Got a printer and need to print something from your iPhone or iPad? If your printer supports AirPrint, thing couldn’t be easier. The printer will just show up in the list and you’re good to go.
Handy Prints are able to help you with your re-branding as well as the launch of a brand new business, creating new or refreshing old logos. Jul 02, 2013 HandyPrint is a application that runs on your Mac and allows iOS devices to print to any connected or wireless printers on your network. The application also has a handy feature that allows users to add virtual printers. After a virtual printer is added in HandyPrint, you can select the virtual printer on your iOS device. HandyPrint, previously AirPrint Activator, is a small application that will enable AirPrint, a hidden feature to allow your shared printer to be visible on your iOS 4.2+.
If you do not have an AirPrint-enabled printer, however, then you’re pretty much out of luck. Luckily, there are several ways you can convert any printer into an AirPrint-enabled printer.
In this article, I’ll talk about the third-party tools you can install so that you’ll be able to print directly from your iPhone or iPad to your locally attached printer or network/wireless printer.
Requirements
Before we get into the details, let’s talk about the requirements for this to work. Firstly, you need to have the printer already installed and working on at least one computer. It doesn’t matter if the printer is attached locally to the machine or if it is a wireless/network printer, it just needs to be installed on the machine.
Secondly, in order to print from your Apple device to your non-AirPrint printer, you’ll need to keep the computer on at all times. The third-party software basically acts as a proxy and all the print jobs go to the computer first and then are passed on to the actual printer.
Lastly, you’ll have to spend some money as these third-party apps are not free. It’s worth considering bypassing all of this trouble and simply buying a new AirPrint-enabled printer as they are pretty cheap these days.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the details. I’m going to mention several programs, some for Mac and some for Windows. In addition, I’ll talk about some hardware you can buy that will also act as a print server.
Windows AirPrint
For Windows machines, the most popular program is O’Print, which costs $19.80. You can download a free 30-day trial to make sure that it works properly with your printer and system. Overall, I found the program’s interface to be a little outdated, but the functionality was excellent.
Once you download and install the software, the main interface of the program will show you all the printers installed on your system.
If you do not see any printers in the list, it means you have to go to System Preferences – Printer & Scanners and add the printer to OS X first. Once the printer is added, go back to O’Print and it should show up in the list.
At this point, you really don’t have to do anything else unless your printer uses a different port than the standard port. You can click on the Edit button (paper with pen icon) to change the name of the printer if you like.
Now when you go to print from your iPhone or iPad and you tap on Select Printer, you should see all the O’Print printers listed under Other Printers. You’ll also see it has the name of the computer under the printer name.
There is one other option for Windows which requires a bit more technical setup, but is completely free. Check out this guide to install AirPrintActivator and see if it works for you.
![Handyprint Handyprint](https://ipadhelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/handyprint-1.png)
Mac AirPrint
For Mac users, there are two programs I recommend: HandyPrint and Printopia. HandyPrint requires a donation in order to activate the license and the minimum amount is $5. So basically, you can purchase HandyPrint for $5. Printopia is $19.99, but HandyPrint has a PRO version that requires a $20 donation. The PRO version can run even when a user is not logged into the Mac.
Once you download HandyPrint, run the DMG file and then drag the icon onto the Applications folder in order to install it.
When you run the program, it’ll detect your printer and show it in the list. You’ll also need to make sure that the toggle button is set to On.
Keygen for mac pirate bay 2. From your iPhone or iPad, you’ll now see all HandyPrint printers listed under Other Printers.
![Handyprint Handyprint](https://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/projects/images-g/handy-print-marking-stainless-steel-32164-15789302.jpg)
Printopia is pretty much exactly the same literally in terms of appearance and functionality.
Printopia also has a Send to Mac printer, which is a convenient way to print a document directly to your computer. Both programs worked very well in my tests, so I don’t really see any reason to spend $20 when you can get HandyPrint for $5.
Printer Pro
One last option that I should mention is Printer Pro by Readdle. It’s a combination iPhone/iPad app and desktop program that runs on Mac or Windows. The app is $7 in the App Store and the desktop app is free.
It works just like the other programs mentioned above in the sense that you need to have the desktop app running at all times in order for print jobs to go through. The smartphone/tablet app is definitely the most professional and polished app out there and it has a lot of features, so if you do some serious printing and need to change printer settings a lot, this might be your best option.
It’s worth noting that you should install the app on your iPhone or iPad first and see if it can print directly to the printer without the desktop app. According to the site, it can print directly from within the app to most printers without the additional desktop app. Overall, it’s a good option and not too expensive.
Lantronix xPrintServer
Outside of programs, you can also purchase a hardware device from a company called Lantronix that acts as a print server. The xPrintServer is something I have owned, so I know it works well. The only issues are that you need to make sure your printer is supported and it costs a whopping $200!
This is a really good solution if you are in a small office environment with many Apple users and many printers. It doesn’t really make sense for a home with one or two printers.
