If you want to print something that you have open on your iPhone, it is cumbersome to turn on your PC. When you apply the right tricks, any printer accepts mobile print jobs without any problem.
We still regularly use our PC or notebook for print jobs, because the printer is connected to it. Pretty crazy actually, because you usually see important things first on your iPhone. Concert tickets, proofs of purchase, photos, newsletters, bank statements, bills, pay slips and invitations: you often receive them by e-mail these days. So why not also print directly from your smartphone?
If you receive an e-mail of which you want to print the attachment(s), you can arrange this immediately. This is possible with or without Apple's AirPrint technology. You can also immediately provide an analog version on photo paper of snapshots you shoot on the road, if desired. With the use of the right apps, you can prepare any printer to process mobile print jobs. An advantage, because you can print any file directly from an iPhone.
01 AirPrint
Printers that support Apple's AirPrint technology work seamlessly with iOS. The iPhone's mobile operating system already has a print button, and you don't need to install an additional app to use AirPrint. Keep in mind that AirPrint only works in programs and apps that are compatible with this technique, such as Safari, Mail, Photos, iBooks, and Evernote.
Incidentally, there are not so many app builders that implement the iOS printing system. Not a problem in itself, because you will mainly need to print files, photos and web pages from various standard programs that the iPhone is rich. If you have no idea whether your printer supports AirPrint, check it on the Apple website.
It's not that complicated to send a print job to an AirPrint device. You click on the action icon (rectangle with an arrow), after which you choose the option Print. Then it is only necessary to select the correct printer and the number of pages. If the machine has a duplex module in house, you can optionally choose to print on both sides.
After confirming the print job, the iOS device will show a progress window. If your iPhone doesn't recognize a printer, the AirPrint feature on this device may be disabled. In addition, a firmware update may be required to activate the iOS printing system.
You can easily print photos on an AirPrint device via the action icon.
02 Without AirPrint
Not all printers support AirPrint, fortunately there are more options. If you have a network printer that does not support AirPrint, then there is a little more work to be done. You then need a driver that is able to communicate with the printing device.
Fortunately, all well-known printer manufacturers have developed their own app for iOS. With this you can add a print function to the iPhone quite easily. For example, it is possible to send print jobs to a suitable Epson printer using iPrint. Other well-known printer manufacturers with their own app for iOS include HP (ePrint, Printer Control), Brother (iPrint & Scan), Samsung (Mobile Print), Lexmark (Mobile Printing) and Canon (Easy-PhotoPrint). Most applications can print Office documents, PDFs, photos, and web pages.
The print app should automatically recognize the printing device on the network. You then only have to indicate which print you want. After you select a print job, make the desired settings. For example, you can choose the paper size, paper type and print quality. With suitable printers, you can optionally choose between single- or double-sided printing. In addition, you indicate how many copies you want to print. Some apps offer the option to add a date and adjust the colors.
When all options are set as desired, you can start the print job. Note that with a slow connection, the print job will also take a little longer.
Search the App Store for a suitable application, determine what you want to print and select the desired print settings.
03 Scanning and Maintenance
The print apps of the various print manufacturers often offer even more options. This way you often easily scan paper documents to your iPhone. This way, you can keep digital copies of important A4 pages and photos safely in your pocket. You first place a sheet on the glass plate of the scanner or you put a stack of paper in the automatic document feeder. Depending on which print app you use, various settings are available.
Pay particular attention to the resolution. For photos it is best to use a resolution of 300 dpi. Then you start the scan task. Afterwards there is usually an opportunity to adjust the dimensions. Finally, you decide in which file format you want to save the digitized version on your iPhone.
Depending on the printer app used, you also perform all kinds of maintenance tasks. This way you immediately know how the printer is doing. You do not have to start the PC to get started with the maintenance software of the printer. For example, the ink level makes it clear which colors are almost empty, so that you can replace the correct cartridge in time.
In Epson's iPrint app it is even possible to clean the print head and check nozzles. Especially when you notice that the prints are not so nice anymore, it pays to go through the maintenance options carefully.
You can effortlessly scan analog documents and photos to your iPhone, and with the Epson iPrint app you can maintain the printer on your iOS device.
04 Additional options for print apps
Many print apps released by hardware manufacturers also work with online storage services such as Dropbox, Box.net, Google Drive, and Evernote. This is especially useful if you have a lot of files stored in the cloud. For example, if you want to get a printout of an important document, you don't need to download this file to your iPhone first. Instead, you send the document from the cloud directly to your printer. In the print app you enter the account details of an online storage service, after which the iPhone shows all saved files. All you have to do is select a document or photo to start the print job.
If your iPhone is not on your home network, it is sometimes also possible to send a print job to your printer at home. Handy, because when you come home from work, for example, the printed A4 pages are already in the paper tray.
