Media matching

When a job is submitted with a job ticket, the job ticket usually includes information about the media that the job should be printed on. That information can include the product ID and name of the requested media, as well as properties of the media, such as size and color. The Media Matching setting determines how the system interprets that information to set the Media property for the job.

The Media Matching setting also affects how the Media ready property for a printer is set. If a printer supports SNMP or JMF, it can send information about the media loaded in its trays to RICOH ProcessDirector. The system compares the information returned by SNMP or JMF with existing media objects to find one that matches. If the Media to use property on the printer is set to Printer, RICOH ProcessDirector compares the names to existing printer media. If it finds a match, the printer media must be mapped to its system media equivalent for jobs to print correctly. If the Media to use property on the printer is set to System, RICOH ProcessDirector compares the names to existing system media.

When it finds a match, the name of the matching media object is used for the value of the Media ready property for the input tray. If none of the existing media objects match, RICOH ProcessDirector creates a media object of the correct type (system or printer), with the specified values and includes that media name in the value of the Media ready property.

RICOH ProcessDirector provides two options for media management: Use media product ID or media name and Use the properties selected below.

• The Use media product ID or media name option uses one of these media names as the value of the Media property for a job:
  • The name of the media object with the matching product ID specified in the job ticket.
  • The name of the media specified in the job ticket.

  The option does not check any other media properties.

  RICOH ProcessDirector first checks whether the job ticket specifies a media product ID. If it does, RICOH ProcessDirector looks for a media object with the same product ID. If RICOH ProcessDirector finds a match, it puts the name of the matching media object in the Media property for the job. If RICOH ProcessDirector does not find a match, it looks for a media object with the media name specified in the JDF job ticket. If RICOH ProcessDirector finds a match, it puts the name of the matching media object in the Media property for the job.

  You must use the Show Trays action on the printer object to specify the media loaded in the printer.

  When this option is selected, you can create media objects that have the same property values but different product IDs or names.

• The Use the properties selected below option uses one or more media properties specified in the job ticket to determine the value of the Media property for the job. You can choose the media properties that are relevant to your operations. RICOH ProcessDirector examines the values of the relevant media properties in the job ticket and finds a media object with matching values for those properties. If more than one media object matches the specified properties, RICOH ProcessDirector uses more logic to choose the most appropriate value.

  In addition, you must use this option if you want RICOH ProcessDirector to use SNMP or JMF to set the Media ready property for printers based on the properties of the media, and create media objects if needed. If the printer does not return all the relevant properties for a media object, RICOH ProcessDirector cannot set the media in the input tray automatically. You must use the Show Trays action on the printer object to specify the media loaded in the printer.

When the Media property for a job and the Media ready property for printers are set, RICOH ProcessDirector can use those values to help schedule the job to the appropriate printer.