Printing Emergency Evacuation Lists

In an emergency you don’t want staff waiting at a printer; you want the evacuation list to come out of the printer immediately. PaperCut can do this by bypassing hold/release for specific jobs, users, or queues, while still tracking and charging the print.

Option 1 - Print directly to the printer

A dedicated queue is the most reliable way to print emergency documents. This setup skips the standard secure print workflow entirely.

1. Open Print Management
2. Press Windows Key + R, type printmanagement.msc, and press Enter
3. Expand your print server in the left pane and select Printers
4. Right-click in the right pane and select Add Printer…
5. Choose: Add a new printer using an existing port or create a new Standard TCP/IP Port
6. Enter the printer’s IP address
7. Select the appropriate driver
8. Complete the wizard, leaving other settings as default
9. (Recommended) Rename the queue clearly (e.g., PrinterName-Emergency)

Check the PaperCut Printers tab where you should now see your newly created queue.

Secure the newly setup queue

Restrict this queue so only authorized staff can print immediately. This keeps your print environment secure for everyone else.

1. Find your newly created queue in PaperCut Printers tab.
2. Navigate to the Filters & Restrictions tab for the emergency printer.
3. Find the Group restrictions section.
4. Select the Only allow the following groups to print checkbox.
5. Add the group for your fire wardens or reception staff.
6. Click Apply.

Option 2 - Use a Print Script

You can use a print script on your existing Find-Me queue to trigger immediate printing. The script looks for a specific document name during job analysis. In our script example below I’ve used ’emergency list’ as the document name, but you can choose an alternative name if needed.

1. Navigate to the Printers tab and select your Find-Me printer.
2. Click the Scripting tab.
3. Select the Enable print script checkbox.
4. Enter the script below into the editor.
5. Change the document name (emergency list) to suit your needs.
6. Click Apply.