Introduction

All controlled documents which you can open and view, except for External Documents, can be printed but permissions will define which types of prints you can generate.

For information on permissions, settings, protection and preferences for controlled document prints, please refer to the articles:

Printing Mgmt. Pt.1 - Introduction

Printing Mgmt. Pt.2 - Permissions

Printing Mgmt. Pt.3 - Controlled Document Prints

This article describes how to print or download documents in iPassport, according to the type of source file they have.  The conditions are first explained and it's then broken into two sections - 'previewable' and 'non-previewable' documents:

• Types of Document Prints
• Types of Source Files
• Printing Previewable Documents
  • Generating Preview Prints
    • Clicking PDF icons in document lists to produce preview prints
    • Clicking 'PDF Preview' and 'Download Document Preview' to produce preview prints
  • Printing Documents in Draft State
  • Printing Authorised Previewable Documents - Controlled Prints
  • Printing Authorised Previewable Documents - Uncontrolled Prints
• Downloading Non-previewable Documents
  • Preview Prints and downloads of Non-previewable Draft Documents
  • Downloading Authorised Documents - Controlled and Uncontrolled Downloads

Types of Document Prints

There are three types of document prints:

• Preview prints - These are available to any user who can open the document and are triggered with the blue 'PDF Preview' button or the link, 'Download Document Preview'.
  • Preview prints always include a cover page.
• Controlled Prints - These are prints which get assigned a token, a unique reference number so it can be tracked and destroyed when it becomes superseded.
• Uncontrolled Prints - These prints don't carry a token; they are appropriate for forms and other documents which are repeatedly printed and don't need tracking.

You can assign different cover pages, footer information, spine information, and watermarks to each type of print.  

All documents have a 'Print History' which logs every print generated and provides a tool to mark superseded prints as destroyed.

Types of Source Files

Documents in iPassport can be categorised into two groups, based on the source file they have.  The type of source file affects the way in which they can be printed or downloaded.  This article looks at the prints for each type of source file separately.

• Files which can be previewed within iPassport (Previewable Documents)
  Source files in Word™️, PDF, or RTF (rich text format) can be previewed in iPassport because the system can manage them in PDF format.  This also allows it to stamp watermarks, footer and spine information, and add a cover page.  In all cases, the resulting print will be in PDF format.
• Files which cannot be previewed within iPassport (Non-previewable Documents)
  Source files in Excel™️, PowerPoint™️, and other formats are generally accepted by the system but it cannot convert them to PDF, so they can't be previewed on-screen and watermarks or cover pages can't be added.
  These files are stored and retrieved in their native format, so 'prints' are simply downloads of the source file, which can be opened in their native software.
  

Printing Previewable Documents

When a Word™️ ('.doc', or '.docx') or an RTF (Rich Text Format) file is uploaded as the source file of a controlled document in iPassport, the system creates a PDF copy so it can stamp watermarks and footer/spine information on prints, and add a cover page and any other requested appendices.  Source files in PDF format are not manipulated by the system as they are already in the desired format.

Generating Preview Prints

If you have permission to search and view a given document, you are automatically entitled to produce a preview print of it.

There are two places where you can produce preview prints of previewable documents:

• From the 'Laboratory Records > Controlled Documents > Search' tab, and also the 'Recently Viewed', and 'Review Centre' tabs
• From within the document

Clicking PDF icons in document lists to produce preview prints

You can produce preview prints from the 'Recently Viewed', 'Search', and 'Review Centre' tabs by clicking the PDF icon found in the Actions column of the search results.

If a document on the list has no PDF icon, and it's not an External Document, this indicates it's source file is in a format which cannot be previewed in iPassport, such as Excel™️.  These documents are covered in the next section.

Clicking 'PDF Preview' and 'Download Document Preview' to produce preview prints

You can also produce a preview print from within a document by either clicking the 'PDF Preview' blue button under the dark grey ribbon, or by clicking the link 'Download Document Preview', which is found by expanding the metadata section under the light grey ribbon labelled, 'Click to view document details'.

A cover page is always included in preview prints but different cover pages can be assigned in the 'Administration > Settings' area.

The watermarks, footer and spine information can also be adjusted in this area.

When any of the three options are clicked, the system will generate the PDF print file and deliver it through this pop-up window:

Every preview print is logged in the 'Print History' of the document with the label 'Preview Print'.

