Printing from your laptop or desktop to a shared USB printer or network printer is a breeze. It's a bit different if you also want to do that from your smartphone or tablet, or if you're on the road but want to send something to your home printer. Fortunately, it is possible to print wirelessly and mobile, we'll show you how you can do that.
1 Print Service
Beforehand: we assume that you want to be able to print a document with an Android device within your own network. You can use the standard printing service for this. You can find it (in Android 8.x) via Settings / Connected Devices / Printing. Normally you will also find here Cloud Print on (see also step 6). Make sure the Standard Printing Service is turned on and that a printer is ready that can be reached via WiFi. Several apps have the option Print after which you select your printer and set the desired printing options. You can then easily print the document via the printer icon.
2 Plugins & Apps
However, it can also be done differently: most printer manufacturers provide a free plug-in via the Play Store. After installing the compatible plugin, enable it via Settings / Connected Devices / Printing. With a view to battery consumption, you would do well to only activate the printing service(s) that you actually use. Another option is to install a real print app, such as Brother iPrint&Scan or Epson iPrint, with which you can print documents, photos, web pages and e-mails within your network.
Wifi printer
Most modern printers also have WiFi on board. It doesn't require much more than pressing the WiFi button and selecting the wireless network. However, if you have secured your network (of course!), you must first enter the password. It is often easier to connect your printer to your PC via an Ethernet cable and to adjust your browser to the IP address of your printer for the printer configuration. If you don't know the IP address, use a tool like Andry IP Scanner.
3 AirPrint
Moving to iOS, with its built-in printing technology AirPrint. Normally it is enough to press the Share button, select the printer in your network and Print to click. However, not only the apps, but also your printer must be able to handle AirPrint. Here you will find an overview of AirPrint-compatible printers. But what if your printer doesn't support it? Here you will find instructions for macOS.
For iOS, you can connect your printer to your computer via USB, then use O'Print (Windows) or HandyPrint (macOS) to trick your iOS device into believing the shared printer is AirPrint compatible. Or you seek refuge in the proprietary print apps.
Nas
If you have a NAS, you may also be able to add AirPrint support along the way. Let's take a Synology NAS as an example, combined with a network printer. Open it Control Panel from your nose and choose External Devices / Printer. click on Add network printer and enter the IP address of your printer. Give it a name, choose LPR as protocol and also name the queue. Press Next one, put a check next to Enable Apple Wireless Printing – by the way, note that you can also Enable Google Cloud Print (see step 4 onwards) – and indicate the correct printer make and model. Confirm with To apply.
4 Registration
However, how do you print when you're on the go? A handy service for this is Google Cloud Print. Here you will find out 'how compatible' your printer is. If your printer is not listed here, start Chrome and type chrome://devices. Click at Classic printers on Add Printer, select your printer and confirm with Add printer(s). Is your printer included in the list, but not listed (v2), then follow your printer manufacturer's instructions: this is usually done through the web interface. is there (v2) at your printer, then launch Chrome and tap chrome://devices in. You can find your printer at New devices, where you at To manage and on Register clicks.
5 Test
Hereby Printers, you will be informed if the registration is successful. The question that now arises: how do you print to such a Google Cloud Print? Try it out from your PC. Start Chrome, surf to any web page and press Ctrl+P. In the Print panel, click Modify and select the desired printer (if necessary, first press Display all). Confirm with Print. Success? Then you can now also do this from any computer on the internet, from applications such as Chrome and various Chrome mobile apps. The only condition is that you are signed in with the same Google ID.
6 Cloud Print: Android
You can also print to a Google Cloud Print from a mobile device using a suitable app. For Android you will find a (modest) list here. In addition to the PrinterShare Mobile Print and Fiabee apps, you will also find Google Cloud Print here – incidentally, this has now become an Android system app. As described in steps 1 and 2, you also need to activate this printing service via Settings / Connected Devices / Printing. Here you can use the button with the three dots and the options Settings / Manage Printers also check which printers you could possibly use to print more.
7 Cloud Print: iOS
There is no official Google Cloud print app available for iOS. However, this functionality is built into some Google apps (see also step 5). For other apps, you can go to PrintCentral (Pro) (iPhone and iPad) in the App Store. It can also be done for free, with CloudPrint (ameu8). Log in to Google first and then launch the app. Tap the plus button to add a print job and get via Choose file a file or append with Print Clipboard content the clipboard contents. After you've identified your Google Cloud Print, you're ready to print. However, this app does not always work flawlessly.
8 Management module
To manage your print jobs within Google Cloud Print, surf here. Click here Printers and select a printer. you can now Request details, View print jobs, the printer again remove, and so forth. Via the option To share you can also let others print something on your printer. Through Modify fit you then Privately on in Anyone who has the link, has access to the printer. You can also set how many pages can be printed daily. To limit this to certain users, enter the names or email addresses Invite people, after which you via Print rights grants management permissions.
