SimulPrint Documentation

Everything you need to get SimulPrint installed, configured, and broadcasting to your printers.

What is SimulPrint

SimulPrint is a Windows application that lets you send a PDF to multiple network printers simultaneously — with real-time confirmation for each one.

It runs as a lightweight background service on one PC. Anyone who logs into that PC just opens a browser and goes to the SimulPrint page — no software to install per user, no printer drivers, no IT ticket.

SimulPrint works with any IP-addressable network printer — on your local network, at a remote site over VPN, or anywhere else reachable from the PC running SimulPrint.

System Requirements

Component	Requirement
Operating System	Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
Browser	Chrome, Edge, or Firefox
Network — Port 9100	TCP port 9100 must be open between the SimulPrint PC and all printer IPs
Ghostscript	Required for PDF printing — free download
Internet	Required once for license activation only

Port 9100 is required. SimulPrint communicates with printers over TCP port 9100 (raw printing). This port must be open on your network between the PC running SimulPrint and each printer IP address. If your printers are on a different subnet or VLAN, ask your IT/network team to confirm port 9100 is permitted between those segments. SimulPrint will show a timeout error for any printer where port 9100 is blocked.

Note: After activation, SimulPrint works fully offline. Internet access is only needed the first time you enter your license key.

How Licensing Works

SimulPrint uses a one-time license key tied to your printer count tier. You receive your key by email immediately after purchase.

Tier	Printer Limit	Price
Starter	Up to 10 printers	$299 one-time
Pro	Up to 25 printers	$599 one-time
Enterprise	Up to 75 printers	$1,499 one-time
Unlimited	Unlimited printers	$2,499 one-time

Your license can be used on any number of PCs within your organization. The printer limit is enforced per installation — you can add up to your tier's limit in the Admin panel.

Tip: Not sure which tier you need? Count your printers first. Most fire departments and mid-size organizations fall in the Pro tier.

Installation

Step 1 — Install Ghostscript

SimulPrint requires Ghostscript to convert PDFs before sending to printers. It's free and takes about two minutes to install.

Go to ghostscript.com/releases/gsdnld.html
Download the Windows 64-bit AGPL version
Run the installer with default settings

Step 2 — Install SimulPrint

Download SimulPrint-Setup.exe from your purchase confirmation email or from simulprint.com/download
Run the installer — it installs to C:\SimulPrint\ by default
SimulPrint starts automatically and opens your browser to http://localhost:3000

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Screenshot: SimulPrint installer running

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Auto-start: SimulPrint is configured to start silently in the background every time Windows boots. You never need to manually start it.

Step 3 — Bookmark the app

SimulPrint opens automatically after install at http://localhost:3000. Bookmark this in Chrome or Edge for easy access. You can also copy the START SimulPrint shortcut to your desktop.

Activating Your License

The first time you open SimulPrint you'll see the activation screen. Enter the license key from your purchase email.

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Screenshot: SimulPrint activation screen

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Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser
Enter your license key in the format SIMUL-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
Click Activate SimulPrint
SimulPrint connects to the activation server, validates your key, and unlocks the app

Internet required: Your PC needs internet access during activation. After activation, SimulPrint works fully offline.

No email? Check your spam folder. The email comes from licenses@simulprint.com. Still nothing? Email support@simulprint.com.

Adding Printers

After activation you'll land on the main broadcast screen. Before you can send anything you need to add your printers in the Admin panel.

Click ⚙ Admin in the top right corner
Under Add Printer, enter a name (e.g. FS03 or Reception) and the printer's IP address
Click Add Printer
Repeat for each printer

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Screenshot: Admin panel — Add Printer form

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Finding printer IPs: Check your printer's network settings page, your router's DHCP client list, or ask your IT department. We recommend setting static IPs on all printers so the address never changes.

Sending a PDF

SimulPrint broadcasts PDFs to all your printers simultaneously. Here's the full workflow:

Get your document ready — open the email, Word doc, or file you want to send
Print to PDF — go to File → Print, select Microsoft Print to PDF (built into Windows), and save the PDF to your Desktop
Open SimulPrint at http://localhost:3000
Upload the PDF — click the upload area or drag and drop your PDF file
Preview — the PDF appears in the preview window so you can confirm it looks right before sending
Select printers — make sure the printers you want to send to are lit up (not dimmed)
Click Broadcast — SimulPrint sends the job to all selected printers simultaneously
Watch the board — each printer tile turns green (confirmed) or red (failed) in real time

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Screenshot: Main screen — PDF uploaded and ready to send

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Screenshot: Status board — printers confirmed after broadcast

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Toggling Printers On/Off

Click any printer tile on the status board to toggle it on (lit) or off (dimmed) before broadcasting. This is useful when you want to send to a subset of your printers — for example, sending to one station to verify before going to all of them.

