the printer when submitted — no authentication at the device required. It replaces traditional print server infrastructure with a centrally managed platform that handles driver deployment, queue configuration, and printer discovery automatically.

Why Use Direct Print?

  • Eliminate print servers — remove costly on-premises print servers and the IT burden of managing them. The cloud-native solution scales as your organization grows without adding hardware.

  • Simplify print driver management — a single IPP print driver supports most printer models regardless of manufacturer, providing a consistent experience across your multi-vendor fleet. Full OEM driver functionality is available for devices that need it.

  • Improve the print experience — location-based printing automatically adds and removes print queues on user workstations based on their location and permissions. Users print to nearby printers with no manual setup.

  • Enhance security — an ISO 27001 certified platform removes print servers as an attack vector, protects data with end-to-end encryption, and supports zero trust security principles.

  • Print across networks — users can print from their workstation directly to Pharos Cloud-managed printers even if the printer is on a separate or isolated network, or the user is working remotely.

  • Reduce Help Desk calls — the familiar direct-to-printer workflow and a consistent IPP driver across the fleet reduces user friction and support tickets.

How Direct Print Works

1. Administrators configure Direct Print in the Pharos Cloud web console —This includes selecting an authentication provider, setting up a location hierarchy that mirrors the organization's physical layout, importing or discovering printers using Device Scout, and configuring print queues for each printer. Each queue defines the driver type, finishing options (paper size, color, duplex), and install type — auto-install (Print Scout installs the queue automatically when a user signs in at a matching location) or manual-install (users add the queue themselves from the desktop app). Queue Profiles can automate queue creation across large fleets by matching printers to the right configuration based on make and model.

2.Print Scout is deployed to user workstations. It installs the Pharos Secure Release mobile app desktop app, downloads drivers and finishing options, and creates the configured print queues. For auto-install queues, this happens automatically when the user signs in at a matching location.

3. Users print. Users select a Direct Print queue from their printer list and submit jobs as they normally would.

Note: For direct line-of-sight printing on the local network, print jobs are sent directly to the printer and do not travel through the cloud. Only job metadata is collected and sent to Pharos Cloud for analytics. For off-network printing via the cloud, the job is temporarily stored in your configured region during transit and automatically deleted after printing. See Off-Network Direct IP Printing for details.

Key Features

Off-Network Direct IP Printing through the cloud

Off-network direct IP printing capability allows users to send print jobs to printers across disparate networks via the cloud. It enables seamless printing across the organization, regardless of physical or network boundaries, ensuring that users can reliably print to any Pharos Cloud-managed direct printer, even without a direct network path.

More Information: Off-Network Direct IP Printing through the cloud

Print Driver Management

One of the most challenging aspects of managing printers is managing drivers. Print driver management allows IT admins to:

  • Centrally manage print drivers in the cloud
  • Select a driver from the list of manufacturer’s printer drivers for Windows in the Pharos Cloud web console
  • Upload device-specific drivers using the new Driver Capture tool
  • Use the IPP Class driver, which uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)
  • Hide drivers from the list, especially those not relevant to your organization.
  • Set a default printer driver. This becomes the default driver when creating a Windows queue. If not specified, it will default to HP Universal Printing PCL 6 (v7.7.0) for new installations.

More Information: Print Driver Management

Location-based Printing

Location-based printing enables users to print to devices based on their location. The Print Scout installed on user workstations detects the user’s location and seamlessly shows a list of the available printers at their current location.

Note: Location-based Printing is supported on Windows and macOS only.

More Information: Location-based Printing

Group-based Printing (Install Print Queues based on Groups )

Direct Print lets you assign groups to install specific print queues, regardless of where printers are physically located. Users in these groups can access a particular queue without their location needing to match the printer. This ensures that the queue is available to users in the assigned group, no matter where they are.

More Information: Group-based Printing

Restrict Access to a Direct Printer by Group

With Direct Print, administrators can assign a printer to one or more groups. When a printer has been assigned to a group, it is only available to the users in the assigned group. If there are no group assignments, all printers are available to all users by default.

More Information: Restrict Access to a Direct Printer by Group

Restrict Access to a Print Queue by Group

With Direct Print, administrators can assign a Print Queue to one or more groups. When a Print Queue has been assigned to a group, it is only available to the users in the assigned group. If there are no group assignments, all print queues are available to all users by default.

