1.1 Introduction to iPrint

iPrint is Novell’s solution to seamless integration of printing services. Regardless of whether users are working in an office building, telecommuting from home, or attending a sales meeting in another country, iPrint ensures that they can print documents quickly, easily, and reliably.

Using a Web browser, users point to a Web page that displays the available printers to install. They click a printer to install the iPrint Client, download the printer’s driver, and create a printer on the user’s workstation. Then users can send documents to the printer from any application on the desktop.

With iPrint, mobile users no longer need to contact a busy network administrator to find out a printer’s name, context, and the required printer driver. Instead, mobile users work within a familiar Web browser to locate nearby printers through iPrint’s Printer List Web page or maps created by the administrator. Companies can also reduce communication costs by printing documents to remote printers.

iPrint Uses Industry Standards

iPrint uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), an industry standard, to eliminate the complexities of printing over the Internet and to make location-based printing a reality.

The benefits of IPP include the following:

For more information about IPP, see the documents on the Printer Working Group Website.

iPrint Benefits

In addition to the benefits of IPP, the Novell implementation of iPrint adds the following value:

For secure printing needs, iPrint integrates with NetIQ eDirectory to ensure that only authorized users can access the printer. A user is required to authenticate with an eDirectory username and password. The print data is also encrypted to ensure that sensitive print data is kept secure and unaltered.