The ability to print from your iPhone and iPad is of course very nice. But unless you recently bought a new HP printer with AirPrint technology, you haven't been able to take advantage of it yet. Fortunately, if you have a Mac you can easily get around that shortcoming.
Install handyPrint
Using a small program called handyPrint, you can trick your iPhone and/or iPad into thinking your printer is an AirPrinter. The program, which you can download here, is donateware. In other words, you can use it for free for 14 days, after which you can decide how much you donate. If you at least donate something.
Once you have downloaded and launched the program, you will get the famous screen where you have to drag the icon to a folder. Once you've done this, search Spotlight for Handyprint to launch the program. HandyPrint is not available for Windows by the way. There is also a trick for Windows, but one that is so complicated and extensive that we prefer not to discuss it here.
Download handyPrint and install the program for AirPrint functionality.
Configure handyPrint
Configuring handyPrint is now very easy. Once you've launched the app, you'll see a screen with three tabs. In the Printers tab you will see that your printer has probably already been discovered on the network. If so, then you don't need to do anything. If your printer is not listed, you can click on Add virtual printer at the bottom to add the printer of your choice.
Are you stuck? Then click on Assistant, after which the assistant will guide you step by step through the process. In the Options tab you will find some extra options with which you can, for example, indicate whether the handyPrint icon should be shown in the toolbar at the top. However, you do not need to be here for the program to work. All you have to do now is click on the switch under the handyPrint icon, so that it is set to On. The status will now automatically change to Sharing, which means that your iPhone / iPad can print from now on (as long as your Mac is on).
Configuring is literally a matter of pressing a button.
Print from your iPhone / iPad
Okay, so you can print now, but how does that work? On your iPhone / iPad, go to the object you want to print, for example a website or an image (we will use an image in this example). Press the Share icon (square with an up arrow) and look for the Print button. Once you've pressed this, you'll be taken to the Printer Options menu. Press Choose printer and choose the printer you just shared (it may take a while before this printer actually appears the first time. Now press Print and the print job will be executed. It's that simple!
Printing from your iPhone/iPad is now a breeze.
