Even though the world is increasingly moving towards digital, there are still times when you need to print something out. You no longer need the help of a computer to serve your printing needs as your smartphone can serve its purpose.
The easiest way to print from your iPhone and iPad is with an Apple protocol called AirPrint, AirPrint is a built-in service which allows you to connect your device to most printers on the market.
Whether you are new or you have been using an iOS device for a while, it is very useful to know how you can print from your device to any printer around you.
Since not all printers support the AirPrint protocol, we will show you in this article how you can print from your iPhone and iPad using AirPrint and a secondary option when there’s no AirPrint option in the printer close to you.
Note: iPhone and iPad don’t support wired print, it’s all wireless.
How to Print Using Apple AirPrint
AirPrint service allows you to create and print documents and graphics without installing drivers or changing the settings of the printer.
AirPrint supports any model of iPad, an iPhone 3GS or later as well as the latest version of iOS and any printer that supports the AirPrint service.
Printing from an iPhone and an iPad is almost identical. The only difference between them is where you might see the share button, the button may change is position depending on the orientation of the screen (portrait or landscape).
Connecting to Wi-Fi
To print from your iPhone or iPad, make sure the device and the printer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Check the user manual for more information on how to turn on the function and connect to wife.
Select the Printer
- To check the connection between devices, open any AirPrint supported app such as Mil, Evernote. While most apps will feature an arrow that looks like a forward button icon.
- Tap the icon and select Print. Once it’s selected, your printer should appear then select it as a default printer. Otherwise, tap Select Printer at the top and allow your device to scan for nearby printers.
Choose the Number of Copies
When you get to this section, select the number of copies you want to print by selecting the addition and subtraction icons located to the right.
The default copy is one, but you can print up to 99 pages at once. You can also change the options section to reveal the colour options and which page you want to print first if they are multiple pages.
After selecting a printer and choose the number of pages to print, hit the Print button at the top right corner of the page.
You can also cancel a print job, check the print status by double-tapping the Home button and then select Print Center and in the App Switcher, tap Cancel Printing.
Secondary Options
How to Print Using Email
Amazing right? There are a lot of printers that come with this feature. The email feature allows a document to be sent anywhere around the world to your printer’s assigned email.
The process is relatively easy once its setup, it only requires you to email the file you want to print from your iPhone to your email-compatible printer.
Like I said earlier, this feature cannot be found in every printer model but it’s available for many models such as WorkForce, Epson Expression series and most HP printers.
How to Activate Email Printing
First off, activate the email function (only if your printer supports this feature). Enabling this feature varies.
For Epson printers, activate Epson Connect. Contact the user guide to get more detail on this. After activation, the printer is assigned a default email address which will probably be a series of random characters but you can change it if you choose to.
The best part of this feature is that your iPhone need not be connected to the same network as the printer for this to work. Although the printer should be connected to a Wi-Fi network and not through a standard USB cable.
Once the setup is done, all you need to do now is to email a document or image from your iPhone to the printer and it will print the file to the default specifications (letter size, letter orientation, colour and the number of copies).
Note that your printer won’t be able to accept all file formats but it should be able to handle files from Word, PowerPoint, Excel and image formats. To know more about the acceptable format you can attach to a mail for print, check the user manual.
How to Print Using Other Software
If AirPrint and email printing are not your preferred choice, you can always settle for a software that was manufacture red with the printer or you can use third-party software.
For the sake of this article, we will work with Presto and it’s available free on the iOS store, and fortunately, it is compatible with many printers.
It also has a version for Android and Chrome OS which allows you to print from any device that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your printer and computer.
If Presto doesn’t sit well with you, you can use your manufacturer’s free software example of such are Epson iPrint or Samsung Mobile Print. But there’s no guarantee that these apps will be compatible with all printer models.
Download and Install the Application
After deciding on the application, proceed to the manufacturers? official website or the app’s page in the App Store then download and install the app.
Launch the Application
Open the application you have downloaded on your computer or iPhone.
Connect to Wi-Fi
To use Presto, make sure both your printer and your iPhone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Check printers? manual for more details on how to connect to Wi-Fi.
Presto comes with a feature that allows you to save print jobs until it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network.
This feature called Magic Queue is effective in situations where you have a document to print but you are not between a Wi-Fi network or printer.
- To enable Magic Queue, launch an app that looks like Notes or the one that has a box with an arrow pointing out.
- Tap the icon and select More option, after which you can turn on Presto.
- Tap on the same icon that is located at the top-right corner to save a print, then tap Presto. This will take you to a new page where Magic Queue has already been chosen as the default printer.
- Tap the Print button to save the print job.
Select a Printer
- Confirm the connection between the printer and the iPhone by opening an app such as Safari or Evernote. Most of this app will have a button that looks like a forward button.
- Tap on this button and select Print and this should allow your printer to appear as the default printer.
- If that is not the case, you can tap on Select Printer at the top and it will enable your printer to scan for printers that were selected when the application was launched.
Note: The printer must be awake to access the printer.
Choosing the Number of Copies
You can select the number of copies you want by tapping the addition and subtraction arrows located to the right. Minimum amount is one while the maximum is 99.
Once you have selected the number of copies you want to print, tap the Print button at the top-right corner of the page.
To cancel your print job or check its status, double-tap the Home button to bring up the App Switcher and then choose Print Center.
How to Print Using Google Cloud Print
With the help of Google, there’s no limit to what you can do and printing is not an exception. With Google Cloud Print, you can print from any Google app including the Chrome browser, Google Docs, and you just need to gain access to your Google account.
However, with the help of a third-party app, you can print other things though Google Cloud Print.
Get a Google Account
There’s no reason for you to be online without having a Google account but if you have none, you can click sign up and follow the steps to create a profile.
Download the PrintCentral Pro App For iPhone and iPad
Since CloudPrint only works for selected Google apps, there is no Google Cloud Print app for iOS, but you are in luck because PrintCentral Pro can serve its purpose.
Download it here from the App Store for free.
Choose a File for Print
After downloading and installing PrintCentral, launch and bring up the menu at the top left corner of the app. Select what you want to print such as an image, webpage.
If you are printing an email, you will need the email account, for files, they must be added to your iCloud while for images, it requires you to give Google access to it. When you have decided on what to print, tap the printer icon in the top right corner.
Add Printers
To add printers, it will take you to a page called Printer (Wi-Fi). Press the add sign in the top right corner to add a printer and there should be Google Cloud Printing at the bottom. Select it and enter your Gmail address and tap the Save button.
If you have followed the instructions so far then everything should work correctly. And if everything is right, it will take you to a print page that Google Cloud Printing has chosen and whatever you are trying to print displaying at the top of the screen.
You should be able to see an option to Save to Google Drive and another to change the printer’s settings. You can change the printer’s settings at your discretion.
At the bottom of the print page, you will see several options to Preview Print Later and Print. Tap on?Print?if everything is okay.
With this article, it should enlighten you on how you can print from your iPhone and iPad using AirPrint and other secondary options.
Do well to try out the ones that are more convenient for your iPhone or iPad. Share your experience, thoughts and feedback with us by using the comments section below
