9.2 Printer management

From the list of printers in either “TILE” or “LIST” display, (see Figure 9.3 or Figure 9.4, respectively), click on the printer of interest to get to the printer dashboard screen. Clicking the “MANAGE” button on a printer’s dashboard screen, see Figure 9.8, will take the printer’s owner and managers to a printer manage screen such as shown in Figure 9.9. (Users of a printer who are not a manager will only see a more limited manage screen; see Figure 9.10.)

The very first time you go to a printer’s “MANAGE” screen, the “QUEUED” tab will be highlighted, and the printer’s queue of print jobs displayed; subsequently, clicking “MANAGE” will take you directly to whichever of “QUEUED”, “HISTORY”, “MEMBERS”, “GROUPS”, “USAGE”, or “SETTINGS” you last viewed.

Note that only the printer owner and managers see the “GROUPS”, “USAGE”, and “SETTINGS” tabs on the “MANAGE” screen; other Polar Cloud members allowed to use a printer may only access the “QUEUED” and “HISTORY” tabs (under which they will only be shown their own print jobs, not other users’ print jobs), as well as the “MEMBERS” tab.

The drop-down menu of printer names at the upper left of the printer manage screen (and the printer dashboard screen) allows you to switch conveniently between printers you manage, while under that menu appears the serial number and status of the currently selected printer.

The printer manage screen (as well as the printer dashboard screen) also includes navigation buttons at the upper right. From right to left:

• The “DASHBOARD” button at the upper right of the printer manage screen will return you to the printer dashboard screen.
• The “LOCAL UI” button (only visible to printer managers; only available on Polar3D printers and some other types of printers) will attempt to connect back from the Polar Cloud to the printer’s local web interface (though your local network may not permit such connections); see Section 9.6.
• The “COMMANDS” button, only present for certain printers (not the Polar3D printer), provides access to printer-specific additional commands.
• An “UPDATE” button is only present on the printer manager’s “MANAGE” screen when there is a printer firmware update available; see Section 9.5.
• The “BUILD PLATE” button navigates to the build plate screen without loading an object. (This is a “power” feature, that tends to be useful to those Polar Cloud members who either have access to numerous printers, or frequently perform slicing profile customizations.)
• The “G-CODE JOB” button (only visible to printer managers) may be used to create a print job by uploading G-code.

Note that the “LOCAL UI” and “UPDATE” buttons (when available) are only displayed to printer managers, as is the “G-CODE JOB” button. Note also that if a printer is offline (not currently connected to the Polar Cloud), then any “LOCAL UI”, “COMMANDS”, and “UPDATE” buttons will be grayed-out (inactive).

In addition to the printer selection drop-down menu at the top left, and the navigation buttons for getting to the printer dashboard or build plate screen, as well as possibly additional navigation buttons to access the printer local web interface, printer private commands, or printer firmware updates, the main tabs of the printer “MANAGE” screen are:

• QUEUED – View and manage the queue of pending print jobs submitted for printing on this printer.
• HISTORY – View the past printing history of this printer: view details of past print jobs, or download objects or requeue print jobs.
• MEMBERS – View the list of Polar Cloud members who are currently managers, or authorized users, of this printer; invite additional individuals to access the printer; cancel pending invitations to access the printer; cease sharing the printer with particular Polar Cloud members; change ownership of the printer.
• GROUPS – View the list of Polar Cloud groups sharing the printer; cease sharing the printer with a group.
• USAGE – View summary of a selected month of printer usage.
• SETTINGS – View summary information or set fields describing the printer; configure whether physical printer access is sufficient to become a printer manager; or (printer owner only) delete the printer from the Polar Cloud.