Academic and Research Computing

Academic and Research Computing

RCS Printing Charges and Allocations

Printing Costs

The charge per page varies according to the type of printer Note that you are not charged for header pages. The per job charge imposed on printers that use header pages is intended to partially recover the cost of these pages.

Black & White Printing
  one-sided (all B&W printers) 8 cents/page + 2 cents/job
  one-sided 11x17 (vcblw, vcsoutlw) 8 cents/page + 2 cents/job
  two-sided (vclw) 12 cents/sheet + 2 cents/job
  two-sided 11x17 (vcblw) 12 cents/sheet + 2 cents/job
  labels (vclbl30) 25 cents/page + 10 cents/job

Color Printing*
  one-sided 8.5x11 (Phaser 350s, 750s)
ec3207p3, vc750let		 20 cents/page + 20 cents/job
  one-sided 8.5x11 (Phaser 850s)
ci3130p3, li2f2p3, sa3101p3, tr2012p3, vcpap3, vcph3let, vcsoutp3		 20 cents/page + 10 cents/job
  one-sided 11x17 (vc780b) 50 cents/page + 20 cents/job
  two-sided 8.5x11 (vcph3let) 31 cents/sheet + 10 cents/job
  two-sided 8.5x11 (vc750let) 31 cents/sheet + 20 cents/job
  Transparency 8.5x11 (vc750ovr) 75 cents/page + 20 cents/job

* The per-job charge does not apply to self-service color printers that do not have header pages.

For cost information on plotting (vcplt, vcpltg, vcpltcf), please see the plotter page.

At the start of each fall and spring semester, each user receives a free allocation of $12.50 for black & white printing. (The allocation is $6.25 for each summer session.) This allocation is reset at the beginning of each new semester; any "money" you do not spend on printing is not carried over to the next semester. After this allocation is used up, charges are added to your (or your department's) Bursar bill from Rensselaer.

Note that charges for color printing are always charged to your Bursar bill.

You can use your RCS account to print from UNIX, Macs, or PCs networked on campus. You will need to provide your RCS userid and password on PCs and Macs before you can print.

Checking Your Printing Charges

You can find detailed information on your RCS account and resource usage by using a web-based tool. Before clicking on ``Start the Application,'' scroll down and read the section on ``Print Usage.'' (Note that, after you "Start the Application," you will be asked to supply your RCS userID and password.)

On RCS UNIX systems, or via a SecureCRT session, you can also use the pagestatus program to check your free page allocation and usage. At a UNIX prompt, just enter the command: pagestatus

Note that your page allocation is reset after the first time you print each semester.

Return to the Printing page.