When Apple unveiled AirPrint, it did more than simply announce a new driver. It made the iPad and iPhone viable standalone business devices on which you could edit, create and print out hard copies of your work... so long as you'd bought from HP.
AirPrint is still -- officially -- only compatible with recent HP printers, but with a bit of tweaking and a little help from some free utilities, we'll show you how you can get your iPad and iPhone talking to any printer you care to name.
Finding AirPrint
Until Apple inks a deal with HP's output rivals, the only way to enable AirPrint on alternative devices is to use AirPrint Activator. This channels incoming data through an active Mac or PC, which acts as an intermediary server to push it through to the printer.
The latest Mac update is version 2. Download it through this link if you're running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or OS X 10.7 (Lion) on an Intel processor, and from here if you're still running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) on either a PowerPC or Intel chip.
Windows users can grab AirPrint Activator for Windows from here.
Activating AirPrint on Mac
Windows users, skip to 'Activating AirPrint on Windows' below. Mac users, read on...
Open System Preferences > Sharing, and tick the checkbox beside Printer sharing. A list of your installed printers appears to the right. You now need to tick the box beside the name of the printer you want to use with your iPad.
Unpack the downloaded AirPrint Activator utility and run the installer. You only need to do this once as it installs a background service that handles everything for you from here on. Click the OFF/ON slider to switch it on and then click Close. You're done. Skip to 'Printing from your iPad' below.
Activating AirPrint on Windows
Decompress and install AirPrint Activator (it's wrapped up inside a RAR archive, which you can unpack using WinZip) and click the appropriate button to install it on your version of Windows (32-bit or 64-bit).
The installer will take care of dropping it into your Program Files folder, but for obvious security reasons can't adjust your firewall to let your iPad find it. Open Control Panel and type 'firewall' in the search box to find it. Click the button to authorise new applications and add c:\Program Files\AirPrint\airprint.exe to give it network access.
Return to Control Panel and open your printer settings, then select to share the printer on your network to make it available to your iPad.
Printing from your iPad
You can now print from your iPhone or iPad. In most applications you'll find the print feature in the shortcut actions button (the rectangle with an arrow protruding from the top).
Some applications such as Pages and Numbers, however, have dedicated print functions accessed through the menus (in the iWork apps you'll find it under Tools > Share and Print > Print). Tap the Printer box to select the device you want to use and choose your AirPrint Activator-enabled printer.
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Comments 15
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anonymous 21 October, 2011 10:42
This sounds great but your link for Windows users to download AirPrint Activator goes to some weird looking filedudes download page. And when you search instead within the CNET downloads pages, the Activator is offered but downloads as a PHP file not recognised on my system, not the unzippable RAR you give in the instructions. Am I missing something here?
anonymous 21 October, 2011 17:48
AirPrint Activator does not work with IOS 5. There is a product available from http://www.collobos.com/index.html "FingerPrint" that seems to work. The only drawback is that it does not run as a service.
anonymous 9 November, 2011 15:34
Umm... "Until Apple inks a deal with HP's output rivals..." Cannon, Lexmark, and Epson all have Airprint enabled devices and the list is growing.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4356
Ibatey 16 November, 2011 17:43
Umm.. Maybe apple support should be telling us how to use our EXISTING printers with our Apple devices, rather than listing more NEW stuff to buy.
I have 4 printers on my network (some New).. And none of them work with Airprint. I'm seriously thinking of ditching Applesoft
anonymous 22 November, 2011 14:06
bought an hp multipurpose printer for about 50 pounds, 1 pound for an ethernet cable for printer to router
didnt tweak anything and iphone, ipod and pc all print straight away.......I needed a new printer as my old deskjet was over 10 years old . So that was my easy answer!
anonymous 2 February, 2012 00:40
How can i print thru iPhone?
anonymous 3 March, 2012 14:01
I find exactly the same as the first post on this page - when I looked. It goes thus..........
This sounds great but your link for Windows users to download AirPrint Activator goes to some weird looking filedudes download page. And when you search instead within the CNET downloads pages, the Activator is offered but downloads as a PHP file not recognised on my system, not the unzippable RAR you give in the instructions. Am I missing something here?
anonymous 18 July, 2012 21:29
And there we go, another example of apple with great products being a right royal pain in the ass. Bought a wireless printer and then find i need something special to make my iPad print wirelessly!! Jeez!!!
anonymous 15 January, 2013 13:38
Will it print fi i am like 5 miles away from home and want to print a document??
Thank yo guys
anonymous 29 January, 2013 15:47
the print n share app will let you print to a non-airprint and airprint printer from either iphone or ipad
therefore you dont have to spend money on a new printer if you dont want to
i use it loads for work to both sets of printers and from both devices
anonymous 9 February, 2013 10:23
Ok so i love my apple products but....and this is a big butt... When i buy something that is so called Wireless i expect it to be exactly that.. If you work as a mobile operative ie out an about in sales or a tradesman and a customer wants a receipt...heh print them on your wireless printer i thought , from an ipad or phone great idea, heres the huge big butts and i cannot lie...the printer has to be connected to power no you can have an inverter in the car that will do this excellent ...just send the message to the printer from the phone or ipad NO...you have to have a router which in turn has to have power the router has to have a cable to the printer....the router also has to have a cable connecting it to a land telephone line........ Someone explain how the hell is this classed as wireless ! If you had three cables from your remote control, or better still your phone ...is that wireless. Come on people
anonymous 9 February, 2013 10:24
Ok so i love my apple products but....and this is a big butt... When i buy something that is so called Wireless i expect it to be exactly that.. If you work as a mobile operative ie out an about in sales or a tradesman and a customer wants a receipt...heh print them on your wireless printer i thought , from an ipad or phone great idea, heres the huge big butts and i cannot lie...the printer has to be connected to power no you can have an inverter in the car that will do this excellent ...just send the message to the printer from the phone or ipad NO...you have to have a router which in turn has to have power the router has to have a cable to the printer....the router also has to have a cable connecting it to a land telephone line........ Someone explain how the hell is this classed as wireless ! If you had three cables from your remote control, or better still your phone ...is that wireless. Come on people
anonymous 9 February, 2013 10:26
Ok so i love my apple products but....and this is a big butt... When i buy something that is so called Wireless i expect it to be exactly that.. If you work as a mobile operative ie out an about in sales or a tradesman and a customer wants a receipt...heh print them on your wireless printer i thought , from an ipad or phone great idea, heres the huge big butts and i cannot lie...the printer has to be connected to power no you can have an inverter in the car that will do this excellent ...just send the message to the printer from the phone or ipad NO...you have to have a router which in turn has to have power the router has to have a cable to the printer....the router also has to have a cable connecting it to a land telephone line........ Someone explain how the hell is this classed as wireless ! If you had three cables from your remote control, or better still your phone ...is that wireless. Come on people
anonymous 23 February, 2013 13:31
Thanks for advice however when I tried to "grab AirPortActivator for Windows" and I clicked "here" Internet Explorer would not let me in.
Further down the page I tried the Off/On buttton but could not get any reaction
anonymous 13 June, 2013 12:23
print n share will also let you print from notes and pages etc :))