Printing
Computer Labs
An online computer labs database is available that contains locations, hours of operation, hardware, software, printing resources, and the cost of printing within each lab. Some computer labs do not contain printers.
Central Printers and the Durham Center Print Bin System
Central printers located in the Durham Center may be utilized by any students, faculty, or staff member. The printouts are delivered to bins in 139 Durham Center approximately 15-20 minutes after the job has been submitted. The bins are shared among multiple users, so each job will contain a cover sheet displaying the Net-ID of the owner.
The central printers offer a variety of printing options:
- black and white or color
- simplex (one-sided) or duplex (two-sided)
A variety of paper options are also available:
- regular
- transparencies (add'l cost)
- thesis paper (add'l cost)
- labels (add'l cost)
Instructions are available for using the central printers from various software platforms including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX.
Print Subsidy and Grants
Students automatically receive two printing grant accounts by default. The first grant provides $5 per semester of "free" printing through the use of student computing fees allocated by the Computation Advisory Committee (CAC). The grant is a credit, and any remaining balance at the end of a semester evaporates.
The second grant allows students, faculty, and staff the option to charge up to $50 of printing and have it automatically billed to their U-Bill.
Students can print to central laser printers located in various computer labs through a service called NetPrint using an applet. The applet, called PCLPR, is available for download on Scout and is available for both Macintosh and Windows machines.
Other Printing Services
Printing Services
Printing Services offers a wide array of printing resources for students, faculty, and staff. Services include:
- digital reproduction
- full-color copies
- large format color printing
- offset printing
- computer publishing
- mailing
Printing Services has 5 convenient campus locations.
Design Document Center
Managed by and located with the College of Design, the Design Document Center provides several fee-based printing resources to students including the ability to print on a variety of specialty and poster-sized papers.
For more information on printing at Iowa State University, check out the FAQ page.

