How to restrict printing to your lab, library or makerspace (kiosk setup)

A very common request from schools, universities and makerspaces is: "I want people to be able to print, but only when they are here, in our space." Maybe that is one computer next to the printers, a row of iPads on the library wall, or students bringing their own laptops but only while they are in the lab. This guide explains, in plain language, how to set that up in SimplyPrint, what each option can and cannot do, and the exact questions to ask your IT team so you pick the right one.

You do not need to be technical to follow this. Where a technical term shows up (like "IP address"), there is a short, jargon-free explanation.

On this page

• What this guide helps you set up
• How SimplyPrint connects to your printers
• Two ways to lock printing to a location
• Option 1 - lock the Hub to your printer room
• Option 2 - lock the panel with IP restrictions
• What an IP address actually is
• Will IP locking work on your network
• Why an approved computer can stop working
• Setups that work well
• Make students use only the Hub
• Which plan do I need
• Related articles

What this guide helps you set up

The goal is simple: people in your space can start and manage prints, but someone sitting in a dorm room, at home, or anywhere off-site cannot. SimplyPrint gives you two building blocks to achieve this:

• Approved computers - you mark one or more specific computers as trusted, and only those can print.
• IP restrictions - you tell SimplyPrint which network(s) are allowed, and only people on that network can print.

You can use either building block on its own. The rest of this guide explains how each one works, when to use which, and the real-world limits of both, so you do not run into the surprises that catch most people out.

How SimplyPrint connects to your printers

This is the single most important thing to understand, and it clears up most of the confusion. The device a person uses to start a print does not need to be on the same network as the printers.

SimplyPrint is a cloud platform. Your printers are connected to the cloud by one small "bridge" - usually a Raspberry Pi, a mini-PC running the SimplyPrint client, or OctoPrint/Klipper. That bridge is the only thing that has to sit on the same network as your printers, so it can talk to them directly.

Everything else - the computer by the printers, the iPads on the wall, a student's laptop - talks to SimplyPrint over the internet, just like opening any website. So:

• The bridge (Raspberry Pi / client) must be on the same network as the printers.
• The screens people use to print do not have to be on that network at all. They could be on completely different Wi-Fi.

Two ways to lock printing to a location

There are two routes to "on-site only" printing. They are not better or worse, just suited to different setups.

The Hub is a stripped-down, single-page version of SimplyPrint. It shows just your printers - no sidebar, no settings, none of the clutter. People can slice, start prints and open the queue, all from one screen. It is designed for shared spaces, and it has the most location-locking options. If you want a true walk-up-and-print station, start here.

The full panel is the complete SimplyPrint interface, with all the tabs and pages. Some people prefer it because they get more information and the full feature set on screen. You can lock the panel to your network too, using IP restrictions.

You can even combine them: let staff use the full panel, and point students at the Hub. The next two sections walk through each route.

Option 1 - lock the Hub to your printer room

The Hub is the most flexible option for a shared space, and it has three tools you can mix and match. You will find these under organization settings, in the Hub settings card.

Approved computers. Turn on "Only allow prints from approved computers", then click Approve device on each computer you want to trust. SimplyPrint stores a secure marker on that device, and only approved devices can start or control prints. This is ideal when there are one or two fixed computers in the printer room. (Please read the "Why an approved computer can stop working" section below before you rely on this - there is one important catch.)

IP restrictions. Enter the IP address (or addresses) of your building's network, and only people on that network can print. This is the better choice when you have many devices, like a wall of iPads, because you allow the whole network at once instead of approving each device. See the "What an IP address actually is" section below if that sentence felt like a foreign language.

Temporary login (the kiosk mode). The Hub has two login modes. In temporary login mode, the printers are visible to anyone at the screen, but the moment someone wants to start, pause or cancel a print, the Hub asks them to sign in. They do their thing, and the Hub automatically signs them back out after a couple of minutes of inactivity. This is what makes a true shared kiosk work: one student signs in, slices and prints, walks away, and the next student prints under their own name, not someone else's. Every print is still tied to a real person.

Option 2 - lock the panel with IP restrictions

If you (or your students) prefer the full panel, you can restrict it to your network instead. In the panel, go to Settings, then the Data & security tab, then Access settings.

Under Panel IP restrictions, enter the allowed IP addresses or ranges (comma separated), then choose what should be blocked for anyone connecting from an IP that is not on your list:

• Everything - they cannot access any panel page at all.
• Printer page - they can use other pages, but not the Printers page.
• Printing - they cannot start new prints. They can still pause or cancel a running print, unless you also block print actions.
• Print actions - cancel, pause, resume and skip objects are blocked.
• Camera viewing - they cannot watch the printer camera.

So for a typical "students can only print on-site" setup, you would add your building's IP and tick Printing (and usually Print actions). Off-site, they can still log in, manage files and watch cameras, but they cannot send anything to a printer.

A few helpful touches in this screen:

• It shows your current IP and an Add current IP button, so you can add the network you are on right now with one click.
• It warns you live if your own IP is not in the list, so you do not accidentally lock yourself out.
• You can set a custom restriction message, for example "You must be on-site at the school to start prints", which is shown to anyone who is blocked.

What an IP address actually is

You do not need this to use the features, but it explains why IP locking sometimes works perfectly and sometimes does not.

