Coworking Spaces: Why Your Members Want Auto-Print
A freelancer walks up to the front desk. "Hey, I need to print this contract. Can I email it somewhere?"
You point at the shared printer. "There's a USB cable. Or you can connect to the Wi-Fi printer if you—"
"I don't have a printer driver installed. I'm on a Chromebook."
This happens three times a day. Every day.
Your coworking space has a beautiful communal printer. But getting documents from your members' laptops to that printer? It's 2026 and it's still a mess.
What if members could just email their documents to print@yourspace.com — and they'd print automatically?
Table of Contents
- The Coworking Printing Problem
- The Email-to-Print Solution
- Why Members Love This
- Full Setup Guide for Coworking Operators
- Security Considerations
- Multi-Printer Setup
- The Pricing Math for Operators
- What Members Can Print
- Real Coworking Examples
- TL;DR
The Coworking Printing Problem
Printing in a coworking space is surprisingly hard. Here's why:
Different devices. Your members show up with MacBooks, Windows laptops, Chromebooks, iPads. Half of them don't have printer drivers installed. The other half can't find the printer on the network.
No IT department. You're a coworking space, not a Fortune 500 company. You don't have a sysadmin installing drivers on every member's laptop.
Cloud print is dead. Google killed Cloud Print in 2020. There's no universal "print from any device" solution anymore.
Members don't want to learn your printer setup. They're paying for a desk, Wi-Fi, and coffee. They expect printing to just work.
So most coworking spaces do one of three things:
- Leave a USB cable — members plug in, install drivers, pray it works
- Set up Wi-Fi printing — half the members can connect, the other half can't
- Staff prints for members — your front desk becomes a print shop
None of these scale. None of these make members happy.
The Email-to-Print Solution
Here's the setup:
- Create a shared email account:
print@yourcowork.com - Install AutoPrintEmail on the computer connected to your communal printer
- Connect it to the shared email account via Gmail or IMAP
- Set it to print all incoming emails and attachments
That's it.
Now any member — on any device — can send a document to print@yourcowork.com and it prints automatically. PDF, Word doc, Excel spreadsheet, image. Done.
No drivers. No Wi-Fi configuration. No front desk involvement.
If they can send an email, they can print.
Why Members Love This
It works from any device. Phone, tablet, Chromebook, Windows, Mac, Linux. If it can send email, it can print.
No learning curve. Everyone knows how to send an email. There's nothing to install, configure, or troubleshoot.
It's fast. Email arrives → document prints. Usually under 30 seconds. Members walk to the printer and their document is already waiting.
It works remotely too. Member heading to the space and needs a document ready when they arrive? Email it from the car. It'll be in the printer tray before they walk through the door.
It just feels premium. "Email your document to print@ourspace.com" sounds way better than "there's a USB cable somewhere behind the printer."
Full Setup Guide for Coworking Operators
Step 1: Create the Print Email Account
Create a dedicated email address for printing. Options:
- Gmail:
yourspace.print@gmail.com— free, works with Gmail OAuth - Your domain:
print@yourcowork.com— more professional, use IMAP or Google Workspace
Don't use an existing staff email. This should be a dedicated printing inbox.
Step 2: Install AutoPrintEmail
Download AutoPrintEmail on the computer (or mini PC) connected to your communal printer. Install takes about 60 seconds.
Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. A $50 mini PC running Linux works perfectly for this.
Step 3: Connect the Email Account
Open AutoPrintEmail → Add Account → Sign in with Gmail OAuth or enter IMAP settings.
For the full breakdown on connection types, check our automation guide.
Step 4: Create a Print Rule
Set up a rule to print everything that arrives:
Or get more specific:
Most coworking spaces print attachments only — members are sending files, not trying to print the email itself.
Step 5: Tell Your Members
Add it to your welcome packet:
Need to print? Email your document to
print@yourcowork.com. It'll print automatically to the communal printer in the lounge area.
Put a small sign near the printer. Add it to your member onboarding email. Done.
Security Considerations
"Wait — anyone can email that address and print whatever they want?"
Yes, and here's why that's fine for most coworking spaces:
- Your members already have physical access to the printer. If they wanted to print something weird, they could just plug in a USB.
- The printer is in a shared space. Members pick up their own documents. There's no privacy expectation beyond what already exists.
- You can restrict senders. AutoPrintEmail lets you filter by sender. Only allow emails from
@yourcowork.commember accounts if you want.
For extra control:
| Concern | Solution |
|---|---|
| Random people emailing the print address | Restrict sender domain to member emails |
| Large print jobs eating paper | Set a page limit per email |
| Inappropriate content | Same policy as any shared resource |
Most spaces don't need restrictions. The email address isn't public — you only share it with members.
Multi-Printer Setup
Got multiple floors or zones? Set up routing:
- Lounge printer:
print-lounge@yourcowork.com - Conference room printer:
print-conf@yourcowork.com - Hot desk area:
print-desks@yourcowork.com
Or use a single address with sender-based routing. Members on the 2nd floor get their docs on the 2nd floor printer. AutoPrintEmail supports multiple printers with different rules.
The Pricing Math for Operators
AutoPrintEmail costs $99.99 for a lifetime license. One payment. No monthly fees. No per-print charges.
Compare that to alternatives:
| Solution | Cost |
|---|---|
| Cloud print service (e.g., PrinterLogic, Printix) | $3-5/user/month |
| Managed print solution | $200-500/month |
| Staff printing for members | 15 min/day × $18/hr = $90/month in labor |
| AutoPrintEmail | $99.99 one-time |
With 30 members at $4/user/month for a cloud service, you're spending $1,440/year. AutoPrintEmail is $99.99 once.
And it's simpler. No user accounts to manage. No cloud dashboard. No per-seat licensing. Just an email address and a printer.
What Members Can Print
AutoPrintEmail handles all common document formats:
- PDF — contracts, invoices, reports
- Word (.docx) — letters, proposals, resumes
- Excel (.xlsx) — spreadsheets, data exports
- PowerPoint (.pptx) — presentations, pitch decks
- Images (.jpg, .png, .tiff) — photos, design proofs, scans
Office documents are automatically converted to PDF before printing. Members don't need to worry about file compatibility.
Real Coworking Examples
The Freelancer Hub (12 members)
Small space, one communal printer. Members email print@thehub.co from their laptops. Document prints in 15 seconds. No driver issues. No support tickets. Zero printer-related complaints since setup.
The Growth Office (60 members)
Larger space with two floors. Two print addresses — one per floor. Members onboard with a one-page guide. Staff used to spend 30 minutes per day helping members print. Now they spend zero.
The Creative Studio (25 members)
Design-focused space. Members send high-res images and PDFs to the communal printer. Color prints handled automatically. The space charges $0.10 per page as a member perk — tracked by email.
TL;DR
- Coworking spaces struggle with printing because every member has a different device
- Email-to-print solves it. Create
print@yourspace.com, connect it to AutoPrintEmail, point it at your communal printer - Members email documents from any device — phone, Chromebook, Mac, Windows
- Documents print automatically. No drivers. No Wi-Fi setup. No staff involvement.
- Handles PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images
- $99.99 lifetime license. No per-user fees. No per-print fees.
- Read the full automation guide for detailed setup.
Download AutoPrintEmail free →
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