Print from Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch to a wired printer?
| Summary: Learn how to print from your Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to your existing printer. Also learn how to print directly from your Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch directly to a wireless printer even if you have no computer. |
My friend Don Jozwiak mentioned that he thought the Apple iPad would make a great primary computer for his parents, if only they could print from it. Printing is not built in to the Apple portable devices, but there are at least two Apps that allow you to print directly from the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch. In this article I’ll describe the iPad to printer method that is most likely to work for most people.
All methods of printing from an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch are wireless. That is, these printing methods use either WiFi, Bluetooth, or the 3G celluar network to transmit your print job to the printer. In other articles, I’ll describe the methods that use Bluetooth and 3G to print. In this article I’ll describe a simple, inexpensive WiFi method that uses WiFi to print from your iPod, iPhone, or iPod Touch to your printer.
To print from your iPad or iPhone to a wireless printer without a computer check my article about Print Magic at this link.
Print from Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch to a wireless printer? PDL
| Summary: Learn how to print from your Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to a wireless. Also learn how to print directly from your Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch directly to either a wired or wireless printer even if you have no computer. |
With Print Magic, you can print images text and web pages directly from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone – without a computer! You’ll need an print app like Print Magic because printing is not built in to the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Important: Be aware that this iPad to printer direct method method requires the following
- You’ll need a WIRELESS printer that supports the Postscript “Page Description Language (PDL)” data stream”.
- You’ll also need the Apple iTunes “Print Magic” App from Wellala
- If your printer does NOT support PDL, you can use the “Print Central” print App described at this link.
It’s important that you understand that to print directly to a printer, you’ll need a wireless printer that supports PDL. The PDL print language is a form of the PostScript Printer language. Before you BUY the PrintMagic App, you should visit the Wellala website to confirm your wireless printer is listed on the Wallala website as compatible. If your printer is not listed at the website, you can still downloand and run the Wellala Printer Test App to see if PrintMagic is compatible with your printer. If your printer does not support PDL, then you can still print from your Apple portable device, but you’ll need to use an app such as “PrintCentral” using instructions described at this link.
How it Works
Print Magic uses the WiFi in your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to send print jobs directly to to the WiFi receiver in compatible wireless printers. You can print nearly anything from Safari, Mail, Photos, or any application. Anything you can select and copy on the screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, you can print to a printer using PrintMagic. A problem with this method of cutting and pasting is that it’s not especially quick and not especially easy if you’re printing multiple pages. The other “Print Central” printing app’s interface allows you to view web pages and emails, photos and contacts and allows much faster printing by simply clicking on a print icon at the top right of each screen. Still, if you want to print directly to a wireless PDL printer, you may prefer Wellala’s Print Magic App.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Operating Systems: Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Difficulty: Easy Time: 10 minutes
Things you’ll Need
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Part A: Installing the iTunes App: Print Magic from Wellala (wireless printing)The Print App and Print Server program need only be installed once. |
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| Step 1 | Step 1 Visit the iTunes App Store (tap the App Store Icon) then search for “Print” in the store |
| Step 2 | Step 2 Pay for, then download and install the Print App. For printing directly to a wireless PDL printer, choose “PrintMagic” from Wellala |
| Step 3 | Step 3 On your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, click the “PrintMagic” icon to start the app. Once Print Magic has been started, it will automatically search for a WiFi Wireless printet on your network. |
| Step 4 | Step 4 When PrintMagic finds a printer, a screen will be displayed that includes a button to “Print Test Page.” Tap the button to see if your printer is compatible. If the first test doesn’t work, the PrintMagic App will display “Printer Test #2.” Again you’ll tap the “Print Test Page” button to check your printer’s compatibility. |
| Step 5 | Step 5 If your printer worked, Congratulations! You can print wirelessly from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to your wireless PDL printer. If it didn’t work, check out the “Print Central” App from Eurosmartz |
| Step 6 | Step 6 Whenever you want to print something, select it on the screen and “copy” it. To print what you’ve selected, start the PrintMagic app and click the “Print” icon. |
Photo Credit
Image captures and photographs by Chuck Eglinton
Step-by-Step Instructions
How can I use an Apple iPad or iPod Touch or iPhone to make free or cheap phone calls? (pictures)
| Summary: Learn how to use your Apple iPad or iPod touch to make cheap or free phone calls to cell phones and land lines. Make phone calls from your Apple iPad or iPod Touch without a cellular phone plan. |
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Friend: “Have you lost weight?”
Me: “No, I just have a really, really, really big iPhone.”
Contrary to Stephen Colbert’s report, yea, you *can* make phone calls with your iPAD. It does not require a contract and phone calls do NOT consume your cell phone minutes.
Some of my friends have complained that AT&T has “no bars in more places.” My friend Mike Wendland wrote to me, “[the iPhone is so] immensely useful that it makes the slightly more [AT&T] network frustrations worthwhile.” Well, when you install either of the apps in this article, you’ll be placing calls through your WiFi connection instead of having to deal with “AT&T network frustrations.”
Read this article to learn how to make phone calls with your Apple iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone using your WiFi connection.
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How can I use a regular wireless Bluetooth keyboard with my iPad iPhone or iTouch? (pictures)
| Summary: While the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touchscreen keyboards are adequate for many uses, sometimes you may want to connect a regular fully sized keyboard to your iPad or iPhone or iPod Touch. Here’s how to do it. |
Those of you who are familiar with the iPhone or the iPod Touch know that Apple’s touchscreen keyboard is a bit different than a regular keyboard. Most importantly, because you’re tapping a flat screen, there’s no tactile response. The iPad’s screen keyboard, when in landscape mode, is a bit better than a iPhone keyboard, because it’s bigger, but the Apple iPad keyboard is still not the same as a regular keyboard.
NOTE: The iPad easily supports a Bluetooth keyboard with no modification. However, the iPhone and iPod Touch require that you “Jailbreak” your phone then install an app called “BTstack” before you can connect a keyboard. (Update: 4/13/2010 see the comments below. The older white Apple Bluetooth keyboard, model A1016, is apparently incompatible with the iPad. Most other Bluetooth keyboards are compatible with the iPad.)
[Related article: How to make free and cheap phone calls from your iPad. Click Here]
Fortunately you can easily connect any regular bluetooth wireless keyboard to the iPad iPhone or iPod Touch using the device’s bluetooth wireless compatibility.
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