This FAQ discusses printing in color at SUNY Purchase College, on public printers in the Purchase College Library's computer labs. This does not apply to printing from a personal printer at home or to printers outside Purchase College.
CTS (Campus Technology Services) manages all printers at the Library. For full instructions and troubleshooting tips, see the CTS Knowledge Base. You will have to have log into the Knowledge Base with your username and password.
The Library has several printers:
Color Printer Locations
- 2 color printers in the Reference Commons Area
- 1 "Mobility Printer" in the Reference Commons Area (to print from a mobile phone or personal laptop)
Black & White Printer Locations
- 1 B&W printer in the Reference Commons Area
For more info on printing, see FAQ on pricing and locations of printers.
There's a trick to printing in color: You must select the Library_Color printer in the print menu AND make sure the document is set to print in color under "Printer Properties." (Most of the time, the color printers default to "color" as the output).
The name and location of "Printer Properties" or "Printer Options" may differ depending on what software application you are printing from. When in doubt, look for terms like "properties," "options," or "features."
Follow the steps below to print in color on a PC or a Mac.
PC Instructions:
If using Microsoft Word, Publisher, Power Point, etc.:
1. Go to File> Print. Select Library_Color from the list of printers.
2. Click on Printer Properties under the printer name.
3. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Color tab. Under Color Options, make sure that Color is selected from this menu. Click OK.
4. Back on the main print screen, click the Print button. The CTS dialog box “Print Job Notification” appears. Verify one last time that you’ve selected the color printer, then click Print. You're good to go!
(If using Microsoft Photo Viewer, you have to click Options to get to Printer Properties.)
Mac Instructions (DMZ):
If using Microsoft Word, Power Point, Mac Preview, etc.:
1. Go to File>Print. Select Library_Color from the list of printers
2. If the full Print menu does not open, click Show Details to expand your view
3. From the dropdown menu in the middle of the box, choose Features. (In some programs such as Preview, this dropdown appears beneath additional options like Paper Size and Orientation.)
4. Below the Features menu, choose Color Options from the next dropdown menu. Select Automatic Color under Color Correction. (This should be the default for the DMZ Color printers. Vivid Color will work as well.)
5. Next, click Print.
6. The CTS dialog box “Print Job Notification” appears. Verify one last time that you’ve selected the color printer, then click Print. You're good to go!
