Printing from iPad 2

[packersfan33]

My wife and I both have iPad 2's. We also just purchased a Epson Stylus NX230, which has wifi capabilities. I have installed the Epson iPrint app. When I tried the app out, I was able to print photos and other documents through the app. Now my wife is trying to print coupons from a coupon website, but they won't print.

Is there a way to print email, coupons, or other items on our iPad via wifi?

Hopefully this makes sense and thank you in advance for everyone's help.

 

[twerppoet]

To print from Mail or Safari (and many other apps) you need an AirPrint capable printer, or use a computer program that emulates an AirPrint printer. I'll add my long printing spiel at the bottom of the post. It includes the links and options to AirPrint without an AirPrint printer.

You can also try zooming into your coupons and taking a screen shot (press the home and power buttons at the same time, briefly). This will place a picture of your screen in the Photos app's camera roll. You should be able to print that just like you do now.

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Some printers are directly compatible with AirPrint on the iPad. If you want this feature be absolutely certain the printer supports AirPrint before buying. Some printers may require a firmware update to work. These are usually available on the manufacturers site. If you get this kind of printer you can print directly from within apps that support the feature, which is many.

iOS: AirPrint 101

Of course some of us already have printers and do not want to buy a new one. There are several ways to do this.

One is to use a printing app on the iPad.

Most (or all) printing apps can only print pictures and/or files that have been copied to that app via Open In or another method. Several printer manufacturers have their own apps for their printers. In general those apps will probably have the best results, quality wise.

Another method is to load a program on the computer that will emulate an AirPrint compatible printer. Your computer must be on and have the printer available to it. The cheapest (free) is Airprint Activator. More features can be had with FingerPrint (mac and windows) and Printopia (mac only).

Printopia - Ecamm Network
FingerPrint - Collobos Software
How to Install AirPrint Activator for Windows?

A few printers (mostly HP's again) can be set up with their own email address. PDF attachments can be sent via this address to be printed. The last review I saw (many months ago) said it could be quite slow (big files not recommended), and sometimes the emails got lost and never printed. The advantage was that you could literally send/print from anywhere you have an internet connection.

For small business owners and those with more than one printer who would like all their printers to work, but don't want to leave a computer on all the time. The Lantronix XPrintServer is a small box that connects to your network and is supposed to detect and make all your wireless printers available to iOS as AirPrint printers. I haven't seen a full review on it yet, so do your research. {Lantronix now offers a personal/home version of this device}

Some NetGear router models support NetGear Genie, which will add AirPrint support for printers on your network. If the printer is not wireless, it must be shared on the network, and the computer it is connected to must be on.

 

[markjan1]

Help plz, how did u select ur printer?, when im searching for printers, it says no AirPrinters found pls answer .........

 

[twerppoet]

There is no such thing as an AirPrinter (though some refer to them as such). There are just printers that have AirPrint capability.

iOS: AirPrint 101

If you check this link you will find a fairly up to date lists of printers that support AirPrint. Click on the Manufacturer you are interested in. Printer manufacture sites also tend to list which of their printers are AirPrint ready.

 

[Longtrain]

FWIW the "Printer Pro" app, I found is better then iEpson as far as ease of use. It's $5 or 6 bucks, and it sees the NX230 and has more options then iEpson.