Print Queue
Key Concepts
The print queue is Printago's central job management system, powered by an intelligent matching engine called Gutenb3d. Every print job—whether from a single part, a bulk operation, or an e-commerce order—enters the queue, where Gutenb3d automatically matches it to the best available printer based on material requirements, printer tags, and machine availability. The queue replaces the manual process of deciding which file goes to which printer: you define what you need printed and the system handles distribution across your fleet. Jobs progress through stages (queued, in-progress, completed, cancelled, or errored), and you can reorder priorities, retry failed jobs, and monitor progress in real time. For print farms of any size, the queue is what turns a collection of individual printers into a coordinated production system.
Understanding the Queue Interface
The Print Queue is organized into five tabs that represent different stages of your print jobs:
| Tab | Description | Available Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting for printer assignment | Cancel, Move to Top, Drag/Drop reorder |
| In‑Progress | Actively printing on assigned printers | Pause, Resume, Cancel |
| Completed | Successfully completed prints | Retry, Archive |
| Cancelled | User-cancelled jobs | Retry, Archive |
| Errored | Jobs that failed during slicing or printing | Retry, Archive |
Job Interaction
Clicking the thumbnail of any job will show an interactive 3D model preview for STL and STEP files. This includes OpenSCAD or other Add-On output, allowing you to verify the generated output easily. You can also download the STL file from this window, which is particularly useful for OpenSCAD output.
After a job is sliced, this preview window will enable the Download GCODE button that was generated and sent to the printer.
Beyond thumbnail previews, you can also link directly to the SKU or Part associated with each job, and drag queued jobs to reorder their priority. All other job actions require selecting jobs with checkboxes and using the Bulk Action menus.
Why Jobs Wait in Queue
Every job starts in the Queued tab, even those sent "To A Specific Printer." Jobs remain queued when:
- No compatible printers are currently available
- All production slots are busy with other jobs
- Required materials or printer tags don't match any ready printers
In-Progress Jobs
Once Gutenb3d assigns a job to a printer, it moves to In-Progress and follows this path:
- Assignment - Job matched with compatible printer
- Material Mapping - Part materials mapped to printer's loaded filaments
- Slicing - Job automatically sliced for assigned printer
- Send & Print - Sliced file sent to printer, printing begins
After printing begins, in-progress job show their time remaining, percent complete and other statistics.
Print jobs started outside Printago (via slicer, Handy app, etc.) don't use production slots and won't appear here. You can monitor all printer activity on the Dashboard instead.
Job Outcomes
- Completed - Print finished successfully and reached end of gcode normally
- Cancelled - User stopped the job via Printago, slicer, Handy, or printer
- Errored - Job failed during slicing or printer halted due to issues (HMS errors, etc.)
Bambu Lab printer HMS events are reflected in the queue:
- HMS Warnings that pause printing (like filament runout) keep jobs in the In-Progress tab
- HMS Errors that halt printing move jobs to the Errored tab
When able, Printago provides a link to Bambu Lab's documentation on the HMS Code
How Smart Matching Works
Gutenb3d's intelligent matching system considers multiple factors when assigning jobs to printers:
Matching Criteria
| Criteria | Description |
|---|---|
| Printer Availability | Is the printer Available to Printago to assign any job? (see below) |
| Material Type | Specified on the part or SKU printed. May be things like "Any PLA" or "Bambu Basic PLA" |
| Material Variant | Material color, also stored on the part or SKU. |
| Printer Tags | Custom labels for organizing printer groups |
- Online and connected to Printago
- Not currently processing another job
- Marked as "clear & ready for next print"
Printer Assignment Strategy
Gutenb3d processes printers on a "last-used" basis to distribute wear evenly across your fleet. All your printers can receive jobs regardless of your commercial production slot limit—those slots only control how many jobs Printago actively manages simultaneously.