Printing Documents in Draft State

For previewable documents in draft state, it is not possible to produce controlled prints and only preview prints ('PDF Preview' and 'Download Document Preview') can be generated.  By default, the watermark stamped on these prints will say "Draft", but it can be changed in the 'Administration > Settings' area.

These prints are also logged in the 'Print History' of the document with the label 'Preview Print'.

Printing Authorised Previewable Documents - Controlled Prints

With permission to produce controlled prints, the button 'Controlled Print' and the equivalent Action, 'Print Document', will become available.

To produce a controlled print of an authorised document:

1. Open the document
2. Click the round blue 'Controlled Print' button, or select the Action'Print Document' and click 'Go'
   The following pop-up window appears:
3. Enter a 'Reason' for producing the controlled print in the field provided.
4. Select a 'Location' from the dropdown list.  Locations are intended to declare where the copy being printed will be stored, so that it can be tracked down and destroyed if it becomes obsolete.  If no locations have been set up for the given document prints and the list is blank, the field can be skipped and it will still be possible to generate the print.
5. Select the sheets to be appended to the print:
   • The ‘Print cover page’ option attaches the cover page for the controlled document type and OU to the front of the document.
   • The ‘Print introduction/scope as separate page’ option adds the ‘Introduction and Scope’ from the controlled document as a separate page after the cover page.  This is only added if the introduction has been added to the associated field within the controlled document.  If this is left blank, then nothing will be printed even if the field remains selected.
   • The ‘Print appendix’ option attaches an appendix to the end of the document. The attachment contains all of the controlled document history, review history, and lined records. If the version has gone through a number of reviews then this appendix can become very long.
   • The 'Include Authorisation Sheet' option adds a page with the list of users who authorised the version printed.  It can include electronic signatures if they have been set up for use.
6. Click 'Print'

To download the print, click the icon in the pop-up window which appears once the file is ready.

The action is logged in the document's 'Print History' as a controlled print, with a token (which is a unique reference number), the user who produced it, the date and time when it was printed, and the reason.

Printing Authorised Previewable Documents - Uncontrolled Prints

When settings and permissions to produce uncontrolled prints are in place, a checkbox gets added to the 'print' pop-up window to allow choosing whether the print should be controlled or not.

Uncontrolled prints are also logged in the document's print history.  They don't get assigned a token, but the user who produced them, the date and time when they were printed, and the reason if one was required, are recorded.

Downloading Non-previewable Documents

For non-previewable documents in iPassport, the process is not a printout but a download of a copy.  However, the action is logged in the 'Print History', the same as regular prints.

Non-previewable documents will offer a download option instead of print commands.  The download commands are available in two places:

• when authorised, at the top of the page, below the document's index, title and version,
  
  
  
• and whether in draft or authorised state, in the area where a preview would appear, at the bottom of the 'General' tab.
  

Preview Prints and downloads of Non-previewable Draft Documents

Non-previewable documents don't offer preview prints - the only options are to perform controlled or uncontrolled downloads.

When non-previewable documents are in draft state, you can produce controlled or uncontrolled downloads, depending on the setup and permissions in place.

The same instructions below apply to documents in draft state.

Downloading Authorised Documents - Controlled and Uncontrolled Downloads

If settings haven't been adjusted to allow uncontrolled prints, downloads will be logged as 'Controlled Prints' by default.

If settings and permissions have been configured to allow uncontrolled prints, downloads can be logged as 'Controlled Prints' or 'Uncontrolled Prints'.

To produce a controlled download of an authorised non-previewable document:

1. Open the document
2. Click the download icon, or the text, 'No Preview Available - please click here to download this document',
   or at the bottom of the General tab, the text-command, 'Please click here to download the Document'
3. The following pop-up window appears (when uncontrolled prints haven't been set up):
   If uncontrolled prints are enabled, a field gets added to the pop-up window:
   If the checkbox by 'This download should be controlled?' is un-ticked, the download will be logged as an uncontrolled print. This will save having to eventually mark it as destroyed if the document version becomes superseded.
4. Enter a 'Reason' for producing the download in the field provided.  Depending on settings and the selection above, adding a comment might be required (controlled prints always require a reason).
5. Click 'Continue'

To download the document, click the icon in the pop-up window which appears once the file is ready.

The action is logged in the document's 'Print History' as a controlled print, with a token (which is a unique reference number), the user who produced it, the date and time when it was downloaded, and the reason, if one was entered.

The next article covers printing other types of records (like non-compliances, audits or equipment), lists and reports:

Generating Prints Pt.2 - Printing Other Records, Lists and Reports