How to enable the Public User on Konica Minolta printers

With Print Director, everyone logs in at a Konica Minolta printer before using it, so the device’s Public User is normally disabled. Enabling it lets people use some or all of the printer’s functions without logging in. Typical reasons:

• Scanning without login. Scanning costs almost nothing, so some sites do not record or charge for it. Enable the Public User and allow it to scan only, so it cannot be used for copying.
• Printing with datastream interpretation. When jobs are tracked by datastream interpretation, they are not authenticated at the printer, and a driver whose User Authentication is set automatically (to Enhanced Server) sends them as the Public User. The Public User must then be allowed to print, otherwise the printer deletes those jobs. Jobs are still recorded by the PDAgent. See Konica Minolta Integrated controller settings for the driver and printer settings this tracking method needs.
• The PDServer is down. If neither the primary nor the secondary PDServer can be reached, nobody can log in. On printers that support it, it is better to turn on Cache user info to allow login when server is down, so that users who logged in recently can still log in (see How to allow login on Konica Minolta printers when the PDServer is unavailable). Otherwise, enable the Public User until the server is back, then disable it again.

Option 1: From Resource Manager

1. In Resource Manager, edit the shared device (Print Management > Shared Devices, double-click the device) and click Controller.
2. On the Initialisation tab, click Advanced settings, then click Public User.
3. Choose Set Public User:
   • Enable with login: the login screen gets a Public User Access button.
   • Enable login by default: the printer starts as the Public User, with no login screen. Users who want to log in tap Logout first. Use this while the server is down.
   • Disable Public User turns it off again, and Do not change leaves the printer’s own setting.
4. Choose the Public User’s allowed functions. Print, Copy, Scan, Fax and TX Document Print can each be Full colour, Black only or Not Allowed; Scan to USB, Read from USB, User Box, Manual Destination Input, Web Browser (with File Upload and File Download) and Mobile Reception can each be ticked. For scanning without login, for example, set Scan to Full colour and Copy to Not Allowed.
5. Close the window and initialise the device (Initialisation tab, Initialise now) so the settings reach the printer, then click OK + Refresh All.

To limit what the Public User can do:

1. In User Auth / Account Track, touch User Authentication Setting > Public User.
2. Set the function permissions for Copy, Scan and Print: Full Colour/Black allows the function (Allow on a mono printer), and Restrict blocks it. For example, restrict Copy but leave Scan allowed for scanning without login, and leave Print allowed for datastream interpretation.
3. Touch OK.

If the device is initialised again later, the setting chosen in Resource Manager under Set Public User replaces the panel setting, unless it is Do not change.

Make the Public User Access button easier to reach

With Enable with login (or ON (With Login)), the Public User Access button on the login screen is only available while Login without Print is selected. The printer usually selects ID & Print (MFP Access on some models) by default, so users must tap Login without Print first. To select it by default:

1. At the printer, press Menu, then touch Utility > Administrator, enter the administrator password and touch OK.
2. Touch User Auth / Account Track > User Authentication Setting > Administrative Setting.
3. In Auth. Operation Setting when print Documents are Stored, choose Login without Print.
4. Touch OK.

Related articles

• Konica Minolta Integrated controller settings
• How to allow login on Konica Minolta printers when the PDServer is unavailable
• How to harden the security of Konica Minolta printers

How to enable the Public User on Konica Minolta printers