- HandyPrint, previously AirPrint Activator, is a small application that will enable AirPrint, a hidden feature to allow your shared printer to be visible on your iOS 4.2+.
- Run handyPrint on your Mac to share local and network attached printers to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 4.2 or newer. HandyPrint listen to all local network printer advertisements.
Got a printer and need to print something from your iPhone or iPad? If your printer supports AirPrint, thing couldn’t be easier. The printer will just show up in the list and you’re good to go.
HandyPrint is a lightweight, yet powerful macOS application specially designed to helps you print various files from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch using printers that do not support the AirPrint protocol. There are several applications for Windows and OS X, including HandyPrint and Printopia, that provide AirPrint support for any printers connected to the computers running that software. Just note that if you shut down these computers, the apps are no longer running, so your iPad can no longer see the printers attached to those computers. It's also worth noting that handyPrint now requires a minimum $5 (£3.90) donation to use beyond its 14-day trial period (previously, AirPrint Activator was a free app). However, handyPrint is the.
If you do not have an AirPrint-enabled printer, however, then you’re pretty much out of luck. Luckily, there are several ways you can convert any printer into an AirPrint-enabled printer. Final fantasy xv a new empire multiple accounts.
In this article, I’ll talk about the third-party tools you can install so that you’ll be able to print directly from your iPhone or iPad to your locally attached printer or network/wireless printer.
Requirements
Before we get into the details, let’s talk about the requirements for this to work. Firstly, you need to have the printer already installed and working on at least one computer. It doesn’t matter if the printer is attached locally to the machine or if it is a wireless/network printer, it just needs to be installed on the machine.
Secondly, in order to print from your Apple device to your non-AirPrint printer, you’ll need to keep the computer on at all times. The third-party software basically acts as a proxy and all the print jobs go to the computer first and then are passed on to the actual printer.
Lastly, you’ll have to spend some money as these third-party apps are not free. It’s worth considering bypassing all of this trouble and simply buying a new AirPrint-enabled printer as they are pretty cheap these days.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the details. I’m going to mention several programs, some for Mac and some for Windows. In addition, I’ll talk about some hardware you can buy that will also act as a print server.
Windows AirPrint
For Windows machines, the most popular program is O’Print, which costs $19.80. You can download a free 30-day trial to make sure that it works properly with your printer and system. Overall, I found the program’s interface to be a little outdated, but the functionality was excellent.
Once you download and install the software, the main interface of the program will show you all the printers installed on your system.
If you do not see any printers in the list, it means you have to go to System Preferences – Printer & Scanners and add the printer to OS X first. Once the printer is added, go back to O’Print and it should show up in the list.
At this point, you really don’t have to do anything else unless your printer uses a different port than the standard port. You can click on the Edit button (paper with pen icon) to change the name of the printer if you like.
Now when you go to print from your iPhone or iPad and you tap on Select Printer, you should see all the O’Print printers listed under Other Printers. You’ll also see it has the name of the computer under the printer name.
There is one other option for Windows which requires a bit more technical setup, but is completely free. Check out this guide to install AirPrintActivator and see if it works for you.
Mac AirPrint
For Mac users, there are two programs I recommend: HandyPrint and Printopia. HandyPrint requires a donation in order to activate the license and the minimum amount is $5. So basically, you can purchase HandyPrint for $5. Printopia is $19.99, but HandyPrint has a PRO version that requires a $20 donation. The PRO version can run even when a user is not logged into the Mac.
Once you download HandyPrint, run the DMG file and then drag the icon onto the Applications folder in order to install it.
When you run the program, it’ll detect your printer and show it in the list. You’ll also need to make sure that the toggle button is set to On.
From your iPhone or iPad, you’ll now see all HandyPrint printers listed under Other Printers.
Printopia is pretty much exactly the same literally in terms of appearance and functionality.
Printopia also has a Send to Mac printer, which is a convenient way to print a document directly to your computer. Both programs worked very well in my tests, so I don’t really see any reason to spend $20 when you can get HandyPrint for $5.
Printer Pro
One last option that I should mention is Printer Pro by Readdle. It’s a combination iPhone/iPad app and desktop program that runs on Mac or Windows. The app is $7 in the App Store and the desktop app is free.
It works just like the other programs mentioned above in the sense that you need to have the desktop app running at all times in order for print jobs to go through. The smartphone/tablet app is definitely the most professional and polished app out there and it has a lot of features, so if you do some serious printing and need to change printer settings a lot, this might be your best option.