When any device connects to the internet, it appears to the outside world as a number called a public IP address - think of it as the return address on an envelope. Here is the key part: everyone on the same network usually shares the same public IP. Two people on the same office Wi-Fi look like they are coming from the exact same address. Open whatismyipaddress.com on two computers on the same Wi-Fi and you will see the same number.

That is exactly what makes IP locking useful: if your printer room (or your whole building) has its own public IP, you can allow that one address and only people physically on that network can print.

But it is also where it can fall down:

• If your entire campus - labs, offices, dorms, every building - shares one public IP, then allowing that IP allows everyone, including a student in their dorm. The lock no longer means "in the lab".
• If your network's public IP changes from time to time (some do), your allow-list can stop matching and people get locked out until you update it.
• A VPN changes the address a device appears to come from. A student on a VPN will not match your allowed IP, even sitting in the lab.

This is not a SimplyPrint limitation - it is just how networks work. The good news: it is easy to check, and your IT team will know the answer. That is the next section.

Will IP locking work on your network

Before you commit to IP locking, you need to know how your network hands out public IPs. Most teachers do not know this off-hand, and that is completely normal - it is an IT question. Here is a quick self-test plus the exact questions to ask.

The 2-minute self-test. On a computer in your printer room, open whatismyipaddress.com and note the number. Then check the same site from somewhere you do not want printing allowed - a different building, or ask a colleague to check from home or on the campus Wi-Fi elsewhere. If the number is different, IP locking can isolate your lab. If it is the same, IP locking will not separate the lab from those other places, and the Hub's approved-computers option is likely the better route.

• When someone is on the Wi-Fi in our printer room or library, what public IP address do they appear to come from? Is it a single fixed address or a small range?
• Is that the same public IP used across the whole campus (including dorms and other buildings), or does our area have its own?
• Can our printers and their connection device be placed on a separate network or VLAN - for example a dedicated "3D printing" or IoT Wi-Fi - with its own IP?
• Is our public IP static (it stays the same) or dynamic (it can change)?

A separate little network just for the printer area is the cleanest setup, and many IT teams already recommend putting devices like Raspberry Pis and 3D printers on their own isolated network anyway. Remember from earlier: the people printing do not need to be on that printer network - only the bridge does. So an isolated printer network does not get in the way of anyone printing.

Why an approved computer can stop working

This is the catch that surprises almost everyone who uses the "approved computers" option, so it is worth understanding clearly.

When you click Approve device, SimplyPrint saves a small marker in that computer's web browser. The catch is that the marker lives in that specific browser, for that specific signed-in user. It is not attached to the physical machine.

So the approval is lost if:

• Someone signs out of their Windows or Mac account and a different person signs into theirs - each login has its own separate browser data.
• Someone opens a different web browser (approved in Chrome, but they open Edge).
• The browser's cookies or site data get cleared, or they use a private/incognito window.

This is exactly the situation that trips people up: a shared lab computer is approved, but because each student logs into their own separate Windows or SSO account, every student gets their own fresh browser with no marker, and the computer looks "unapproved" to them. Their cookies are not shared with each other - which, for security and privacy, is a good thing - but it means there is no way for a website to recognise "this is the same physical machine" across different logins. That is a limitation of how web browsers work, not a missing SimplyPrint feature, and no website can work around it.

Setups that work well

Here are the most common shared-space setups and the simplest way to build each one.

One computer next to the printers. Use the Hub with approved computers. Set the machine up with one shared, always-signed-in account, click Approve device once, and you are done. Optionally turn on temporary login so each student signs in for their own prints.

Several computers in the room. Either approve each computer (one shared login per machine), or - usually easier - use IP restrictions to allow your room's network so every computer in the room qualifies automatically.

A wall of iPads or tablets (for example in a library). Use IP restrictions. Allowing your library's network covers all the tablets at once, with nothing to set up on each device. Approving 20 tablets individually is possible but fragile, because tablets clear their browser data more readily, so IP locking is the better fit here.

Students bring their own laptops, but only on-site. Use IP restrictions for your building's network. While a student is on your Wi-Fi they can print; the moment they leave and connect elsewhere, they cannot. (This only works if your building has its own public IP - see the IT questions above.)

A mix: staff get everything, students get a locked-down screen. Let staff use the full panel, point students at the Hub, and optionally remove the students' panel-printing permission so the Hub is their only way to print. That last step is the next section.

Make students use only the Hub

If you want students to print exclusively through the locked-down Hub and never from the full panel, you can switch off their ability to print from the panel entirely.

In user groups and permissions, edit the group your students belong to and turn off Allow panel printing. With that off, members of that group will not even see the Printers page in the panel, so they cannot start prints there. They can still print through the Hub (under whatever Hub locks you have set), which keeps everything funnelled through your controlled, single-screen station.

Which plan do I need

The two routes have slightly different plan requirements:

In practice: schools and universities are usually on the School plan, which includes both routes. Makerspaces and workshops are often on the Print Farm plan, which includes the Hub (the recommended route for on-site-only printing there). See the pricing page for the full comparison.

Related articles

• The Hub: a shared printer screen for makerspaces, schools and farms
• User groups and permissions: what each one controls
• How to enable pop-ups for the SimplyPrint Hub

Updated on: 16/06/2026