FolderMill can help you automatically print various documents, images, or other types of files daily. The program can seamlessly print large volumes of different files: PDFs, office documents, text files, drawings, images, barcodes & labels, and many other file types.
Printing multiple PDF files to any printer
FolderMill detects incoming PDF and other files and automatically processes them. It can even perform several assigned printing tasks at the same time. The program supports any kind of printing device available in your system: laser and inkjet printers, plotters, multi-functional (MFP), all-in-one (AIO), home and office printers, as well as virtual or network printers. FolderMill saves applied print settings (i.e., paper size, orientation, etc.) and printer properties since the latest session to use them later again.
A wide range of basic and advanced print settings are available that allow you to set up the printing process exactly the way you need it.
How to set up automatic printing of documents
It is very easy to configure FolderMill for automated printing of documents. Simply create a Hot Folder, add Print document Action, specify desired print settings, and let FolderMill start checking new files with the Start button.
Copy files that need to be printed out to the Hot Folder. Your incoming documents will be automatically printed according to the applied print settings. Processing takes place in real-time so that you can take the printouts from the printer tray right away.
Quick steps on printing PDF, documents, images, or other files:
- Open FolderMill Control Panel
- Create a new Hot Folder
- Select the Print document action
- Click OK and then Apply changes
- Press the Start button on FolderMill Control Panel
Settings of Print Document Action
For this Action you can set:
Printer and printer Properties
- Select the printer
It can be a local, virtual, wireless, network, or any other type of printer available; - Properties
These are native printer properties, where you can select duplex printing, paper tray, page orientation, paper type and size, print quality, page order, color management and other options (they may vary depending on your printer brand and model). Once specified, these printer properties are saved and used by FolderMill.
For instance, you can create several different Print document Actions to print the documents on the same printer, but with different settings – both print settings and printer properties.
Page range
Choose between Print all pages and Print page range. To select a specific range of pages, type in their numbers separated by a comma, e.g., 1-5,7,23-25 (starting from the beginning of the document). You can set:
- Single pages. For example: 1,3,5
- Page ranges separated by commas. For example: 1-5,20-25
- Pages from the end of a document (using the syntax last). For example: last,last1,last2,last3...
Complex page range. For example: 1,5-10,12-last
To specify pages from the end of a document, use the syntax last:
- last – the last page
- last1 – page before the last one (the second page from the end)
- last2 – third page from the end
- etc.
Please use comma and/or dash to indicate page range properly. For instance, if you need to print only the first two pages of a document, enter "1-2" as a page range (not just "2").
Number of Copies
Select the number of copies to print for each document.
Page Collation
By documents (default option) or By pages. Page collation means sorting the documents and their copies so that they are printed in sorted sets. It's a handy feature if you have multiple copies of several documents to print.
- By documents
All copies of a document are printed before printing the next document. Document copies are printed together – all printouts are arranged document copy by document copy: document 1 (copies #1,2,3...), then document 2 (copies #1,2,3...), then document 3 (copies #1,2,3...), and so on. - By pages
All copies of a page are printed before printing copies of the next page. Page copies are printed together – printouts are arranged page by page: pages #1,1,1, pages #2,2,2, pages #3,3,3, etc. of first document's copies; then pages #1,1,1, pages #2,2,2, pages #3,3,3, etc. of second document's copies, and so on.
Page scaling
Shrink (default option), Fit, As is, Fill, Booklet, Zoom level.
- Shrink
Shrink-to-page option: prints "as is" or, if a page is larger, decreases page size to fit printable area. It resizes only large pages to fit the paper and prints small pages as they are; - Fit
Fit-to-page option: fits page size to printable area. Scales small pages up and large pages down to fit the paper; - As is
"As is" option: prints pages or images in their original size; - Fill
Fill-to-page option: print a full page from edge to edge on the short side. No matter the size, the page will fill the whole sheet of paper or even beyond the paper (on the long side); - Booklet
Booklet option: lays out the pages two per sheet, as a booklet (works if Adobe Acrobat is used as a print engine); - Zoom level
Custom page zoom option: allows you to set up the scaling as a percentage of its original size, e.g., 110% or 50% of page size. This value can be changed in the Action's Advanced Settings.
Auto Portrait/Landscape
Auto-rotate pages depending on page size dimensions automatically and align them to the sheet of paper. Enable this option to have pages of incoming documents automatically rotated into Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal) orientation. FolderMill fits pages of your documents the best way by detecting the relation between:
- page size of a document and
- paper sheet size (paper size selected in your printer's settings)
The program will automatically detect the best page orientation for each document and rotate it to Landscape or Portrait.
Email attachments
Ignore, After main document, Before main document, Print only attachments.
Enable printing attachments for EML and MSG e-mail messages. It is one of the features highly demanded by our customers. Not only can you print multiple Microsoft Outlook email messages, but also files attached to the emails (all types that are supported by FolderMill).
Print cover page (always checked in the free version)
Enable or disable printing an extra sheet of paper used to separate printouts. It is usually a blank sheet, or you can use a pre-defined or a custom template in the Action's Advanced Settings. This feature can save you time on sorting through the printouts – you'll quickly see where the next printed document or the next copy starts.
FolderMill printing tips & tricks
You can also configure FolderMill to perform even more complex and specific tasks. Here are a few tips on how to streamline some of them.
Instantly send files to Hot Folder using context menu
Select one or more files, right-click them and find Process with FolderMill option in the context menu, then send files to an existing Hot Folder:
When you send files to a Hot Folder this way, you will be prompted to specify the number of copies of these documents. To enable this feature, please don't forget to check the box next to Add to Windows explorer context menu option on FolderMill installation.
Automatically select paper source by document page size
If your printer provides a variety of paper sources for printing, you can let FolderMill automatically select the most appropriate paper tray, depending on page size of each incoming document. To enable this function, add Print Document Action, open Advanced Settings, find Paper size and switch it to Page size based.
How to control print settings from filename
Moreover, you can customize individual print settings by adding the values at the end of the document's name. Rename your document according to this pattern:
your-original-filename-copies=2-duplex=1-tray=2-type=244-pagerange='1,5-10'.pdf
| copies=2 | Sets the number of copies; |
| duplex=1 | Sets one-sided or double-sided printing mode: 1 – simplex; 2 – duplex; 3 – duplex horizontal; |
| tray=2 | Sets paper source by tray ID; |
| type=244 | Sets paper type ID (for HP printers only); |
| pagerange='1,5-10' | Sets exact pages to be printed. |
As you can see, it is possible to change values for the number of copies, set duplex mode, select printer tray, paper type ID, or page range — for each file. See further details in our how-to article: Apply Print Settings from Filename.
Print specific documents using filename filter
You can configure FolderMill so that it processes only certain types of files using Filter by filename Action. This Action can select files by name or file extension, for example, to print only PDF files. You can also skip files, which shouldn't be processed, using the Process all document except those… option.
Simultaneously print documents on different printers
With FolderMill, you can send groups of documents to different printers. Simply create as many Print Document Actions as you need and choose different printers there. FolderMill will process incoming files and distribute them to different printing devices.
Combine file conversion with printing
FolderMill is all about multitasking! Our software can take care of your routine processes and combine different tasks, such as conversion and printing at the same time. For example, your JPG files can be converted to PDF and printed on a selected printer.
Didn't find a solution for you?
Not sure whether FolderMill can do the job? Having trouble configuring our software?
Missing that bit extra for FolderMill to get the job done? Don't hesitate to contact our customer support, and we will do our best to help you.