Printing from an iOS device? Here are your options

AirPrint gives your iOS device such as the iPad and iPhone the ability to print directly from the OS. The problem with AirPrint is that it does not allow you to use with older printers that are not built for AirPrint. Here are 3 different solutions that you can use to easily print to a printer from your device.

Buy a new printer

Many of the new printers on the the market are now about to connect easily to Wi-FI and can print with AirPrint. This option is not the best or the cheapest but your printer may be due for an upgrade anyway. Once you make sure the printer is on the list of AirPrint capable printers you can set up the printer and print with ease.

PrinterPrint server

You may already own a printer that is perfectly capable of doing everything you need it to do. The only problem you have is that you can’t print from you iOS device. FingerPrint is a application that you install on your computer and it will then register your connected printer so it shows up on a list of AirPrint capable printers. You can get a trial version of the software to make sure that it works with your setup. When all is working well you can purchase a license for the product for $10. The software works on both Mac and windows computers.

xPrinterServer box

Working at a office or having many printers on a single network makes the first two options obsolete. Lantronix has create the xPrintServer that allows you to plug the iPhone sized device into your network and make all your printers AirPrint ready. The device connects via Ethernet and does not require additional software to set it up. The box costs $149 and is recommend to have only 10 connected printers.

Image: Lantronix