Follow me printing lets you send every job to one shared queue, then walk up to any compatible copier or multifunction device, sign in with a badge, PIN or phone, and release your pages only when you are standing there. Nothing prints until you arrive, so confidential pages stop piling up in shared trays and forgotten jobs never print at all. You may also hear it called pull printing or secure print release.
If you run an office in Colorado Springs, Pueblo or anywhere in Southern Colorado, you probably know the routine. Someone prints payroll or a patient record, gets pulled into a call, and the pages sit in the tray for an hour where anyone can pick them up. Secure release fixes that habit without asking your team to change how they work. Our local technicians have been setting up office print systems here since 1978, and this is one of the simplest upgrades we recommend for offices that handle sensitive paperwork.
How Does Follow Me Printing Move a Document From Queue to Printer?
Your document takes three steps: it goes to a holding queue, waits for you to prove who you are, then prints at the device you choose. You will see it called follow me printing, find-me printing or pull printing, but the idea is the same. A print server or cloud service holds the job until you ask for it at a copier or multifunction device (MFD).
Send your document to one shared print queue
You print the way you always do. The difference is that your computer shows a single printer, often named something like “Secure Print,” instead of a long list of separate machines. That queue tags your job with your username and waits. Your staff no longer have to guess which printer is closest, and IT no longer has to install a dozen drivers on every laptop.
Sign in with a badge, PIN or phone
Next, you walk to any device and prove it is you. Most offices use one of these methods:
- Badge tap: you tap the same ID card you use for the building door on a reader attached to the copier.
- PIN: you type a short code on the copier’s touch screen.
- Network login: you sign in with your usual username and password.
- Phone: some systems let you release a job from an app or by scanning a code on the device.
Badges are fastest for busy teams. PINs are a good place to start if your building does not use cards yet.
Review and release your jobs at the device
Once you sign in, the screen lists everything you have waiting. You can print one job, several or all of them, and many systems let you switch to black and white or two-sided before you release. You can also delete jobs you no longer need, which is where a surprising amount of paper savings comes from.
How pull printing differs from a locked PIN job
Many copiers already offer a “locked print” feature, where you pick one specific printer, set a code and go to that exact machine. Pull printing is more flexible. Because the job is held centrally, you can release it at any compatible device on your network, and the system keeps a record of who printed what and where. Locked print gives you neither of those.
Which Office Problems Does Secure Print Release Solve?
Confidential pages left in shared trays
Privacy is the biggest win. When a job only prints while you are standing at the device, nobody else can walk off with your pay stubs, contracts or test scores by mistake. Badge release also creates an audit trail, which helps if a document ever goes missing.
Abandoned prints and unnecessary color
Every office has a recycling bin full of pages nobody came back for. With release printing, those jobs simply expire and never print, so you are not paying for the paper or toner. Good print management software also lets you make two-sided, black and white output the default, or ask staff to confirm before a large color job runs. It works best as one part of a wider plan for reducing your business printing costs.
Busy or offline devices
When a copier jams or runs out of toner, a normal print job just sits there. With pull printing, your job is still safe in the central queue, so you walk to the next device, tap your badge and carry on. That keeps teams moving during crunch times like month-end close or report card week.
Where it makes the biggest difference
| Office type | What secure release protects |
| Healthcare and dental | Patient charts, lab results, billing records |
| Legal | Client files, contracts, court filings |
| HR | Offer letters, reviews, employee personal data |
| Finance and accounting | Payroll, bank details, tax forms |
| Schools | Student records, tests, staff files |
If your office works under privacy rules, confirm your exact requirements with your compliance advisor or attorney. Secure release supports good practice, but it is one piece of a larger privacy program.
Want to see it on your own machines? Our team can show you how secure release would work on the copiers you already have. Take a look at our print management solutions or call us at 719.630.8600 and we will walk you through it.
What Does Your Office Need Before Adding Secure Release?
You need three things: devices that support release, software to hold and track jobs, and a network that connects them. Most offices already have more of this in place than they expect.
Compatible copiers, card readers and drivers
Most modern copiers and multifunction devices from the major manufacturers support release software that runs right on the touch screen. Older or smaller desktop printers often do not. If you want badge release, the card reader must match the type of card your building uses. It is also worth planning your drivers carefully: as of January 15, 2026, Microsoft stopped publishing new legacy printer drivers to Windows Update for Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025.
Software and print release stations
PaperCut is one of the most widely used options. PaperCut MF puts release, copy tracking and scanning right on the copier screen, and it scales from small offices to large campuses. You can see how it looks on the device in our PaperCut tour. For printers without a touch screen, a print release station (a small terminal or tablet beside the printer) lets you bring simpler devices into the same system.
User identities and network access
Your print management system needs to know who each person is, so most offices connect it to the same user directory they use for logins. Every device must also be able to reach the queue, whether it lives on an on-site server or in the cloud. A clean office network setup for printers makes this step far easier. Tools like PaperCut Mobility Print and Print Deploy then take care of phones, tablets and new laptops, so new hires get the secure printer on day one.
How to Roll Out Secure Release Without the Headaches
Most problems we see come from skipped testing or rushed communication, so a little preparation goes a long way.
- Test each printer on its own first. If a device has a driver or network issue, the secure queue will inherit it and make it harder to find. Once every physical queue works, build the hold-and-release queue on top and test a short job, a long job and a color job.
- Map badges and PINs carefully. A wrong match means one person can see another person’s jobs, which defeats the point. Decide which groups can release on which devices too, for example keeping finance jobs on the finance office copier.
- Set a sensible expiry time. Many offices choose somewhere between a few hours and a day. Shorter windows cut waste and limit how long sensitive files sit on the server. Limit admin access to the few people who need it, in line with the NIST access control guidance, and encrypt jobs in transit where your equipment supports it.
- Track departments without shared logins. If you bill printing to departments or clients, set up shared accounts that each person charges to under their own login. You keep individual accountability and still get clean department reports.
- Pilot, then train. Start with one department and a mix of devices, watch for slow sign-ins or card read errors, then give everyone a two-minute demo at the copier and post a one-page guide beside each device. Within a week or two, release printing usually feels completely routine.
Build Secure Release Around the Fleet You Already Have
Secure print release works best when it builds on your existing copiers. You print to one queue, sign in at a device and release your pages when you get there. Private documents stay out of shared trays, waste drops, and your team can use any available machine.
Axis has been the locally owned office technology partner for Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado since 1978. Our own employee technicians, not outsourced contractors, handle setup and service, and we keep customer fleets running at 99% equipment uptime with 95% same-day service. Many offices bundle secure release into managed print services, so supplies, service and software all come from one local partner.
Ready to add secure release to your office? Call 719.630.8600 in Colorado Springs or 719.543.8600 in Pueblo, or request a quote and a real person from our local team will be in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I log in to release my print jobs?
You sign in at the copier with a badge tap, a PIN or your network username and password, depending on how your office is set up. The screen then lists your held jobs so you can choose what to print.
How do I cancel a job before it prints?
Sign in at any release device, select the job and tap delete. If you never release it, the system removes it automatically once your office’s expiry time passes.
Do I need an app to use follow me printing?
No. Most people release jobs with a badge or PIN at the copier. Some offices add phone release as an extra option for staff who prefer it.
Can older printers be part of a follow me printing setup?
Often, yes. Printers without a touch screen can usually be added with a print release station mounted nearby, so you do not have to replace everything to get started.
What happens to my held jobs if a printer goes offline?
They stay safe in the central queue, because pull printing holds jobs on the server rather than the printer. Walk to another compatible device, sign in and release them there.