More Information: Restrict Access to a Print Queue by Group

SCIM based User and Group Synchronization

Pharos Cloud supports the automatic provisioning of users and groups from identity providers using the System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) protocol. SCIM is an open standard automating user provisioning for organizations by communicating employee identity data from identity providers (IdP) to service providers.

More Information: SCIM-Based User and Group Synchronization

Direct Print Dashboard

The Direct Print dashboard offers a concise overview of significant metrics related to your Direct Print setup and offers guidance on potential actions you can implement to enhance your print environment.

More Information: Direct Print Dashboard

Support for Print Support App (PSA) 

PSA (Print Support App) extends the capabilities of the Microsoft IPP Class Driver by enabling advanced print features that are not available with the default driver alone. This integration allows users to access options such as tray selection, duplex (double-sided) printing, and finishing preferences (e.g., stapling, hole punching, booklet creation, etc).

Support for Windows Protected Print (WPP)

With the latest Print Scout (v8.1), Direct IP printing is supported in WPP-enabled environments using the Microsoft IPP Class Driver. This ensures secure, driverless printing with consistent behavior across modern Windows platforms.

Support for Windows on Arm devices

Direct Print in Print Scout v8.1 supports native printing on Windows on Arm platforms. Jobs are sent directly to printers using the Microsoft IPP Class Driver, ensuring a driverless, secure, and consistent experience without additional configuration.

Key Benefits

  • Eliminate print server and associated IT labor. As a cloud solution, there are no extra servers to install or manage.
  • Simplify driver deployment and management
    • Enables users to easily discover and add printers themselves.
    • Enables admins to automatically install printers on users’ workstations based on their location.
    • Automatic deployment of print drivers and finishing options
  • Enhance security
    • Eliminate print server vulnerabilities
    • Protect data with end-to-end encryption
    • Support zero-trust security principles

Supported Clients

Direct Print supports the following clients:

Note: The Chrome Direct Print feature is available only for Pharos Cloud only. It is not yet available for Uniprint or Blueprint Enterprise.

Supported Authentication Providers

Direct Print supports OpenID Connect, Internal Authentication, Active Directory, and SAML 2.0 for Windows and macOS.

Note: Chrome Direct Print does not support Internal Authentication and Active Directory Auth.

Known Issues and Limitations

  • Direct Print v2.0 cannot be used on 32-bit machines. In case you have a 32-bit machine and require Direct Print, please get in touch with Support to obtain an earlier version of the Print Scout, which supports Direct Print v1.0. It's important to note that Direct Print v1.0 lacks some functionalities, including print driver management and location-based printing.
  • Chrome Direct Print supports location-based printing but does not support automatic installation of queues.

Note: User workstations must be restarted first to recover from the spooler crash.

Device Discovery

IT admins would use the Device Scout to automatically discover Direct Print compatible printers. The Device Scout can detect a device's IPP capability and configuration. Specifically, the Device Scout scans for Ipp Support (whether the printer supports the IPP protocol) and Discovered IPP Url(e.g. ipp://ipaddress:631/ipp/print). Alternatively, you can manually import printers for use with Direct Print if you do not wish to use the Device Scout to discover printers. You can import a comma-separated values (CSV) file containing a list of printers that you want to add as part of Direct Print.

Direct Print Screen in the Pharos Cloud web console

The web portal includes the Direct tab with the following sections:

  • Setup Guide – This provides a quick and easy way to deploy Direct Print by guiding you through the required steps.
  • Dashboard - The dashboard offers a concise overview of significant metrics related to your Direct Print setup and offers guidance on potential actions you can implement to enhance your print environment.
  • Direct Printers – Use this screen to configure components required for Direct Print: locations, printers, and print queues.
  • Print Scout – Provides details about the individual workstations where the Print Scout is installed.
  • Invite – Invite users to start using Direct Print. The system provides the template that admins can use as a starting point.
  • Settings – Use the Settings screen to configure the following: authentication provider for Direct Print and cloud-based delivery.

Note: The Direct tab on the Direct Print web console is only available if you have a Direct Print license.

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