Those are pretty much all the options for printing to a non-AirPrint enabled printer on your network. Note that if you print only from Chrome or other Google apps like Gmail, etc., you can easily setup Google Cloud Print and not worry about any of these programs. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
Developer(s) | Apple Inc. and Hewlett-Packard |
---|---|
Initial release | November 22, 2010; 9 years ago |
Website | support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311 |
AirPrint is a feature in Apple Inc.'s macOS and iOS operating systems for printing via a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi),[1][2] either directly to AirPrint-compatible printers, or to non-compatible shared printers by way of a computer running Microsoft Windows, Linux,[3] or macOS.[2][4][5] AirPrint does not require printer-specific drivers. It was originally intended for iOS devices and connected via a Wi-Fi network only, and thus required a Wi-Fi access point. However, with the introduction of AirPrint to the macOS desktop platform in 2012, Macs connected to the network via Ethernet connection could also print using the AirPrint protocol—not just those connected via Wi-Fi. Direct Wi-Fi connection between the device and the printer is not supported by default,[6] but has appeared as the 'HP ePrint Wireless Direct AirPrint' feature.
History and printer compatibility[edit]
Following the iPad's introduction in 2010, user concerns were raised about the product's inability to print, at least through a supported Apple solution. Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs reportedly replied 'It will come' in May 2010 to a user request for printing.[7]
AirPrint's Fall 2010 introduction, as part of iOS 4.2, gave iPhones and iPads printing capability for the first time. AirPrint for Mac computers was introduced in the Mac OS X Lion release.[6]
At launch, twelve printers were AirPrint compatible,[8] all of them from the HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One series. As of July 2020, that number had grown to about 6,000 compatible printer models from two dozen different manufacturers. The current list can be found on Apple's support site.[6] The related technology is covered by US patent 2011194123A1, 'Printer that supports driverless printing'.
Legacy printer support[edit]
A number of software solutions allow for non-AirPrint printers to be used with iOS devices, by configuring support on an intermediary system accessible via Wi-Fi, connected to the printer. Since AirPrint is driverless, such a configuration compensates for the printer's lack of native AirPrint support by using the drivers on the intermediary system instead.
Handyprint Free
The simplest solution for all platforms is to create a new Bonjour service that tricks iOS clients into believing they're talking to an AirPrint device. Many blog posts and commercial software products exist to accomplish this, as well as open-source solutions in Linux.[3] This works in many cases because AirPrint is an extension of the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), which many printers already support either directly, or as a result of being shared through an intermediary system (typically CUPS, the Mac/Linux printing system). This approach is limited however, as the AirPrint-specific components of the protocol are missing. This can lead to compatibility issues and unexpected results. Some software packages address this completely by translating between the two dialects of IPP, avoiding compatibility issues, while most just re-share printers using the AirPrint service name.
For Microsoft Windows, there are free[9] and paid solutions.[10]
On macOS, a Bonjour service exists that enables AirPrint support for legacy printers.[11] Commercial macOS software for this purpose includes Netputing handyPrint[12] and Ecamm Printopia.[13]
Handyprint V3.1
In most GNU/Linux distributions, AirPrint support should be automatic with the CUPS default printing subsystem since version 1.4.6 (such as Trisquel 5 and Ubuntu 11.04[14]). CUPS servers before version 1.4.6 with DNS based Service Discovery can also be configured manually, by adding DNS-SD printer service discovery records to a name server.[15]
Apps and utilities[edit]
Handyprint License
There are a number of third party solutions, available on the Apple App Store and elsewhere, that allow printing to legacy printers directly or via an application helper. Netgear Genie, for both Mac OS X 10.6 or above and Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Genie permits any shared, network attached printer to be made accessible via Airprint. The application is free for customers of current Netgear routers.[16] Printopia Pro is a commercial solution designed to allow AirPrint to work on large business and education networks. It offers features useful to large organizations including centralized management, directory integration, and allows AirPrint to operate across subnets. It requires a server running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, and one server can potentially serve an entire organization.[17]
The PDF (Portable Document Format) file format is commonly-used to present various document types across various platforms, and e-books are no exception. PDF files can be viewed independently, regardless of software, operating system, or any kind of hardware. That is why it is the perfect way to view e-books. ![Books to in pdf format example Books to in pdf format example](https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/1*433L0u-FYhny3revuX3s8Q.png)
![Books to in pdf format example Books to in pdf format example](https://miro.medium.com/max/1080/1*433L0u-FYhny3revuX3s8Q.png)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Software update', iPad, UK: Apple
- ^ ab'AirPrint' (Press release). UK: Apple. September 15, 2010.
- ^ abFinnie, Ryan (November 13, 2010). 'AirPrint & GNU/Linux' (how-to). Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^AirPrint: how to make it work for shared printers, TUAW, November 11, 2010
- ^'Printing from iPad AirPrint via Cups' (how-to). CC: Rho. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ abc'About AirPrint'. Apple. September 28, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
- ^Kim, Arnold (May 9, 2010). 'Steve Jobs Says Printing 'Will Come' for iPad'. MacRumors. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^Kovach, Steve (January 7, 2011). 'Only 12 Printers Work With Apple's AirPrint — Here's The List (AAPL, HPQ)'. The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'AirPrint Installer'. Forums.macrumors.com. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'Collobos Presto'. Collobos.com. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
- ^'AirPrint enable your legacy printer'. Rigsb.net. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'handyPrint (formerly known as AirPrint Activator)'. Netputing.com. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'Ecamm Printopia'. Ecamm.com. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'Please test AirPrint on Natty and Oneiric'. Ubuntu Developers Mailing List. June 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'DNS Service Discovery'. Dns-sd.org. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'Netgear Genie App Makes Any Printer Airprint-Compatible'. Netgear.co.uk. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^'iPhone and iPad printing for Enterprise'. Printopia Pro. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
Handyprint License Code
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