Pharos Cloud Print Scout Release Notes - July 2024

This release represents the latest version of the Print Scout including several significant new features, improvements, and bugfixes, including:

• Windows and macOS Print Scout New Features and Improvements

  • Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide Updates

  • Renamed Pharos Secure Release desktop app to Pharos Print

  • New Print Scout Status Notifications

  • Enhanced IPP Driver

• macOS Print Scout Improvements

  • macOS Scout to ignore PureCloudMode setting

  • Ability to check printer capabilities for Direct Print

  • Enhanced the update mechanism for macOS Print Scout

• Added a new command line option to Windows Print Scout installer

• Print Scout Bugfixes

  • Print Scout Installer fails when using a file path with foreign characters in the file path name

  • Fixed Print Scout Compatibility with Turkish Regional and Language Settings

  • Fixed: Color/Mono Finishing Options Ignored for IPP Jobs via 'Cloud Release

Windows and MacOS Print Scout New Features and Improvements

This section lists the new features and improvements made to both the Windows and macOS Print Scouts in this release.

Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide Updates

In previous versions, after Print Scouts were deployed to user workstations, a print user could launch the Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide from their Start menu. This wizard guided users through registering and activating Secure Release on their workstations and mobile devices. The Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide installed by the Print Scout has undergone major changes in this release.

Key Changes

The Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide has been removed from the Start menu.

   The Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide is no longer accessible from the Start menu or searchable in the Start menu.

• The Show Setup Guide option has been removed from the Pharos Print app (via the right-click context menu)

•         While the Secure Release Setup Guide will still open when users first register to the Pharos Cloud, it is no longer used for activating Secure Release on workstations and mobile devices.

• The following Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide functionalities have been integrated into the Pharos Print app (previously called Pharos Secure Release desktop app).

  • Register a Mobile Device – This will prompt users to register their mobile devices with Secure Release.

• Register a Proximity Card - This will prompt users to enter the registration code from external card readers such as the SR25 or Ethernet 241 devices.

  Note: This option will only be visible if the administrator has enabled "Enable Proximity Card Registration" in the Pharos Cloud web console.

Renamed the desktop app from “Pharos Secure Release” to “Pharos Print”

The Pharos Secure Release desktop app has been renamed to Pharos Print desktop app, reflecting its expanded functionality since it was first launched. This app now includes features such as Direct Print, making the original name "Pharos Secure Release" no longer appropriate.

Throughout this document, we will be referring to the app using the new Pharos Print name.

New Print Scout Status Notifications

This update introduces a new notification system for the Print Scout application on both Windows and macOS platforms. This feature aims to improve user feedback during the installation, registration, and upgrade processes. This enhancement ensures a smoother and more transparent setup experience.

Previously, administrators received minimal feedback from the application during these stages. With this new feature, administrators will be:

• Informed that the installation is progressing as intended.

• Notified when the Print Scout is registering with Pharos Cloud.

• Notified once the Print Scout is ready for use.

Note: For macOS, administrators must explicitly enable Notifications to display the new status notifications.

Enhanced IPP Driver

The IPP driver has been updated to include additional commonly used functions, providing 3-hole punching and additional paper sizes. This aims to improve the versatility and functionality of our IPP driver.

• 3-Hole Punching – Enabling users to conveniently add 3-hole punching to their print jobs.

• Additional Paper Sizes – Pharos Cloud now supports a wider range of page sizes to accommodate diverse printing needs. It now includes the following paper sizes in addition to Letter, Legal, Tabloid, A4, A3, A5.

  • Letter

  • Tabloid

  • Legal

  • Statement

  • Executive

  • A3

  • A4

  • A5

  • B4 (JIS)

  • B5 (JIS)

  • 11x17

  • Envelope #9

  • Envelope #10

  • Envelope DL

  • Envelope C5

  • Envelope C6

  • Envelope B5

  • Envelope Monarch

  • Japanese Postcard

  • A6

  • Double Japanese Postcard Rotated

  • B6 (JIS)

  • Oficio 8.5x13

  • 12x18

  • 4x6

  • 5x7

  • 5x8

  • RA3

  • SRA3

  • RA4

  • SRA4

  • 10x15cm

  • Oficio 216x340 mm

  • 8K 270x390 mm

  • 16K 195x270 mm

  • 8K 260x368 mm

  • 16K 184x360 mm

  • 8K 273x394 mm

  • 16K 197x237 mm

  Note: Secure Release will display all available paper sizes, while Direct Print will check the printer's capabilities and only display the paper sizes that the printer supports.

