Frequently Asked Questions for Printing Services

Local and Express Laser Printing Services - free service

Quota Controlled Fast Print Queue - free service

Fast Network Printing - charged service


Local and Express Laser Printing Services - free service 

  1. What are the printing advices for this service?
    • Before printing
      1. Check your Print Quota

        Your print job will not be entertained if your print quota is exhausted or it is not large enough to support the print job. Checking your print quota before printing can avoid waste of waiting time and subsequent misunderstandings.

      2. Check the printer status

        The system will deduct your print quota as soon as you submit your print job (not when the printer prints your print job). Therefore, you have to ensure that the printer is not held up by some other print jobs to avoid loss of print quota due to clearance of the printer or print queue.

      3. Check if the printer is available for you to use and do not place any paper on the paper tray in order to reserve the printer.
    • During printing
      1. Submit one print job at a time

        After submitting a print job, if you find that it is not printed on the printer, you should check the printer status immediately. If the print queue is stuck, inform the Service Desk to fix it. Submitting a print job repeatedly is helpless in solving the problem on the one hand but will quickly exhaust your print quota on the other if the print job is large.

      2. Complete all your print jobs before you leave

        Unattended print jobs will not only waste your print quota but also cause problems to other users. The worst situation is that your document may be disclosed to the public.

    • After printing
      1. Always empty the paper tray after printing
      2. Always dispose of any waste paper in the recycle bag
      3. Always restore the printer to standby mode after printing
      4. Always keep the printer clean and tidy
  2. What can I do if paper jam occurs?
    • Do not turn off the printer
    • Open the printer cover
    • Take out the toner
    • Remove the jammed paper carefully
    • Put back the toner
    • Close the printer cover
    • The print job will resume automatically
  3. What can I do if unexpected printout is printing?
    • Remove all blank paper from the paper tray
    • Turn off the printer
    • Do not initiate print jobs
    • Inform the Service Desk immediately

Quota Controlled Fast Print Queue - free service 

  1. Do I need to pay for this service?

    It is a free service and is limited by the print quota allocated to each student.

  2. Do I need to bring along my own printing paper for this service?

    Papers are provided for this service.

  3. When the print quota will be deducted from my account?

    The print quota won't be deducted when submitting print jobs. The print quota will only be deducted when you release your print jobs.

  4. What can I do if red light is blinking on the printer?

    Don't release print job at that release station and inform Service Desk for the problem.

  5. Do I need to reconnect the print queue again if I reboot my computer?

    Yes. You should follow the normal procedure to connect the print queue again.

  6. What is the meaning of the column "Cost" in the release station?
    • It doesn't mean that you need to pay for this printing service.
    • It only reflects the print quota will be deducted for each print job.
  7. What happen if I select the manual feed tray (Stack Bypass) as the paper source during printing?

    If you release this print job at the release station, red light will blink on the printer and the print job won't be printed. It is because the manual feed tray is blocked and can't be accessed by user but the printer is waiting for you to feed papers in the manual feed tray.

  8. What happen if I print my file in the size other than A4?
    • The file will be zoomed to A4 automatically. If you change the default setting of the printer driver to print your document in the size other than A4, the print job will be deleted by the system automatically to prevent abnormal operation of the printer.
    • You can use the charged service provided by our centre for A3 printing. For details of charged printing, please refer to http://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/install-guide/FastPrintingServiceGuideline.htm
  9. Is it possible to print colour pages?
    • It is for black/white printing only. If your document contains colour pages, it will be printed in black/white.
    • You can use the charged service provided by our centre for colour printing. For details of charged printing, please refer to https://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/install-guide/ChargedPrintingServiceGuideline.htm
  10. What can I do if printing problem occurs (e.g. paper jam, toner low or paper out)?

    If you have any problem in this service, please contact Service Desk for assistance.

  11. Can I release print jobs while another user is printing?

    We suggest not to release print jobs while another user is printing. If there is any error occurred in the printing process of the previous user, it will affect your printing.

  12. Can I print multiple copies in the quota-controlled free printing system?

    With effective from 7 March 2011, the quota-controlled free printing system will only allow printing one copy of work per print job. When the printing system detects multiple-copy print jobs, it will delete them automatically without giving any prior warning message and it will not deduct the print quotas of these deleted print jobs.

  13. How can I connect to Fuji Xerox printers?

    The information can be found in the following web pages.
    Quota Controlled Fast Print Queue - free service (Guideline for Teaching Studio Users) http://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/install-guide/QuotaFastPQ.htm
    Quota Controlled Fast Print Queue - free service (Guideline for Notebook Computer Users) http://www.cityu.edu.hk/csc/install-guide/QuotaFastPQ_Notebook.htm

  14. What can I do if You have not entered a valid username is shown when I put my CityU ID card on the smart card reader of Print Release Station?
    It means that the print quota has not been assigned to your account. The print quota assignment is an automatic process that will assign print quota to your account when you submit print job through CSC Teaching Studios’ workstations or notebook computers.  Please print to the system through CSC Teaching Studios’ workstations or notebook computers first and then try again.
  15. How to avoid incorrect print quota being deducted?
    The print quota will only be deducted when you release your print jobs at Print Release Station. You should make sure that there is no incorrect page count and no duplicate document in the print job list before release your print jobs.
  16. What can I do if Account doesn't exist is shown when I login the printing app of my iOS device?
    It means that the print quota has not been assigned to your account. The print quota assignment is an automatic process that will assign print quota to your account when you submit print job through CSC Teaching Studios’ workstations or notebook computers.  Please print to the system through CSC Teaching Studios’ workstations or notebook computers first and then try again.

Charged Printing Service 

  1. How many printers are used for this service?

    Two printers of same model: Charge01 & Charge02

  2. What are the charging rates?
    • Both A4, A3 Color - $3.0 / page
    • Both A4, A3 Black & White - $0.3 / page
    • Duplex printing will be charged as 2 pages
  3. How to pay?

    Using your Octopus Card for payment at the Release Station

  4. How the money deduct from the Octopus Card?

    The money will be deducted page by page and before printing each page.

  5. What happen if my Octopus Card hasn't sufficient money to cover the cost of printing?
    • You are recommended to add sufficient amount of money to your Octopus Card before printing.
    • If you use the card that hasn't sufficient money for printing, your printing will be stopped when the value of the card has been used up.
  6. Do I have to release my print jobs immediately after I have placed them on the print queue?

    No, you can release the print jobs any time at your convenience but before the service's closing time on the date that you queue your print job. However, remember to properly protect your personal belongings when you leave your seat even for a short while for collecting your print out.

  7. What happen if the file contains color pages printed to Black/White print queue?

    The color pages will be printed in Black/White and $0.3 will be deducted for each page.

  8. How to print a file contains both color and Black/White pages?

    You are recommended to print color pages to color print queue and black/white pages to black/white print queue.

  9. What can I do if printing problem occurs (e.g. paper jam, toner low or paper out)?

    If you have any problem in this service, please contact Service Desk for assistance

IT.ServiceDesk@cityu.edu.hk