Managing Your Queue
Job Organization
- Each individual printed part appears as a separate queue item (even within multi-part SKUs)
- Identical queued copies are collapsed into a single group row with a count badge — see Grouped Rows below
- Use drag-and-drop or the up/down arrows to reorder within the same priority level
- Jobs process from top to bottom, with flexible reordering anytime
- Streamline management with Bulk Actions
Grouped Rows
When you queue multiple copies of the same part (or a 3MF with multiple plates), the Queued tab folds identical copies into one row to keep the queue readable. A blue ×N badge on the thumbnail tells you how many copies are in the group. Each plate of a multi-plate 3MF becomes its own group, since plates are independent print jobs.
Adjust quantity. Open the row's menu (⋮) and choose Adjust quantity… to change how many copies of the part are in the queue. Increasing adds fresh copies to the same group; decreasing removes the last ones. You can set any value from 1 to 500. Jobs linked to a customer order show this option disabled — quantity for those is controlled by the order itself.
Split a group. Choose Split group… to peel off some copies into their own group. This is useful when you want to reorder a subset of the copies independently, or want different copies to route to different printers via tags. Pick how many to split off, and the new group lands right after the original — from there you can drag it wherever you want.
Reorder. Drag the grip icon at the left of a group row to move the whole group as a unit, or use the up/down arrows on the right.
A busy queue can have hundreds of rows. Grouping identical copies keeps the view compact, makes quantity tweaks one click instead of a bulk selection, and makes it obvious which subset of jobs share exactly the same print setup.
Queue Priority
Printago supports two job priority levels:
- Normal Priority: Standard jobs that process first
- Low Priority: Jobs that only process when no normal priority jobs are available
Important Notes:
- Jobs cannot be dragged between priority groups (normal ↔ low)
- Use the multi-action dropdown to change priority for selected jobs
- Low priority jobs function identically to normal jobs, but only begin processing when the normal priority queue is empty
- Job priority can be adjusted at any time from the queue interface
Archiving Finished Jobs
Once a job finishes (completed, cancelled, or errored), you can archive it to hide it from the queue and part-build views. Archiving is the housekeeping action for keeping the queue focused on what's currently active without losing historical records.
What archiving does:
- Hides the job from the queue interface — the row disappears from the Completed, Cancelled, and Errored tabs immediately.
- Preserves the record on the server — nothing is deleted. All data stays in the database for reporting, auditing, and historical lookups.
How to archive:
- Select one or more finished jobs and choose Archive from the bulk action menu.
- Use Archive by Date (1 day / 7 days / 30 days / 60 days) to archive in bulk based on when jobs completed — useful for periodic cleanup.
- Errored items can be archived from the Errored tab the same way.
Finding archived jobs:
When you filter the queue by a specific order or order item (e.g., from the Orders page), a Show archived toggle appears next to the filter banner. Turning it on fetches archived jobs for that order from the server and merges them into the view. This lets you audit the full print history of an order even after its jobs have been archived. The toggle is scoped to the current filter — turning it off or clearing the filter hides archived jobs again.
Archived jobs remain available to server-side reports, dashboards, and exports. Archiving affects what's loaded into your browser, not what Printago retains.
Troubleshooting Assignment Issues
Every job includes a Printer Matching dialog that shows:
- Which printers Gutenb3d attempted to match
- Specific reasons why each printer wasn't selected
Production Slot Management
Want to see how production slots work? Try the interactive demo — drag the slider to see how slots control throughput across your farm.
Your production slots determine how many jobs Printago can actively manage at once. When slots are full:
- New jobs wait in the queue until slots become available
- Completed, cancelled, or errored jobs free up their slots immediately
- External prints (from slicers, apps, etc.) don't consume slots
This system ensures optimal resource allocation while maintaining full visibility of your entire print farm's activity.
Related Topics
- Bulk Actions - Efficient job management tools
- Cloud Slicer - Automatic slicing for assigned printers
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