PaperCut - Printing Funds

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Summary

The following details how to add funds to your PaperCut printing account, charges for printing, and accessing and understanding your PaperCut account balance. Additional information about Printing for Students can be found at https://technology.ku.edu/students/student-printing.

Adding Money

In order to print, you must have funds on your KU Card. You can credit your KU Card from the cash-to-card machine located in the Kansas Union, or online through a bank account or a credit card, using the myKU Student Portal. We suggest that you load with enough money for printing so that you will not have to recharge your card multiple times throughout the semester.

Please Note: Beak 'em Bucks recharge has a maximum of $200 and is limited to 1 transaction every 7 calendar days.

More info can be found here: https://kucard.ku.edu/recharge-ku-card.

Steps to add money to your KU Card

Go to the myKU Portal https://my.ku.edu/
Log in using your KU Online ID and KU Password.
Click the My Finances link under the Finances dropdown.
Click Recharge your card.
A new window or tab should open. Click Recharge your Beak'em Bucks.
Enter the amount you would like to add, and a payment method.
Complete the online form for adding funds to your card.

If no new window or tab opens, your pop-up blocker is preventing the page from opening. To resolve this issue, please follow the instructions located at by following the instructions in the related article Browser Troubleshooting - Workstation under Allow Pop-up Windows.

Color Vs Black & White Printing Charges

Sometimes it may appear that you are being charged for color printing on a black and white document. A common cause could be that the document may have some formatting that causes it to think there is some color present, even when it is not visible.

To resolve this issue in Microsoft Word documents that contain only text, select all text by clicking Ctrl + A.
Change the font color by clicking the arrow next to the button shown below and selecting black.
Next, make sure that all background color formatting is set to No color from the drop-down found by clicking the arrow outlined in the next picture.
- Any word art or special text formatting that adds shadows or borders may also cause the printer to think there's color present in the document.

Though this may resolve issues with black and white documents printing at color costs, it is always important to check the cost before sending your document to print.

Free Printing Funds Not Loaded to KU Card

You will not have free printing funds added to your KU card in the following scenarios:

You don't meet the criteria (listed below).
You have already used your free printing fund.
It is between semesters.
You are not logged into the public computer with your KU Online ID.

Currently enrolled students at KU are supplied with $8.00 worth of free printing during the spring and fall semesters, and $4.00 during the Summer semester. This amount is added the week classes begin, and removed a week after finals.

After your free printing allocation is used, you will need to add money to your KU Card (Directions can be found in the panel Adding money) before you can print or copy. After you log in to a computer in a central campus location you will see a notice on the computer screen if you do not have enough funds to process the request.

Students who are employed by the university as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are not eligible for free printing, as they are considered faculty/employees of the university. Faculty and staff do not receive free printing.

In order to receive free printing at the start of each semester, students must meet the following criteria:

Students must have a KU Card. If you have just received your KU Card, free printing funds will be available to you the following day.
Student must be currently enrolled in classes. If you have just enrolled in KU classes, your free printing funds will be available to you the following day.
Student must have a registered KU email address. For new students, please complete setting up a KU Online ID by going to https://myidentity.ku.edu/setup.
Free printing is only available during the academic semester. This usually goes into effect the week classes begin, and ends a week after finals.
You must be logged in to the computer with your own Online ID when printing some a public computer. Log on to the computer to see the funds you have available.

Understanding MyPrint Printing Balance

Your printing balance is a combination of free printing, Beak 'Em Bucks funds and any printing refunds you have received. All undergraduate students are provided with $8.00 free printing at the beginning of the fall and spring semester and $4.00 during summer semester (Criteria for receiving free printing can be found in the above panel, PaperCut - Web Print FAQ). If you add funds to your Beak 'Em Bucks account on your KU Card, those funds are included on your print balance. If you receive a printing refund, that amount will also be included in your balance.

Access the Web Card Center

Log into the KU Single Sign-On athttps://webcardcenter.ku.eduand you will be able to see your funds for

Beak Em' Bucks
Free Printing

View the Finances section of your MyKU Portal:

Log into the myKU portal at my.ku.edu.
Select Finances from the navigation bar at the top center of the page then My Finances.
The Finances section should be located at the top left. Here you can find your Beak 'Em Bucks balance and your MyPrint Balance.
You can click Options in the top right of the Finances section to add it to your MyKU homepage.

View Printing Balances

View Print Fund Balance

To check your printing balances, log into https://myprint.ku.edu/app.

View KU Card Balance

Log into to your account at myKU.
Click the drop-down arrow next to Services.
Select Financials.

The page will display your Beak 'Em Bucks Balance and other provided information.

Article Changelog

1/24/2026

Article updated to basic visual standard.

Details

Article ID: 18836

Created

Wed 10/9/24 4:01 PM

Modified

Sat 1/24/26 1:57 PM

PaperCut - Printing Funds

Body

Summary

Adding Money

Steps to add money to your KU Card

Color Vs Black & White Printing Charges

Free Printing Funds Not Loaded to KU Card

Understanding MyPrint Printing Balance

Access the Web Card Center

View the Finances section of your MyKU Portal:

View Printing Balances

View Print Fund Balance

View KU Card Balance

Article Changelog

Details

Details

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