Have you tried to print a webpage from your iPhone but failed? Tell me, is your printer compatible with Apple’s AirPrint system? If the answer is yes, there is obviously something wrong with the device configuration: probably the printer is not connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the iPhone or it needs a firmware update. If the answer is no, you need to roll up your sleeves and configure your printer to communicate with the iPhone.
If you want to better understand what I’m talking about, take a few minutes of free time and put into practice the advice you find below. We will first see how to print from iPhone using a printer equipped with AirPrint support (Apple’s technology for wireless printing) and secondly we will find out how to “force” communication between a non-AirPrint printer and the iPhone using some applications suitable for the purpose. Don’t worry, both are child’s play.
As easily understood, the second mode requires a little more time for the initial configuration of the app, but it is nothing difficult, quite the contrary. So, let’s not get too lost in chatting and let’s get to the action right away: find all the information you need right below!
Index
- Preliminary operations
- How to print from iPhone with AirPrint
- How to print from iPhone without AirPrint
- How to print from iPhone to HP printer
- How to print from iPhone to Epson printer
- How to Print from iPhone to Any Printer: Printer Pro
- How to print from an iPhone without a router: Wi-Fi Direct
Preliminary operations
The first step to be able to print from iPhone is to connect the printer to the home Wi-Fi network, in order to make it available for all devices connected to the same router (including iPhones).
To do this, if your printer has an LCD screen or a touch-screen display , use the physical keys or the virtual buttons to access the device Settings ; then, enter the section dedicated to the Network and call up the function to configure the network or to run the wireless installation wizard .
Now, select the name of the Wi-Fi network to which to connect the device from those listed, enter its password when prompted, accept the terms of use of the printer’s operating system and complete any software updates , if available.
If, on the other hand, your printer does not have a screen , you can connect to the Internet using WPS technology , i.e. the automatic exchange of passwords between the printing device and the router: to be able to go this route, the system must WPS is enabled from the router’s management panel and that the printer has a physical button dedicated to it.
If you meet these requirements, you can easily connect the two devices together, by first pressing the physical WPS button on the router and then, within a maximum of 90 seconds, the same button on the printer : after a few moments, the printer should acquire the network key and automatically connect to Wi-Fi.
Alternatively, you will have to configure the printer, after turning it on, using the manufacturer’s official application , almost always available on the App Store for free.
However, regardless of the operating mode, you should know that each manufacturer has different procedures to complete the configuration and Internet connection of the printers: if necessary, I invite you to consult my guide on how to install a Wi-Fi printer. or Google for phrases like connecting [printer make and model] to the Internet .
How to print from iPhone with AirPrint
If you want to learn how to print from iPhone you must first determine if your printer supports AirPrint technology , a communication protocol promoted by Apple that allows numerous wireless printers to communicate with iPhone, iPad and other devices without the need to install apps or perform special configurations.
If you do not know if your printer is compatible with the aforementioned technology or not, connect to this page of the Apple Internet site , which lists all the printing devices compatible with AirPlay, or take a look at the characteristics of the printer in your possession ( compatibility with AirPrint is often clearly highlighted on the sales package, in the user manual and, sometimes, on the printer itself).
In any case, to proceed with printing via AirPlay, open the document to print, tap the share button (the square with the arrow inside ) and select the Print item from the menu that appears.
Subsequently, set the number of copies and the range of pages to be printed by pressing on the appropriate items in the screen that has opened, tap on the printer drop-down menu , select the name of your printer from the list of printers on the network and tap on the Print item located at the top right to start the print process.
If your printer does not appear in the list of available printers, make sure it is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the iPhone and check for firmware updates for the iPhone (or software updates for iOS).
How to print from iPhone without AirPrint
If you have managed to connect the printer to the Internet but you cannot use it via iPhone due to the lack of compatibility with AirPrint technology, you will be pleased to know that, in many cases, you can cope with this by starting printing using the appropriate application provided by the producer.
As you can easily understand, such apps only work with printers of the brands to which they refer and can have different characteristics; to give you a practical example, in the lines below I show you how to use the manufacturer-specific apps on HP and Epson branded devices.
How to print from iPhone to HP printer
The application dedicated to HP printing devices is called HP Smart and is available completely free of charge on the iPhone and iPad App Store. To be able to use it, you must necessarily create an HP account ; in addition, the application is only compatible with image files in JPG , PNG and BMP format and with PDF documents .
In any case, to get HP Smart, go to the appropriate section of the App Store, press the Get / Install button and, when prompted, authenticate using Face ID , Touch ID or Apple ID password .
Once this is done, after making sure that the phone is connected to the same wireless network in use on the printer, open the application and wait a few moments for the printing device to be identified and recognized: when this happens, a box should appear at the top of the HP Smart panel, indicating the printer name and its status (which should be Ready ).
Now, tap on the Create Resident Account button at the bottom and start creating a new HP account by entering the required information in the appropriate form: name , surname , email , telephone number , password and country of residence . Once this is done, click on the Create account button , in order to complete the creation of the profile and log in to it.
At this point, return to the start screen of the app and touch the button that best suits your needs: print photos , to imprint images on paper, or print documents , to select a PDF document; in any case, choose the file to print using the panel that appears later and, if necessary, give the app the permissions to access the files on the device.
Finally, tap the Print button visible at the bottom and that’s it. In case of doubts or problems, I refer you to reading my guide on how to print from mobile to HP printer , in which I have explained everything to you in great detail.
