Several changes are coming August 1, 2023, to the CU Print service, which is primarily used by students.

Changes include:

• How print jobs are released to a printer.
• Updated refund policy.
• An increase from 6 cents to 8 cents per black-and-white page, and from 13 cents to 16 cents per color page.
• Easier two-sided printing in the new print release method, for 14 cents per double-sided black-and-white page and 30 cents per double-sided color page.

There will continue to be a $15 print allocation per year for all matriculated undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

Multichoice Print Release  

Currently, a print job is released to a specific printer with a single tap. This method was preferred during the height of the pandemic, since it minimizes contact.

Most organizations that use the same service as CU Print have switched to multichoice print release. It provides an opportunity to see how many pages are about to be printed and offers more printing options.

Anyone who wants to continue using Tap and Go will be able to keep it by submitting a request form that is currently being developed. Tap and Go may work better for individuals who wish to keep minimizing contact or those who print often from black-and-white-only printers whose smaller screens can't display all multitouch options at once. See which printers are available at each CU Print printing site on campus. 

Refund Policy Change

The change to the print release process will make it easier to verify the size and character of print jobs before the printing starts. The refund policy, currently shaped by the shortcomings of the old print release process and the challenges of pandemic-era printing environments, is also changing. 

Previously, all refund requests were fully granted regardless of the situation. Starting August 1, as part of a shared-responsibility approach to refunds, refunds will be 50% when an individual initiates and releases a print job that is:

• More pages than they expected, but conveyed correctly in the print window and release screen
• More copies than they expected, but conveyed correctly in the print window and release screen
• Formatted differently than they expected, but conveyed correctly in the print window and release screen
• Not the result of a clear technical error

This change to the refund policy is intended to discourage a trial-and-error approach to printing that results in a significant amount of paper use and encourage a deliberate focus on confirmation steps when printing. Full refunds will continue to be issued when a review confirms the cause was a clear, unavoidable technical problem.

Print Cost and Economizing with Two-Sided Printing

A substantial increase in paper prices is causing the cost of printing to rise from 6 cents to 8 cents per black-and-white page and from 13 cents to 16 cents per color page. This cost is still lower than the typical costs that the previous printing service, Net-Print, had charged, of 9 cents for black and white and 23 cents for color. There continues to be a $15 print allocation per year for all matriculated undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.  

If you want to economize on printing and have a smaller ecological footprint, choose Duplex two-sided printing from the multichoice print release screen. Duplex will cost 14 cents for two sides of a single black-and-white page, compared with 16 cents for two individual pages, and will cost 30 cents for color, compared with 32 cents for two separate color pages.

CU Print supports environmental sustainability through PrintReleaf global reforestation. For more information, see the CU Print website.