Assigning different priority levels

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Assigning different priority levels

You can expedite documents that need to be printed immediately. Documents sent by users with high priority levels can bypass a queue of lower priority documents waiting to be printed. If two logical printers are associated with the same printer, the Windows Server 2003 family operating system routes documents with the highest priority level to the printer first.

To take advantage of this print priority system, create multiple logical printers for the same printer. Assign each a different priority level, and then create a group of users that corresponds to each printer. For example, users in Group1 might have access rights to a priority 1 printer, users in Group2 might have access rights to a printer with priority 2, and so on.

For a complete procedure on how to set different priority levels using multiple logical printers, see Set different print priority to different groups.