How to print from iPhone to Epson printer
Epson iPrint is the app dedicated to Epson printers and is available for free on the App Store ; also in this case, before proceeding, you must make sure that the iPhone is connected to the same network as the printer.
In any case, once you have downloaded the app in question, start it, press the Accept and OK buttons and grant use permissions for location and Bluetooth , if requested. Now, tap on the item The printer is not selected Printer , located at the top, grant the permissions to access the LAN network and tap on the Local tab , to indicate your intention to configure a printer connected to the network.
Finally, select the name of the printer from the list of detected devices and, once you have returned to the main screen of Epson iPrint, tap the button that is most suitable for the type of printing to be made ( print photos , print documents or print from the cloud ) and follow the instructions you receive on the screen, to get everything done.
Please note that Epson iPrint also allows you to configure remote printers (just tap the Remote tab when configuring a new printer), as long as you know the email associated with the print server: the latter information is available. from the printer configuration page, which you can print via the integrated menu or by pressing the appropriate physical button. For more information on how to print from mobile to Epson printer , I invite you to consult the specific tutorial I have dedicated to the topic.
How to Print from iPhone to Any Printer: Printer Pro
If you do not have a printer with AirPrint support or, indeed, not directly connected to the Internet, you can “force” communication between the printer and iPhone using a third-party application such as Printer Pro . In order for everything to go smoothly, even in this case, the printer and the phone must be connected to the same Wi-Fi or LAN network .
In any case, Printer Pro works with the vast majority of printers on the market, Wi-Fi and not, and is compatible with all the latest versions of iOS; the app costs € 6.99 , but you can download a free trial version that allows you to check compatibility with your printer.
If your printer has Wi-Fi support, you can use it with Printer Pro simply by connecting it to the Internet (as explained in this section ); If, on the other hand, your printing device does not have wireless support, you have two paths to go.
- If you have a Wi-Fi routeror repeater with USB ports (such as Apple’s AirPort base stations) and compatible with the printing system, all you have to do is connect the printer to the latter via USB cable and enable the specific function in the administrative panel of the router. By doing so, all the devices connected to the home Wi-Fi network (iPhone included) will be able to “see” the printer and, consequently, proceed with its configuration.
- If, on the other hand, you prefer to use your computer, you have to connect the printer to it via USB cable and you have to install the Printer Pro client for Windows or macOS, completely free and very simple to use. As you can imagine, the computer and the iPhone must be connected to the same network.
In any case, once the printer is connected to the network (directly or indirectly), download the Printer Pro app on your device, open it and allow it to access the devices on the network , responding affirmatively to the warning message that appears on the screen; then, tap the + Printer button to add a new printing device and wait for the name of your printer to appear among the detected devices.
When this happens, tap on the latter and then on the Next and Print test page buttons . Now, you have to proceed based on the result of the test page made by your printer: if the test print went well, press the button on the OK button and calibrate the page by specifying, in the appropriate text fields, the values that you can read on the edges of the paper.
Finally, press the Next and Start Print buttons to be able to immediately start printing via Printer Pro; if you have installed the free version of the application, download the paid one, start it and choose to import the settings from Printer Pro Lite (in this way you will not have to repeat the printer configuration).
If, on the other hand, the test print did not go well, click on the Not OK button and select the printing language used by your printer from the screen that opens. To find out which printing language your printer uses (eg PCL ) you need to consult the device manual, or search Google for phrases such as PDL [printer brand and model] . Once you have selected one of the available options, print a new test page and complete the printer setup as explained above.
Now you can print from iPhone using any application: to do this, open the document to print, tap the iOS / iPadOS share button and then the Print with Printer Pro button located in the menu that appears. Finally, put the check mark next to the name of your printer , tap the Print button and that’s it.
How to print from an iPhone without a router: Wi-Fi Direct
How do you say? You don’t have the possibility to put the previous solutions into practice, as you don’t have a router and / or Wi-Fi connection? In this case, if your printer is equipped with wireless connectivity, you can take advantage of Wi-Fi Direct technology : this standard allows you to connect two devices with a working wireless card in communication, safely and without necessarily having to use network devices. acting as intermediaries.
If your printer is compatible with the aforementioned technology, you must first enable its functionality: therefore, if your printer is equipped with a touch-screen or LCD, open its network settings or the menu for configuring the network ( or similar), locate the specific section for Wi-Fi Direct / Wireless Direct and activate the connection by pressing the appropriate button; finally, open the password , security or access section and note the WPS PIN / password to use for the connection.
On printers without a screen, on the other hand, it is necessary to locate the physical button dedicated to the activation of Wi-Fi Direct and press it: for example, on HP printing devices , it is identified by the symbol of two sheets and a smartphone with waves . Once Wi-Fi Direct is enabled, simultaneously press the physical wireless buttons (marked with an antenna symbol ) and information (the symbol (i) ), in order to print the network information page containing, among other things, the Wi-Fi Direct PIN to use for the connection.
At this point, all you have to do is connect to the wireless network generated by the printer, usually named DIRECT_namePrinter or nomePrinter_DIRECT , to be able to use it: then go to the Settings> Wi-Fi iOS menu , move the lever corresponding to the Wi-Fi item from OFF to ON (if necessary) and tap on the name of the Wi-Fi direct network for the printing device. When prompted, enter the password you obtained earlier and tap on the Login button to establish the link.
To start a print via Wi-Fi Direct, you just have to open the file to be printed on paper, tap on the iOS share symbol and select the Print item from the menu that appears. Finally, tap on the Printer menu , select the device name from those listed and, after defining the additional options (eg copies and page sizes), press on the Print item at the top right, to finish everything.
