Ipad Network Printer

The Apple iPad can be used for printing purposes even if a network printer is involved or not. That’s because of the many apps that the market makes available in order to ensure the compatibility of iPads with printers and printing. It’s true that the printing process is a little complicated because of the impossibility of physically connecting the iPad to a printer via a USB cable, but it’s not extremely challenging either.

Two apps that you can use for the purpose of pairing your iPad with any network printer are FingerPrint which costs $8 and Printopia that will have you spending $10. For the money you get a utility that you need to install on a Mac computer connected to the same network as the printer you are targeting. You will then have to choose the printers that you want to be accessible from your iOS devices. From that moment on you will be able to use any iPad in order to print any document to any local or network printer. What I also like about these apps is that they also give you the chance to send the documents of interest as easily to a Mac folder or Dropbox. However, there are also differences between these apps that make network printers compatible with iPads. First of all, FingerPrint requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later while Printopia is also compatible with Mac OS X 10.5. You should also know that FingerPrint makes available a feature that ensures “printing” directly to your Mac’s iPhoto. The downside is that in order to be able to start using a network printer via your iPad with the help of this app you need to first make sure the printer is shared (by making the right settings in the Print & Fax section of System Preferences). On the other hand, Printopia can “print” to a wider variety of Mac applications, including iPhoto. In addition, it helps you save files in any folder of your Mac. Such additional features make it worth the higher price.

If you want to stick to using AirPrint you should keep in mind that you will be able to use only network printers that are ePrint-compatible. The advantage in this case is that it will be easier to print documents from your iPad. In essence you will just have to look for the Print command that’s usually displayed in the vicinity of any document that can be printed. Among the options displayed you will notice the possibility to choose a certain printer and the possibility to choose the number of copies you want to print. However, before making a final choice you should also check out other options.

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