The iPad and iPhone are designed to be easy to use – their portability and simplicity have seduced many former Windows users to embrace Apple’s stylish offerings. However, if you want to print from iPad or iPhone the situation becomes more tricky – although many iOS apps have a Print button, printing is not actually straightforward, unless you have the right printer…
There are several ways to print from iPad or iPhone: 1. AirPrint Enabled Printers – this is by far the easiest method as AirPrint-enabled applications can print directly to any printer that supports it – unlike a Windows computer you don’t need to install any driver software or configure the printer.
Just tap Print, select the printer that supports AirPrint, and go. It’s that simple. To use AirPrint, you need one of the following devices with the latest version of iOS: iPad (all models), iPhone (3GS or later) or iPod touch (3rd generation or later).
You also need a printer that supports it and that printer must be connected to the same wireless network as your iOS device. For a full list of AirPrint compatible printers from 5 major manufacturers, check Apple’s list here. If you want an easy life, or were looking to get a new printer soon anyway, just buy one of the compatible ones listed for simple printing from your iPad or iPhone.
2. Manufacturer Apps
If your printer is not AirPrint enabled, you may still be able to print directly from your iPad or iPhone by using an app from your printer manufacturer – most (not Dell) provide free apps to enable printing and/or scanning although the functionality and ease of use varies considerably from near perfect to almost worthless… Note: each app may support only a limited range of printers – check the app’s download page to see if yours is supported.
Epson iPrint – Free. Print to nearby wireless Epson printers. For photos, webpages and files including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents. You can even scan and save your file or send in an e-mail. Ratings – 4 stars and good reviews. Available here.
Canon Easy-PhotoPrint – Free. Allows you to print photos (and PDF documents) and scan from your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad on a compatible PIXMA multifunction printer via a local wireless network. Ratings – 3 stars and mixed reviews, primarily because it only does photos and PDFs, not documents. Available here.
HP ePrint Home & Biz – Free. Mobile printing of most digital content (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, web pages, photos, PDF and text files). Ratings – 2.5 stars and very mixed reviews. Available here.
Lexmark Mobile Printing – Free (Lexmark) – PDFs and photos from your Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch using a Lexmark printer. Available here.
Samsung Mobile Print – Free. Pictures, PDFs, and web pages directly from iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Print to and scan from your Samsung printer/MFP. Ratings – 3 stars and mixed reviews, primarily due to problems with the app not finding some printers. Available here.
Brother iPrint&Scan – Free. Lets you print and scan photos or documents from your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to a Brother printer or all-in-one using a local wireless network. Ratings – 3 stars and mixed reviews. Available here.
3. Free Windows Program – added 19th May 2012
One of our readers suggested a free Windows program called ‘AirPrint Installer’ which enables Windows users to install the AirPrint service. This allows iOS devices to use shared printers on the local network (via AirPrint) that don’t natively support it.
The program for iOS 5+ devices are available at the top of the MacRumors discussion thread here. Note that you must have iTunes and Bonjour installed on the Windows computer that is sharing the printer.
I would suggest this is suitable for more advanced users – you may need to read through the user comments in the MacRumors discussion thread for further tweaks to suit your setup. In particular I would advise against enabling the Guest Account in Windows as this is considered a security risk, especially if you have not set up a password for it.
4. Free Mac Program
HandyPrint (free) is a small program that will enable a Mac OSX 10.6.8+ and iTunes hidden feature to allow your shared printer to be visible on your iOS 4.3+ devices. It allows you to print from the new generation of Apple iPhones, iPad and iPod Touch to a printer shared over your personal WiFi network. Available here.
5. Paid Apps
PrintCentral ($6.99) is a multi-featured paid app to print direct from iPad only to most wireless printers without additional software or to all printers and any document type via a shared printer on your Mac/PC. You can view, store & print email, documents, files, attachments, photos, contacts and web pages on your iPad. Available here.
Print n Share (by the same developer) costs $4.99 and provides similar capabilities but supports iPhone and iPod touch as well as iPad. You can even print remotely over 3G and in corporate/other networks where WiFi is not available. Available here.
5. Other Alternatives
Of course if you are only printing very rarely you could go the manual route and just sync your iOS device with your PC/Mac, copy the documents/photos over to it and do it from there – or even the kludge of emailing the file to yourself, receiving it on your computer and printing the attachment there…
Conclusion
Using an AirPrint enabled printer is the easiest way – manufacturer apps vary considerably and only support a limited range of printers.
Paid apps may give good results but reviews are generally mixed so be prepared for some experimenting and possible frustration – double check the requirements and features carefully and opt for a trial whenever possible to see if it works for you.
Here is the method I currently use to print via my iPhone.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1293865
I know it works because I just printed via my iPhone just now.
No paid app required. :D
It uses AirPrint Activator a Windows program. Originally released when the latest version of iOS was 4.X?
The issue is iOS 5 appears to have stopped AirPrint Act from working. This is an updated version meant to solve that problem. And it took me awhile to track it down, most Google search results just lead to the broken AirPrint Activator that does not work for updated iPhones. :/
Thanks for the update Dex :-)
I’ve added this updated Windows version to the article – can be quite techie to get it working but hope it helps others.
Why leave out how to print to a shared printer connected to a PC? I know there’s a way to set it up, because I had it set up on my old computer. I am trying to set it up again, so I will probably go Google it and figure it out. It just seems like you left out an important option.
Hi Dex, I did include this option but it comes under the heading of Paid Apps – because I never found a free app (that works!) for shared via PC printing.
Both apps in Option 3 above should be able to print to a shared printer connected to a PC.
However, if you know of a good free app for PCs do let me know and I’ll review/include it – I found lots of free apps for Macs but sadly not for Windows
I’m sure there’s one that you can set up to work for the PC (that’s free). I had it set up before, I just know it took a lot of finagling to get it working, I followed a guide to set it up. However, once it was set up it worked flawlessly. It allowed me to print from my iPhone to my non-wireless printer (the printer was a shared printer corded printer connected to a PC on my WiFi network). Sorry I just skipped over the paid apps option because I remembered the free option I used before. I will certainly track down the program and I will let you know when I find it! (: