How to Print From Your iPad

Dealing with printers is never fun. Connecting a wireless printer to your computer is hard enough, but what if you are using an iPad? The simplest method is to print through Apple's AirPrint, which supports a wide range of devices. However, if your printer is incompatible with this method, the process becomes a bit more complicated.

If you find that AirPrint does not work with your setup, you may be able to use an app from the printer's manufacturer. Otherwise, a cloud printing service should do the trick. Here's how to connect a printer with your iPad, and then successfully print your document.

How to Print With AirPrint

Apple AirPrint has been around since 2010, so it’s become a standard in the printing world. Apple has a long list of supported devices. If your printer is listed, your first step is to connect your printer to your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Consult your printer's documentation for specific instructions on how to do this.

Once your printer is connected to your network, printing should be easy. Just open to the document or web page you want to print. Tap the Share icon and then select the Print option to make a dialogue box appear. Your default printer may show up in the Printer field, otherwise tap the field and select the printer you wish to use.

Return to the Print Options screen, where you can change presets for frequently used settings, the number of copies you need, the exact pages you want printed, the size of the paper, the printout's orientation, and the size of the document's text.

Tap Media & Quality to change which tray your printer will use for printing (if it has more than one), as well as the type of paper you will be printing on. Choose Layout to determine how many pages of your printout appear on one printed page. You can also add a border and flip the pages horizontally.

When ready, tap the Print button in the top right of the screen. Since the printout is being generated from your iPad, the print job may take longer than it normally would through a computer. Note that while the print job is running, you can view it and even cancel it, if necessary.

To do this, open the App Switcher by swiping up from the bottom of the screen or double pressing the Home button (if your iPad has one). Tap the Print Center thumbnail and select the print job.

You will see various details relating to the job, including the document's name, the printer performing the job, settings you selected, when the job was started, and how many pages have been printed already. If you need to stop the job before it is complete, tap Cancel Printing to prevent any further pages from printing.

Manufacturer Printing Apps

Most printer manufacturers provide free apps that can be used to print. HP offers HP Smart, Canon has Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY, Epson uses Epson iPrint, and Brother supports Brother iPrint&Scan. In order to show how this process works, we'll use HP Smart as an example.

When you first open the HP Smart app, a Welcome screen explains that certain data is collected from your mobile device. Tap the Accept All button to continue or choose the Manage Options link to prevent specific types of data from being collected.

At the next screen, tap Set Up a New Printer and allow the app to connect to devices on your local network. You can tap Get Started to set up a new printer or Complete now to add a printer that has already been set up. Once you make your pick, choose the printer you wish to use with the app.

For HP printers, all important information and commands are available from one screen. You can see the printer's ink levels and also choose Print Photos or Print Documents to start printing. The first time you make a choice, you're prompted to sign in or create an account with HP.

Once your account is set up, you are placed at the View & Print screen, where you can select the files you wish to print. You can even connect to online accounts for Dropbox, Google Photos and Drive, Box, and others.

Once you select the photo or document you want to print, you can tap Print Preview to view the file. From this window, tap Print to finally send the file to your printer.

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Cloud Printing Apps

Another way to print from your iPad is to go through a cloud-based printer app or service. Google Cloud Print used to be a handy method to use here, but Google ended support of the service in 2021. Fortunately, there are alternatives you can try.

ezeep Blue

With the free ezeep Blue app, you can print from your iPad via the cloud. Set up an account on the ezeep website to get started, then sign in on the app. At the main screen, tap the Print button, then choose what you want to print.

Select Files to choose an existing file on your device, Photos to find a photo from your library, or Document to scan a document. You can then choose the individual item you wish to print. From here, hit the Select a printer button to choose the network printer you want to use, then tap Done,

At the Printer screen, you can choose how many copies to print, whether the printout is double-sided, paper size, orientation, and overall print quality. Tap the Print button to print your file.

Cloud Ready Printer

Cloud Ready Printer makes cloud printing quick and simple. The ad-supported app is free, but you can pay $2.99 to make the ads go away. After launching the app the first time, you are prompted to sign in with a Google account. To add a printer, tap the Search button to display your local networked printers, then select the printer you wish to use

Back at the main screen, tap the category for the type of content you want to print, such as Photo, Document, or Browser. You can then choose your source file and tweak your print settings to determine which pages to print, the paper size, and the page orientation. When ready, tap Print to print your file.