If you've used Dealertrack DMS, you've probably seen the QPRINT option. It's Dealertrack's built-in way to output documents without routing them to a physical printer. On the surface, it sounds like it should solve the paperless problem. In practice, it falls short in one critical area: visual fidelity.
What QPRINT Does
QPRINT generates a plain text-only rendering of Dealertrack forms. It's useful when a specific report or file can only be viewed by sending it to a printer, you don't want to use paper, and the information is readable as raw text. It's also handy when you're not near a printer or don't have access to one and just need to see numbers or data quickly.
For quick lookups like checking an RO number or PO details, staff typically do that directly within the DMS. QPRINT serves a different purpose — it's for when data is behind a print-only view and you need a text-based output without using paper.
What QPRINT Doesn't Do
Here's the key thing to understand: in Dealertrack, all logos, tables, font sizing, form titles, section headers, and visual layout are stored on the physical Lexmark printer itself — not in the DMS. When you print a form, the printer combines the raw data from Dealertrack with the templates and logos stored on the printer to produce the final, formatted document.
QPRINT bypasses the printer entirely, which means it bypasses all of that formatting. What you get is:
- No dealership logos
- No tables or structured layout
- No font sizing or visual hierarchy
- No form titles or section headers
- No cell labels or column headers within tables
- No branding of any kind
The result is raw text and numbers with no context for what they mean. Without table headers and cell titles, you can't easily distinguish what the numbers and information represent. It's not just that it looks unprofessional — it's often genuinely difficult to read and interpret.
Why Logos and Formatting Matter
The formatting stored on Lexmark printers isn't just cosmetic branding. It's the structure that makes a document usable. Table headers tell you which column is the part number versus the price. Section titles separate labor from parts from totals. Cell labels identify what each value means. Without this structure, you're looking at a wall of numbers with no way to know what's what.
For customer-facing documents like Repair Orders, Invoices, or Statements, sending a plain-text version isn't just unprofessional — it's unusable. Customers can't read it, vendors can't process it, and warranty companies won't accept it.
For internal use, QPRINT works when you just need raw data. But when the document structure matters — knowing which column is part numbers versus prices, or where labor ends and totals begin — you need the full form layout that only comes from the Lexmark templates.
Full-Fidelity PDF: The Alternative
PrintSent takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of generating a text-based rendering, PrintSent captures the actual print stream — the exact same data that would go to a physical Lexmark printer — and converts it to a pixel-perfect PDF.
The result is a document that looks identical to what would come off a physical printer: full logos, proper formatting, correct layout, complete branding. It's the printed page, delivered digitally.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | QPRINT | PrintSent |
|---|---|---|
| Dealership logos | No | Yes |
| Tables and structured layout | No | Yes |
| Form titles and section headers | No | Yes |
| Font sizing and hierarchy | No | Yes |
| Customer-ready output | No | Yes |
| Email delivery | No | Yes |
| Hardware required | None | Small network device |
| Setup time | Built-in | Under 30 minutes |
| Staff workflow changes | Yes | None |
The Bottom Line
QPRINT serves its purpose well — it's a convenient way to get a quick text view of data without printing. But it was designed for text-only output, not as a replacement for formatted printing. The formatting that makes documents readable and professional lives on the Lexmark printer, not in the DMS.
If your dealership needs to send documents to customers, vendors, or warranty companies — or even just needs staff to be able to read forms with proper table headers and structure — you need full-fidelity PDF output. PrintSent delivers exactly that, with no workflow changes for your staff.