New York, NY -- The recent release of Apple’s iPad was certainly a much anticipated event. However, since it’s release, one of the major issues surrounding it’s productivity (or lack thereof) is the inability to print from it. Apple has said the easiest way for one to print from the iPad is to sync the files back to their PC or Mac and print from there. This is not likely the answer that many of these early buyers wanted to hear. According to an article on the PC Magazine web site, while there have been some “workarounds” developed by third parties, few of them really work. So, if you can design a third-party app which allows printing to a variety of Wi-Fi printers, now may be your moment to shine. The only app that was moderately successful was Air Sharing HD which is capable of printing to Macs “on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPad”, however even this app had its share of quirks.
Currently, there are three types of apps which are available. The first type reportedly prints directly to Wi-Fi enabled printers. The second type keeps watch for Macs sharing printers in the same Wi-Fi network, but that presumes you happen to be someplace with Macs and printers. The final type of app is the least desirable and requires a server running in the background of your PC or Mac. With this last one, it is definitely easier to just sync your iPad.
Direct Printing Apps
The PC Magazine folks looked at three different apps for direct printing: Canon’s Easy Photo-Print for the iPhone, HP’s iPrint Photo, and ePrint.
The first app, Easy Photo-Print did work, however as the name implies, is designed to only print photos. You can print screen shots saved to your gallery, but nothing else. Neither of these things are documents, however. It also does not display well because it was created to work on the iPhone’s much smaller screen. At least the photos worked when sent to a Pixma MX 870.
HP’s iPrint Photo which had, according to the PC Mag staff, worked on an iPhone before, would not print directly to their HP printer. It did, however, find a Mac on the network and print to a shared LaserJet.
The final app, e-Print (it costs $2.99 by the way), which reportedly prints “contacts, photos, Web pages, notes, or your clipboard”, crashed when attempting to print to either an HP or Epson printer. It did not fare much better with PC Mag’s Canon printer either where it stalled out. The only success it had was printing to a shared Lexmark laser printer tied to a Mac on their network.
Printing to Shared Printers
The aforementioned Air Share HD, which, by the way will run you $10, had the most success. Unfortunately, it works by finding only Macs on your Wi-Fi network, leaving PC users out in the cold. It cannot, however, access your iPad’s local files for printing. If you email yourself a document, you can print it, but PC Magazine only found success with their Lexmark and Epson printers. It still would not work with their HP model. Be warned, however, as the app reportedly does some funky formatting that does likely meet required or desired results.
None of the remaining apps that were tested yielded anything significant results. It is clear that in order for the iPad to find even more success, a printing app that works 100% of the time is needed.
For more information, you can go to PC Magazine's full article.
