Mailbox (Print via Email)

The Mailbox connector lets people print by sending an email. OptimiDoc monitors a dedicated inbox, and every message it finds is turned into a print job attributed to the sender -- ideal for mobile and guest printing, where installing a driver or reaching the internal network is impractical. This is distinct from the Email destination used by scanning, which sends documents out by SMTP; the Mailbox connector receives email to print.

Screenshot: Mailbox connector configuration

Overview

Unlike the browse-on-demand connectors, the Mailbox connector is actively polled: the OptimiDoc Service connects to the mailbox every 30 seconds over IMAP or POP3 and processes any new messages. Attachments -- and, optionally, the message body -- become print jobs that enter the normal pull print workflow.

Common use cases include:

• Mobile printing from phones and tablets by emailing an attachment

• Guest and visitor printing without network access or an account

• Automated printing of documents emailed by other systems

How It Works

1. The OptimiDoc Service polls the mailbox every 30 seconds. (After repeated connection errors it backs off progressively and resumes automatically once the mailbox is reachable again.)

2. For each message, OptimiDoc identifies the owner in two steps: first it matches the email subject against a user's login; if that fails, it matches the sender's From address against a user's registered email.

3. If no user matches and Allow guests is enabled, a temporary guest account is created from the sender's address (valid for the configured number of days, in the assigned department).

4. The sender's print permission on this connector is checked; unauthorised senders are rejected.

5. Each attachment is submitted as a print job. Unless Only attachments is enabled, the email body itself is also printed.

6. Jobs pass through the rules engine and quota checks and wait for release like any other pull print job.

Note: a mailbox may instead be linked to a scan workflow, in which case incoming attachments are routed into that workflow (mobile capture) rather than printed.

Configuration

Create the connector and its connection in the React interface:

1. Navigate to Printing > Print Connectors and click Add Connector.

2. Enter a Name (e.g. "Print by Email") and select Mailbox from the Type dropdown.

3. On the Configuration tab, complete the settings below.

Connection Settings

4. On the Access Rights tab, assign the connector to the Groups whose members may print by email.

5. Click Save. For an OAuth mailbox, reopen the connector and click Authorize to complete sign-in.

Guest and Attachment Options

These options control the mobile-print behaviour of the mailbox. From the release following 26.07 they are part of the Mailbox form in the React interface — the guest fields appear when Allow guests is switched on. In 26.07 and earlier they were configurable only in the legacy interface (/old).

Modern Authentication

Microsoft 365 and Google increasingly disable basic (password) IMAP/POP3 access. Use Microsoft 365 OAuth 2.0 or Google OAuth 2.0 for those providers: supply the application Client ID and Client Secret, keep the mailbox address in Username, save, and click Authorize.

Troubleshooting

Related articles

• Print Connectors Overview

• Folder

• Mail Configuration (SMTP / OAuth)