Quotas let administrators set printing and copying budgets for users, groups, departments, devices or tags. When a quota is exhausted, OptimiDoc can block printing entirely (a hard quota) or apply a cost-saving action such as forcing black-and-white or duplex output (a soft quota).
Screenshot: Quotas management view
Overview
The quota system gives you granular control over print and copy spending. Quotas can reset automatically (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly) or run one-off, and can track either a shared pool (the whole target draws from one balance) or individual balances (each member of a group, department or tag gets their own). When more than one quota applies to the same job, a system-wide overlap strategy decides how they combine.
To manage quotas, navigate to Printing > Quotas in the sidebar.
How Quotas Work
A quota is a cost budget: its amount is expressed in the same units as your price lists, and every print or copy job consumes its calculated price. Enforcement follows a reserve-then-settle model — when a print job is released its estimated cost is reserved against the applicable quota(s); a hard quota that cannot cover the job blocks it, while a soft quota lets the job through but applies its action. Once the job finishes, the reservation is settled to the actual cost, or refunded in full if the job failed. Every reservation, settlement and manual adjustment is recorded as a transaction you can review later.
The hard-block and soft-action checks apply to print jobs when they are released (after any rules have run). Walk-up copying and scanning at the device are not pre-checked or blocked.
Two prerequisites apply: quotas must be turned on with the Use Quotas option in Print settings, and a dedicated quota database (a separate connection string from the main OptimiDoc database) must be configured.
In This Section
|
Page |
Description |
|---|---|
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Step-by-step guide to creating a quota, including target selection, limit configuration, reset schedules and practical examples. |
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Reference guide explaining the four overlap strategies (Most Restrictive, Most Permissive, Additive, Priority) and how to choose the right one. |
Key Concepts
|
Concept |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Amount |
The budget granted per period, in the same units as your price lists. Each job consumes its calculated cost. |
|
Hard Quota |
Printing is blocked when the remaining balance cannot cover the job. |
|
Soft Quota |
Printing continues, but a configured action is applied: Notify Only, Force Black & White or Force Duplex. |
|
Reset Interval |
How often the balance resets: None (one-off), Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly. |
|
Balance Mode |
Reset starts the balance fresh at the configured amount each period; Accumulate adds the amount to the remaining balance so unused allowance carries over. |
|
Apply to Members |
When enabled on a group, department or tag quota, each member receives their own individual balance instead of sharing one pool. |
|
Overlap Strategy |
System-wide setting that determines how multiple overlapping quotas are evaluated for a single job. |
Quick Actions
|
Task |
Where |
|---|---|
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Create a new quota |
Quotas page > Add Quota button |
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Change the overlap strategy |
Quotas page > dropdown arrow next to Add Quota > Overlap Strategy |
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View quota balances and history |
Quota History page (sidebar: Printing > Quota History) |
|
Adjust a quota balance manually |
Quotas page > quota row actions menu > Details > Adjust Balance section |
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