#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR HOW TO#
#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR INSTALL#
#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR UPDATE#
#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR WINDOWS#

Leaving them checked will simply clutter up the print menu on your iOS device with printers you don’t need. Uncheck all the printers that are either 1) not currently connected or that 2) you won’t be using. You’ll see a simple interface displaying all the printers available to the machine: Once you have rebooted, select FingerPrint from the Start Menu and run it for the first time. You will need to reboot your computer to finalize the installation. There are no tricky customization options in the initial installation process, just click Next until the process is complete.

#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR INSTALL#

Barring that, install it on the PC that is on the most and that has access to the printers you wish to use.ĭownload the app here and run the installation executable.

#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR WINDOWS#

It is important you install FingerPrint on a computer that will be on when you wish to print-if you have a Windows or OS X based home server that has access to your networked printers, that would be an ideal location for the FingerPrint server. The only important choice you need to make while installing the application is which machine you’re going to install it on.įingerPrint acts as a print server for iOS-it fakes out the AirPrint client included in iOS 4.2+. Installing and configuring FingerPrint is extremely simple.

#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR HOW TO#

The application comes with a 7-day free trial so you can take it for a spin before pulling your wallet out.įor this tutorial we will be demonstrating how to install FingerPrint for Windows and how to print from an iPad. In the time-equals-money equation the ten bucks you’ll drop on FingerPrint will have you coming out ahead. We tried quite a few third party apps and even some jailbreak-only tweaks but the FingerPrint was the only application that worked consistently across all our iOS devices, with all the printers on our network, and it sported the most features. To that end we turned to a commercial (but inexpensive) solution.

We tested several of the apps on various printers around the office and found them lacking in a variety of ways-the most obvious of which was the total lack of support for older wired printers-and not quite the just-like-AirPrint solution we were looking for. If you luck out and the manufacturer-supplied helper app works awesome for your needs, that’s awesome. Here is a list of available applications by company. Be forewarned that many of the apps are limited (Canon’s app, for example, only prints photos). We’re not going to focus on using the company-dependent apps in this tutorial but the apps are all free-as-in-beer and they might be just the solution you need. It’s important to note that this solution is only effective for people who have a Wi-Fi enabled printer that isn’t supported by AirPlay but is supported via the third-party iOS helper app released by the manufacturer of their printer. If you’re lucky the manufacturer of your printer has released an iOS helper app that allows iOS to communicate with your printer even if you don’t have a printer with native AirPrint support. There are actually two ways to go about achieving iOS-to-printer communication if you don’t have an AirPrint compatible printer. There’s absolutely no reason to go out and buy a new printer when you can easily tweak your existing printer to support printing from your iOS device. At the time there were barely a dozen HP printers that supported the service and even though the number has grown and includes a handful of offerings from the major printing companies there are still thousands upon thousands of printers-old and new-that do not support AirPrint.

#BEST WIRELESS PRINTERS FOR MACBOOK AIR UPDATE#

In the fall of 2010 Apple released the iOS 4.2 update that included a host of updated features including support for a new mobile/wireless printing protocol AirPrint. No problem, read on as we show you how to print to older printers. You have an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad, you have a printer, and you want to print things-the only problem is your printer isn’t AirPrint compatible.

Best wireless printers for macbook air