I would like a per-printer and/or a user setting to restrict a user's ability to print in color. In our organization, we have groups of users who can only print in grayscale and groups of users who are permitted to print in color. I would like one or both of the following:
- The ability to create multiple printer shares for a single printer object where one share has color enabled and the other does not. Note, for this to work as desired, it could not simply default to grayscale; it would need to require grayscale if a user is not allowed to print in color.
- A restriction that can be applied to the user that determines their access to print in color. If a user is not permitted to print in color, any printer they use would force their print jobs to be grayscale. And a user who is permitted to print in color could choose between color or grayscale, as needed.
1 Comment
Yes, this is possible, but it depends on your print management setup.
If you're using Windows Print Server, you can:
- Create two printer queues for the same printer—one configured for color and another forced to grayscale.
- Use security permissions or Active Directory groups so only authorized users can access the color printer queue.
Some enterprise printer manufacturers (such as Canon, Ricoh, Xerox, and Konica Minolta) also support user-based color restrictions through their print management software.
If you don't have a print server or print management software, Windows does not provide a built-in way to force grayscale for specific users across all printers.