It’s worth noting that you should install the app on your iPhone or iPad first and see if it can print directly to the printer without the desktop app. Directsoft 6 keygen. According to the site, it can print directly from within the app to most printers without the additional desktop app. Overall, it’s a good option and not too expensive.
Lantronix xPrintServer
Outside of programs, you can also purchase a hardware device from a company called Lantronix that acts as a print server. The xPrintServer is something I have owned, so I know it works well. The only issues are that you need to make sure your printer is supported and it costs a whopping $200!
This is a really good solution if you are in a small office environment with many Apple users and many printers. Smog discography rar. It doesn’t really make sense for a home with one or two printers.
Those are pretty much all the options for printing to a non-AirPrint enabled printer on your network. Note that if you print only from Chrome or other Google apps like Gmail, etc., you can easily setup Google Cloud Print and not worry about any of these programs. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
In the corner of my office, on top of my filing cabinet, sits a cheap, reliable printer.
Alas, my trusty Brother laser jet doesn’t support AirPrint. This means even though my iPhone and iPad have the option of printing, they can’t “see” my printer and therefore can’t print to it.
But! There is a solution that doesn’t requiring buying a new printer (though it might be worth it for the toner). There are some 3rd-party applications that you can install on your Mac to enable printing from your iPhone or iPad. These apps work by sharing the printers your Mac has access to and allowing iOS to see those printers as being AirPrint enabled. Thus bridging the gap between your iPhone and iPad and the printer.
Handyprint License Code
There are a few decent apps that give you this functionality (and some include more features than other). Of the options out there, Printopia is my favorite.
Printopia (my favorite)
Of the apps I tried, Printopia is clearly the best AirPrint enabler out there.
There are several reasons.
The premier feature of Printopia is, obviously, that it allows me to print to my home printers. With Printopia running on my Mac, my iPhone and iPad can see my laser printer and print to it so long as my iOS device and my Mac are on the same wireless network. Tip: To print from iOS Mail, hit the “Reply” button and you’ll see the option for printing.
Additionally, Printopia can “Print” to any folder on my Mac. Printing to a folder is just like the “Save as PDF…” options in your Mac’s print dialog box. Using Printopia to print to a folder means that whatever it is you’re printing gets saved as a PDF to that folder on your Mac. You can save it to a standard folder, a Dropbox folder, or send the file to an application (such as iPhoto, Yojimbo, Evernote, etc.)
For example, if I’m triaging email from my iPad and a receipt comes in, I can save it to the “Receipts” folder on my Mac. And, with an app like Hazel, I can set up all sorts of nerdy actions to process the files I print to my Mac.
In addition to printing to a folder, Printopia also allows me to “print” directly to an application, such as PDFpen. This is like taking a document on my phone and opening it in an application that’s on my Mac.
Though I mostly use Printopia for printing out documents, it’s helpful to have these additional features available when I do want to use them.
Presto (for Windows users)
What was originally called Fingerprint has now been updated to Presto. Fingerprint was the first app I came across that could solve my AirPrint conundrum. I discovered Fingerprint when helping a friend set up AirPrint for his Windows-equipped office — we were searching for AirPrint enablers that worked on Windows.
Fingerprint used to have both a Mac and a Windows version, but now it is Windows only. If your home or office PC is a Windows machine, this may be the solution for you. Presto costs $1.95/month and not only does it allow you to print to your printers, but it also lets you to configure folders that you can print to on your computer.
But there was one critical deal breaker for me: Fingerprint runs in the Menu Bar. I am ardent about having as few icons in my Menu Bar as possible, and therefore I kept searching for alternatives.
handyPrint (less features, less money)
If all you want to do is print, then handyPrint may be the app for you. It is a pay-what-you-want application (you have to donate at least $1) and it does just one thing: takes the printers your Mac is connected to and makes them available as AirPrint enabled printers.
If you’re looking for the least expensive option to simply enable AirPrint for your iOS devices, then check out handyPrint.
Wrap up
In short, Printopia is my favorite because it’s feature rich, easy to set up, and extremely reliable.
Handyprint Windows
You can try it out for free, and a license costs $20. If you want to read more, Dan Frakes wrote a review for Macworld and gave Printopia a score of “5 Mice,” the highest score that Macworld awards.