The College of Design began a new era of printing for design students Monday when the school enabled DesignPRINT. The system entails a new print accounting software which still uses the same physical printers.

Despite the new installation, the software is still working alongside the older program, WolfPrint, Joe McCoy, the coordinator of Network and Hardware Services for College of Design Information Technology, said.

“[DesignPRINT] is an alternative,” McCoy said. “People have been freaking out, thinking we have changed the print system in the last week of school. WolfPrint is still in place, and students can choose which [system] to use.”

But while both options are still available, McCoy said the goal is to move to DesignPRINT permanently on the University computers next semester if the next couple weeks run smoothly.

“We plan to move the design labs completely over… students will still have the option of using the old system on their personal computers,” McCoy said.

There have been problems with WolfPrint for a long time, McCoy said. The size and complexity of design students’ printing jobs slow down the printing process dramatically.

“The printers were very inconsistent,” Logan Sayles, a junior in graphic design, said. “Sometimes you would send [a job] and wait 15 to 20 minutes and have to send the job again.”

DesignPRINT has been implemented in the downtown design studio for a month, McCoy said. So far, Information Technology has been impressed with the results, but McCoy said the program has much more improvement to come.

“We are still in the early stages,” McCoy said. “There are still other things we are planning on doing.”

The IT staff sent a memo to the students of the College of Design Monday, stating in more detail the future plans. One of the main problems that will be corrected is the print payment quotas.

The IT department is manually deducting print jobs from each student’s quota currently, causing a delay before students receive a confirmation of payment.

Soon, however, the department will have a system set up for DesignPRINT that allows students to buy quota online via credit card that will be similar to the current system.

Other changes coming in the future include a way for students to see the print queue and increased compatibility with all Macintosh computers.