  

Added a new command line option to Windows Print Scout installer

A new command line option has been introduced to Windows Print Scout, enabling the installation of Print Scouts without user interaction. The /noninteractive option bypasses the installer user interface and license agreement, while still displaying the installation progress and providing popup notifications during configuration and upon completion.

macOS Print Scout Improvements

macOS Print Scout to ignore PureCloudMode setting

Starting with this update, the macOS Print Scout will now ignore the “PureCloudMode” setting and will automatically create a locally managed AirPrint secure print queue. This change aims to consolidate a unified workflow that is consistent across both Windows and Mac Print Scouts. Previously, when PureCloudMode was enabled, the macOS Print Scout created a driverless IPP queue, resulting in secure print jobs being sent directly to the cloud-hosted service.

Ability to check printer capabilities when creating Pharos Direct Print queues

The macOS Print Scout has been updated to check a printer's capabilities (e.g. color, duplex) during queue installation. The Printing Preferences dialog will only show the supported capabilities of the printer, reducing user confusion during printing.

Support for the new version of macOS

This update supports the latest version of macOS Print Scout – macOS 14 (Sonoma).

Enhanced the update mechanism for macOS Print Scout

The process for updating the macOS Print Scout has been updated. Instead of executing the upgrader script, you can now update macOS Print Scouts by simply running the macOS Print Scout installer. This change ensures that Print Scouts are managed consistently across different operating systems. In addition, administrators can manage both new installations and upgrades using a single package, simplifying Print Scout deployments.

macOS Scout Known Issues and Limitations

•    If the Pharos Print app is already added to the menu bar, clicking the Pharos Print icon from the launchpad won’t open the Pharos Print app as it did in previous versions and as it currently does in Windows Scout. This occurs because macOS can only run one instance of the Pharos Print app at a time. Since it’s already in the menu bar, the system believes the instance is already running. If you need to quit the app from the menu bar for any reason, you can re-launch it from the Launchpad, and it will be re-added to the menu bar.

• The Pharos Print app icon has been removed from the Dock. As a result, if the Pharos Print dialog is open, it may hide behind other open windows. The only way to bring it back to the foreground is through the menu bar icon's context menu.

• On Apple Silicon-based macOS systems (macOS 14 Sonoma and macOS 13 Ventura), the Print Scout user interface is slow to open, taking approximately 5 seconds. This is a known issue that will be addressed in future versions.

• On macOS, the default 'Paper Size' and 'Duplex' options configured for IPP direct print queues in the web console are not applied. This occurs because macOS manages these settings through the Printer Preferences dialog, which includes options such as 'Default Settings', 'Last Used Settings', or 'Presets'. As a workaround, users will need to manually set the 'Paper Size' and 'Duplex' settings in the Printer Preferences dialog each time they print.

Print Scout Bugfixes

Print Scout Installer fails when using a file path with foreign characters in the file path name

The Print Scout Installer has been fixed to address an issue where it fails when using a file path that includes foreign characters (e.g. Japanese) in the file path name.

Fixed Print Scout Compatibility with Turkish Regional and Language Settings

• Fixed an issue where installing with a Turkish language pack and setting the Regional Format to Turkish caused the Print Scout installation to fail due to different rules for converting the capital 'I' to lowercase.

• Resolved an issue where using Turkish Regional and Language Settings in Windows caused the Print Scout to fail in encoding/decoding the UserIdentity.dat file. This bug prevented users from printing once they registered, especially when the Welcome Screen and system accounts were set to Turkish.

Fixed: Color/Mono Finishing Options Ignored for IPP Jobs via 'Cloud Release'

Fixed the issue where IPP jobs released through the 'Cloud Release' did not respect the selected finishing options, specifically whether the job should be printed in color or mono. For example, when a user submitted a color job in mono (by setting the finishing options to Mono or Grayscale), the printer would still print the job in color. This bug has now been resolved, ensuring that the finishing options set by the user are correctly applied to IPP print jobs.

COMPONENT RELEASE VERSIONS

This release includes the following software components and release versions.