Help with MCPL's Public Computers

Previewing before printing

Use Print Preview in Microsoft Word, Excel, or the Internet browser to see what your document will look like when you print it. You can then identify specific pages you wish to print.

• Click the Print Preview icon, OR
• Click File on the menu bar, and select Print Preview.

Printing

Printing costs: $.15 cents a page side for Black and White and $1.00 a page side for Color.

Copies and prints are produced only on standard paper contained in MCPL printers. Customers may not introduce their own paper, labels, transparencies, or any other media into the Library’s printers.

Put money in your library printing account at the Circulation Desk. A maximum of $15 can be placed there at one time. Printing account money is non-refundable and cannot be applied to other library fines or fees. As you print, money will be subtracted from your library printing account.

• Select the down arrow next to the print icon and click on print or Ctrl+P in any application will bring up the print dialog box.
• When the print dialog screen appears, the default will be Black and White printing. You can change it to Color printing by selecting Color printing. Click on Print.
• If you click on apply and then print, the computer will print everything with that setting for the remainder of your Internet session. If you hit print without clicking on apply first, just that printout will be in color and you would have to select it again if you want more color printouts during your Internet session.
• Go to any printer in the branch to get your printout.
• Tap anywhere on the screen to start.
• Enter your library card number with no spaces and select Okay.
• Enter your library card PIN and select Okay.
• Select documents to be printed by selecting the box next to the item or items you want to print and select Print. Your document will print.
• Select Logoff to exit your account.

Saving files

• From the File menu on the toolbar, click on Save. The Save As dialog box appears.
• Click the downward-pointing arrow next to the Save In box.
• Select f: to save to your flash drive.
• Double-click inside the File name text box. Type a name for your file. The text you type will replace the text inside the File name text box.
• Click Save.

Saving to the cloud

If you don't have a flash drive, you can save to free personal accounts on cloud-computing platforms, such as Google Drive or OneDrive. You cannot save to the hard drives of library computers. You cannot save to a CD; our CD drives are read-only.

The following instructions for using Google Drive would apply to other similar services. If you have concerns about the privacy of information stored on servers "in the cloud," be sure to read the privacy policies.

• Sign in to an existing Google account or create a new one at https://drive.google.com. If you use Gmail, you already have a Google account. From your Gmail account, click on Drive at the top of the screen.
• On the Google Drive screen, click Create and select Document. Google Drive offers editing and formatting features similar to any word processing software.
• Existing documents can be copied from Microsoft Word or other applications.
  • Highlight the text to select it (or, for everything, hit Ctrl+A).
  • Copy the text from the Edit menu (or Ctrl+C)
  • Paste the text into the Google document from the Google Docs edit menu (or Ctrl+V)
• Click on "Untitled Document" at the top to name the document. Documents save automatically. It will appear on your Google Drive home screen whenever you log in to Google Docs, until you delete it.
• Click on Share to email the document as an attachment.

Opening files

• Click the Open button. The Open dialog box appears.
• Click the downward-pointing arrow next to the Look In box.
• Select f: for a flash drive or d: for a CD.
• Click the file you want to open.
• Click Open.

Sending or saving email attachments

Attach files to an email from a flash drive or a CD-ROM disc.

• Compose an email, with the address, subject, and an explanation of the attachment.
• Plug the flash drive into the USB port under the silver door on the front of the computer. Or load the CD-ROM into the CD drawer.
• Click on Attach File. A dialog box opens. Click on Browse. To see the list of files on your disk, in the file name box type:
  • f: for flash drive
  • d: for CD-ROM disc
• Double click on the file you want to attach.
• The email message should indicate that a file is attached. Click Send.

Save files received in email to a flash drive or to a cloud server. Our CD drives do not write to discs.  To save to a flash drive:

• Plug the flash drive into the USB port under the silver door on the front of the computer.
• Where the attachment is listed, click on Download. It's a good idea to scan for viruses.
• A dialog box opens, asking for a name for the file. In the rectangle for the file name, type f: followed by a name. Do not add an extension such as .doc, .txt, or .gif. For example, f:application
• Click on Save.