Epson and HP have come up with nice solutions for this. You can send a document or photo to the printer's unique email address via Epson Connect and HP ePrint. There is support for all common file formats, such as jpg, docx and pdf. Once the email arrives at the printer, the machine processes the print job automatically. If you want to use this, you need to create an account. In that case, you surf to www.epsonconnect.com or www.eprint.com respectively.
You can also print files that you have stored in the cloud from your iPhone.
Google Cloud Print
Google Cloud Print is a universal solution to make printers accessible everywhere for a variety of devices, such as PCs, notebooks, tablets and smartphones. You can sign up for the service at www.google.com/cloudprint/learn. All you have to do is link a printer to Google Coud Print. Luxury printing devices connect directly to Google's online server. If you have an older machine, register the printer via the advanced settings in the Chrome browser. From an iOS device, it is currently only possible to submit print jobs via Google Cloud Print using PrintCentral Pro and various web versions of Google services.
With Google Cloud Print you can connect any printer to your iPhone.
05 Older Printers
Printers generally have a long life. There is therefore a chance that your current printing equipment is still too old-fashioned to work with AirPrint or apps from printer manufacturers. As an alternative, PrintCentral offers a universal solution that works on all network and USB printers.
When using a USB printer, it is necessary to install additional software on a PC to which the hardware is connected. The WePrint Server program is available for Windows and Mac OS X. An additional advantage is that it is also possible with the software to receive print jobs via 3G or 4G. You can find the download file here. For an amount of 4.49 euros you can purchase PrintCentral in the App Store.
With the help of the paid app PrintCentral, you can make any printer suitable for the iPhone.
06 Add Printer
Certainly with a network printer it takes little effort to make a print via PrintCentral. On the home screen, first select a document or photo. You can add more files if you wish via the plus sign. You then tap the icon with the printer at the top right. PrintCentral automatically recognizes printing devices within your home network. You press the name of the printer, after which you print a test page if necessary. Do not forget to select the number of copies and the correct paper size. Of preview view a print preview. Finally, use the button To print to start the printing device.
Even if the printer is not part of the home network, you can still send print jobs from your iPhone. You just need to make sure that WePrint Server is running on the computer that the USB printer is attached to. By the way, it is not necessary to install the proposed application Bonjour. As soon as you start a print job in PrintCentral, the name of the printer will automatically appear with the correct IP address. Is the term Available then you can use this printing device without any problems. Don't forget to go through all the settings.
PrintCentral automatically picks up your network printer.
07 Printing via 3G and 4G
You also use the WePrint Server PC program to enable outdoor printing. Wherever a mobile internet connection is available, you can effortlessly access the printer in your home. This feature requires a Gmail account (www.gmail.com).
In WePrint Server, click Printing via 3G / Settings. You then check the suggested option, after which you enter the login details of Gmail. Check via Test the connection and close with Save. Determine how often WePrint Server should check for new print jobs. You start a print job on your iPhone via PrintCentral. Choose Printing via 3G/EDGE and enter your Gmail information. The printing device retrieves print jobs indirectly from Gmail, making outdoor printing a simple task.
With a Gmail address, you can print anytime, anywhere.
08 Print emails and web pages
PrintCentral does not nestle in the standard programs of iOS. For example, you will not encounter a PrintCentral print function in the Mail application of your iPhone. Nevertheless, it is possible to print (attachments of) e-mails. The app itself has an e-mail client on board in which you integrate accounts from, among others, your internet provider, Outlook.com and Gmail. That way you will receive all emails in PrintCentral, so you can still print them out.
From the home screen, open the item E-mail and add a new account. Choose the appropriate provider from the list, such as Gmail or Hotmail (Outlook.com). Incidentally, there is also support for IMAP and POP3. As soon as all the necessary information is known to PrintCentral, you can simply print emails including attachments. PrintCentral also has an integrated browser, with which you can easily print web pages. The functions are not disappointing, because you can easily set up a start page yourself, add bookmarks and use different tabs.
Would you rather just use Safari for mobile surfing? Using a clever trick, you can also send print jobs to PrintCentral from this browser. It works very simply. You only need to put the letter 'z' in front of a url. For example, the website //iphone-magazine.nl becomes z//iphone-magazine.nl. Then PrintCentral immediately comes up with the print settings. Once you have chosen the desired settings, make a copy of the web page.
With a small adjustment in the url you send print jobs to PrintCentral.
clipboard
Text and images that you have copied to the clipboard of the iPhone, you simply print with PrintCentral. In this way you can, for example, print nice messages on Twitter or WhatsApp. You can also print beautiful photos on the internet in this way. First select the image or text and press copy. Then choose in the Start screen of PrintCentral for clipboard. If you have copied various things to the clipboard, you can find everything in the overview. Place a checkmark in front of texts and/or images that you want to print and tap the icon with the printer at the top right.
Copy text to the clipboard and print it immediately.
