Print tracking
Print tracking software that shows who printed what, and what it cost.
Every page that goes through Commontray is recorded against the person who sent it, the printer it came out of and what it cost. Open the reports to see pages per day, black & white against color, and the top printers and people. Or download the lot as a CSV.
How it works
Tracking that happens because printing goes through Commontray.
Most print tracking software reads page counters, or asks you to install an agent on every computer. Commontray doesn’t need either: it already sends every job to the printer, so it knows who sent it, where it went and how it ended.
-
Every job has a name
People sign in to print, so every page belongs to someone. No shared logins, no anonymous jobs.
-
The printer reports back
Commontray records the sides the printer says it printed, in black & white and color, not just what was sent.
-
You read the report
Pick a period and see the totals, the chart and the tables. Download the CSV when you need the detail.
Printer usage tracking by person, printer and day.
The report opens with the numbers people actually ask about, then lets you drill into who, where and when.
- Headline numbers: pages printed in black & white and color, the amount charged, how much came from printing credit and how much was invoiced.
- Jobs that didn’t print: failed jobs and documents never released, so you can spot a struggling printer.
- Pages per day: a chart stacked by black & white and color, with the figures on hover and a table view.
- By member, by printer, by print type: three tables, so the busiest person, the busiest printer and the color share are one glance away.
Periods: today, the last 7 or 30 days, this month, last month, or any dates up to a year.
A print audit trail, one row per job.
The CSV export has a row for every job in the period, ready for a spreadsheet, your accountant or your own invoicing. If you don’t use a billing platform, this is how printing gets onto your invoices.
- Date, time, person, printer and document name.
- Paper, black & white or color, copies, and the pages of each kind.
- Amount charged, paid from credit and put on an invoice.
- The job’s final state: printed, failed, cancelled or never released.
What the numbers are for
Track printing to cut costs, not to watch people.
See where color goes
Color pages usually cost several times a black & white page. The print type table shows the share at a glance.
Right-size your printers
Pages per printer and per day show which machine works hardest and which one could go.
Waste you can measure
Documents never released are counted. With secure release, they never reach the paper at all.
Bill what’s printed
Every charge sits next to the pages it was for. See charging and credits.
Answer “who printed this?”
Every job has a person, a printer, a time and a document name. Members only see their own.
Names, not documents
Reports keep what was printed and by whom. The document itself is deleted as soon as the job ends.
Questions
Print tracking questions
Does print tracking need software on every computer?
No. Every job goes through Commontray, so it is recorded as it happens, against the person who sent it. There is nothing to install on laptops and no page counters to read.
Are the page counts accurate?
They’re the sides the printer itself reported as printed, never more than the person was quoted. A job that failed or was never released shows up in its own column, with no pages and no charge.
Can we track printing without charging anyone?
Yes. Leave charging off and the reports still show pages by person, printer and day. That’s how companies use the Team plan: tracking without billing.
What’s in the CSV export?
One row per job: date and time, person, printer, document name, paper, black & white or color, copies, black & white and color pages, the amount charged, how much came from credit and how much was invoiced, and the job’s final state.
How far back can we look?
Any period up to a year at a time: today, the last 7 or 30 days, this month, last month, or your own dates.
Know who printed what, from the first page.
Reports start the moment Commontray prints its first job. Free for your first printer.