iPhone and iPad Printing Solutions

Submitted by Ricoh Innovations 

The advent of iPhone and iPad devices has allowed today’s business world to be completely portable. No longer are we restricted to viewing documents on computers or as hard copy prints. As convenient and useful as portable documents are, however, nearly every document will need to be produced in hard copy at some time or another. Commonly, users will e-mail a document to a desktop or laptop computer for printing, however, this solution requires time and access to another computer device.
How do Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users print from their devices in a reliable, efficient manner? A number of printing options are currently available and innovative, built-in solutions from Apple are on the horizon.

Third Party App Developer Printing Solutions
With Wi-Fi connectivity an integral part of iPhone and iPad devices, app developers have begun to offer apps that make printing directly from Apple mobile devices to wireless and shared network printers possible.

Print Central
Price: $9.99itunes.apple.com/us/app/printcentral-for-ipad/id366020849
This is the highest ranked app in the iTunes store to facilitate printing from iPhones and iPads, and it offers features that reach beyond just printing. Clearly geared toward business people, the Print Central app has been designed to provide easy access to documents for printing, editing and sharing while also allowing quick interface with WiFi printers on available networks. When WiFi is not available, Print Central is capable of printing remotely to a pre-determined Mac or PC via 3G service.

Print N Share
Price: $8.99itunes.apple.com/us/app/print-n-share-for-advanced/id301656026
Similar to Print Central, Print N Share is designed to allow printing to any printer connected to a Mac or PC remotely via 3G coverage. This service requires some set-up prior to use in order to determine which printer the documents will print to. When WiFi connectivity is available, the app also allows for incredibly simple set-up to print documents directly to available wireless printers. Like many other multi-function printing applications for iPhone and iPad, Print N Share allows users to view PDF files and documents in most standard formats from Windows and Mac operating systems. A comprehensive in-app e-mail reader also offers users the capability to view and print e-mails directly from the app rather than with an outside program by saving the information as a document and then printing them via the Print N Share app.
Video: How to Print a Webpage Using PrintCentral, Print N Share or Print Bureau Apps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LBtTxNuxfI

Print
Price: $4.99itunes.apple.com/us/app/print-printing-for-everyday/id299423224
From the same developers of Print N Share, Print is developed for individuals who may be doing less business printing with their iPhone or iPad. Billed as an app to facilitate the printing of everyday items, Print allows for simple connection to wireless printers via WiFi, or  to available Network printers by downloading and configuring the available free printer software. While Print does not allow users to obtain hard copies of documents or e-mails, it does print photos, web pages and information from the contacts section of your iPhone or iPad with ease. The easy-to-use functions and reasonable price of Print make it ideal for someone looking to get those iPhone photos onto paper or simply print the occasional on-line dinner recipe. EuroSmartz, Ltd., the developer of Print and Print N Share has also developed DocPrinter, available for $5.99 that is easy to use and expands the capability of Print to include document sharing & printing.

PrinterShare Premium
Price: $4.99itunes.apple.com/us/app/printershare-premium-phone/id370141186
Perhaps one of the most simple printing apps, PrinterShare Premium, is controlled from a simple home page that allows users to select what they’d like to print: contacts, photos, web pages or “paste & print.”. The “paste & print” feature is intended to allow users to copy information from Safari, mail programs or other areas of the iPhone or iPad and then paste the information into PrinterShare Premium for printing. While this app lacks some of the functionality of higher priced printing & document sharing apps, it does earn high marks for simplicity of use.
Aside from apps designed by third party app developers, most major printer brands including HP, Epson and Brother offer free apps that allow iPhone and iPad devices to print directly to their printers on a network. This type of solution is ideal for an individual who needs to print only from home or office on a specific printer brand, and offers a cost savings by not requiring the purchase a third party app. However, many iPad users have lodged complaints, claiming that the iPad versions of these free brand-specific printer apps are simply iPhone apps that have been “blown up”, As a result, the iPad app graphics are low quality and the app seems to have difficulty detecting available WiFi printers.
Many third party printing apps prove to be clunky. Some apps connect with ease to certain brands of printers, while they stall during connection to other brands. Unfortunately, these apps don’t provide much continuity in printing capabilities. So, if third party apps aren’t the best answer, what is?
AirPrint: A Solution from Apple
It seems that Apple developers have listened to users and realized that the functionality of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch would be greatly increased if a simple printing solution was available.
In September of 2010, Apple announced that a new printing solution, AirPrint, will be supported by iPhone, iPad and third generation and later iPod Touch devices beginning in November 2010. AirPrint is available as part of the iOS 4.2 download.
AirPrint in action on an iPad is shown below:


AirPrint works by identifying printers on WiFi networks and allowing users to print to identified printers without installing specific drivers. Initially, the program will be compatible with HP brand ePrint printers via WiFi networks. Reportedly, HP ePrint technology works by assigning each printer a unique e-mail address as opposed to a driver to download. Thus, when printing occurs via AirPrint to HP ePrint printers, documents are essentially e-mailed directly to the printer for hard copy production.
Although HP is working with Apple as AirPrint’s initial “printing partner,” additional major printer brands are expected to begin producing AirPrint compatible inkjet and laser printers in the near future. AirPrint will also work with any brand of shared network printers on Mac and PC computers.
Users can expect that AirPrint will function only on iOS devices that support multi-tasking, meaning that the iPhone 3G and prior devices will be excluded. However, both Apple and iOS developers using the beta release of iOS 4.2 describe the program as easy to use, with minimal initial set-up and simple “tap to print” capabilities.

Round-a-bout Printing Options:For those who are unwilling to pay the relatively high price for printing apps while waiting for AirPrint to become available, there are a few methods of printing that, while beating around the bush, will get the job done.
Many bloggers discuss e-mailing themselves items from iPhone or iPad that they wish to print and simply printing from a desktop computer when they reach their destination. Another option is to simply connect the device to your computer and sync documents for printing directly to a computer connected to a printer.
Others note that quick screenshots can be taken of material on an iPhone or iPad by holding both the home and power button simultaneously. Once the image is saved as a photo, it can be printed via a low cost third party app intended for photo printing.
Ideally, the release of AirPrint and ongoing updates by Apple will provide a reliable printing solution for the iPhone and iPad. While these pocket computers are useful beyond compare, features like simple printing will add a new dimension of usability to these products.

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