The Self Service feature gives users the opportunity to choose and manage their own session printers.
Start menu
When ThinPrint Engine is installed on a remote desktop (terminal server or virtual desktop), three new Start menu items are added:
- ThinPrint Configuration
= ThinPrint configuration in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), see below - Printers
= classic Printers folder for a better overview (when MMC-based Print Management is not available) - Repair Printers
= updating printers with AutoConnect (deleting and recreating) - Printer Self Service
= printers are selected by the user(s)
Enabling the Self Service
To allow your users to select their own printers, you have to enable that option as administrator, in the AutoConnect settings on the relevant remote desktop or using the AutoConnect group policies. Additionally, specify the Storage destination for AutoConnect settings. Otherwise, a corresponding error message appears in the Self Service console (see the screenshot after the following).
- If you want to delete the connection of the shared network printers before enabling the User Self Service Portal you can use one of the following powershell commandsWindows 7 / Windows Server 2008 or earlier
Get-WmiObject Win32_Printer | where {$_.SystemName -ne $env:computername} | Remove-WmiObjectWindows 8 / Windows Server 2008 R2 or laterFür Windows 8 / Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer:Get-Printer | where Type -eq Connection | Remove-Printer - On a remote desktop, open the AutoConnect properties in the ThinPrint Configuration console.
- In the Printer Creation tab, enable the Printer Self Service option. Confirm with OK.
- If, on the other hand, you use the AutoConnect group policies (for example, when using the Desktop Agent), then select Enable Printer Self Service on the Computer Configuration→ Policies→ Administrative Templates→ ThinPrint→ThinPrint AutoConnect branch (see the screenshot following the next)
Note! From the time when the option Printer Self Service is enabled, the printers of users who log on to a session for the first time aren’t created or mapped automatically anymore if they’re defined in the Map Additional Printers table. This table then only provides the input for printers to be selected.
Caution! If you turn off Printer Self Service again, depending on the entries in the Map Additional Printers table, it is possible that many printers will be created for many users the next time they run AutoConnect.
Creating printer groups
How to create printer groups for a better user experience you'll find out in the section Printer Groups.
User session
- In the remote desktop session, users can send a Printers request to view the available printers.
- With ThinPrint Self Service, the users can (see first screenshot on this site) make use of these printers according to their needs.
- With ThinPrint Self Service, the users can (see above) make use of these printers according to their needs.
Printers of the user session in the Self Service console (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=1, see Windows registry)
Printers are differentiated into three categories:
- Printers installed on the remote desktop – for example, PDFCreator in previous screenshot
- Printers mapped in the remote desktop session from the workstation – for example, Samsung ML-2855 (s3) in the screenshot before (s3 is the session number)
- Printers connected to the remote desktop session from a central print server – for example, \\CPS50\HP Color LaserJet CP3505dn#tphub-c25e75:2 or \\CPS50\Lexmark T650 in the screenshot above (cps50 is the print server’s hostname)
The following options are available to the users here (see the following six screenshots).
| Menu / Information | Description |
 | refresh display |
| + Add Printers | add printer(s) provided by AutoConnect or previously removed from here |
 | printer group with number of printers still contained in this group |
 | number of checked printers per group |
 | search results per printer group |
| Apply | confirm adding printers and back to My Printers |
Cancel or  | back to My Printers |
 | new printer |
 | printer is being added or removed |
 | current default printer |
 | printer cannot be connected (maybe it doesn’t exist on the print server) |
| Set as Default | set printer as the default in this and in following sessions |
 | source, e. g. printer group |
| Other printers | If no printer group is detected or set up in Map Additional Printers, Other Printers appears. |
 | location |
 | color printing option possible |
 | print on both sides (duplex) option possible |
| Floor A, eDoc Printer, Development, Sales | comments |
| Remove |
|
| Printer Preferences | change the printer preferences |
| Repair Printers | delete all the printers created and connected by AutoConnect and then immediately create the appropriate new connections |
| Settings | go to the Settings menu |
| Version | software version information |
| Language | select language |
Close or  | close the Self Service console |
Note! If a printer has been added by the administrator to several printer groups, it appears to the user in only one of these groups.
Self Service console: editing printers (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=1, see Windows registry)
Self Service console: adding a printer (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=1, see Windows registry)
Self Service console: printer added (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=0, see Windows registry)
Self Service console: language selection and version information
Self Service console: icons for sources and new printers (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=0, see Windows registry)
Self Service console: adding printers from a group (Registry value HidePrintserverNames=0, see Windows registry)