Use Select All and Deselect All to quickly enable or disable all printers at once.

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Screenshot: Status board with some printers toggled off

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Ping All

Click ▶ Ping All to check port 9100 connectivity on every printer before sending. Each tile updates to show:

Online (green) — printer is reachable and ready
Offline (red) — printer is not responding on port 9100

Use Ping All before a time-sensitive broadcast to catch any offline printers ahead of time.

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Screenshot: Status board after Ping All

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Retry Failed

After a broadcast, any printer that failed is tracked automatically. If any printers failed a ↻ Retry Failed (X) button appears showing the count.

Clicking it resends the job to only the failed printers — no need to broadcast to everyone again.

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Screenshot: Retry Failed button after a send with failures

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Print Log

At the bottom of the main screen click Show next to Print Log to expand the history. Every broadcast is logged with:

Date and time
PDF filename
Per-printer confirmed / failed status

The last 200 sends are stored. The log is also saved as a JSON file at C:\SimulPrint\print-log.json which can be opened in any text editor or imported into Excel.

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Screenshot: Print log expanded

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Managing Printers

Go to ⚙ Admin in the top right to manage your printer list.

Add a printer

Enter the printer name and IP address and click Add Printer. The printer appears immediately on the status board.

Remove a printer

Find the printer in the list and click Remove. It's removed immediately.

Printer limit

The Admin panel shows a usage bar indicating how many of your licensed printers you've used. If you reach your limit you'll need to upgrade your license to add more.

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Screenshot: Admin panel — full printer list

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Import / Export Config

Export

Click ↓ Export Config in the Admin panel. A file named simulprint-config.json downloads containing all your printer names and IPs. Save this as a backup.

Import

Click ↑ Import Config and select a previously exported config file. Your printer list is replaced with the imported one. Printers beyond your license limit are skipped.

Moving to a new PC? Export your config first, install SimulPrint on the new PC, activate your license, then import the config. All your printers are restored in seconds.

Common Issues

SimulPrint won't open at localhost:3000

Double-click the START SimulPrint shortcut on the desktop. If it still doesn't open, open Task Manager and check for a SimulPrint.exe process — if it's there, try refreshing the browser. If it's not running, the shortcut will start it.

All printers showing as failed

Check that the PC running SimulPrint is connected to the network. Run Ping All to test connectivity. If all printers time out, ask your IT department to confirm port 9100 is open between the SimulPrint PC and your printer subnet.

Port 9100 is blocked

SimulPrint requires TCP port 9100 to be open between the PC it runs on and each printer IP. This is the standard raw printing port used by network printers. If your printers are on a separate subnet or VLAN, your network team will need to add a firewall rule allowing TCP port 9100 from the SimulPrint PC to your printer IPs. This is a standard, low-risk network change — port 9100 is only used for sending print jobs.

PDF mode not working / Ghostscript error

Ghostscript is not installed or not detected. Install it from ghostscript.com then restart SimulPrint. A warning banner appears on the main screen if Ghostscript is missing.

One printer keeps failing

Run Ping All — if that printer shows offline the issue is at the printer itself (powered off, paper out, network problem). Verify the IP address in Admin matches the printer's actual IP. If you recently changed the printer's IP address update it in the Admin panel.

License key not working

Make sure the PC has internet access during activation. Keys are in the format SIMUL-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Email support@simulprint.com if the issue persists.

Ghostscript warning banner is showing

Ghostscript is installed but SimulPrint can't find it. Make sure you installed it with default settings — it should be at C:\Program Files\gs\. If you installed it to a custom location, reinstall with default settings.

Moving to a New PC

Export your config — go to Admin → Export Config and save the file
Install Ghostscript on the new PC
Install SimulPrint on the new PC
Enter your license key — the same key works on the new machine
Import your config — go to Admin → Import Config and select your saved file
All your printers are restored and you're ready to go

Your license key can be reactivated on a new machine. If you run into any issues contact support@simulprint.com.

SimulPrint Documentation · support@simulprint.com · simulprint.com