The interface to set all this up is literally just ticking the boxes of the printers you want to be shared, very very easy to use.
The Application installs itself on your Mac within the System Preference panel and allows you to select which printers connected to your Mac (also lets you use network printers) to be usable from an iOS device. So we can now only print from our iPhone’s, iPod touch’s and iPad’s to selected printers which have wireless (walk up technology) printing onboard. Apple had the original intention to include this ability but decided to strip it from the final release of iOS 4.2.
Plus, they don't wrinkle like the inkjet, the AirPrint software seems to be better and less pixelated than using the Microsoft Office Imaging program.Īll the printers have ethernet, USB and support PostScript natively, (No PS on the HP inkjet), so I wonder what other solutions there might be.You may or may not know that iOS 4.2 lacks the ability to print to a shared printer connected to your Mac. It'd be great to use the already-spent investment in these higher-end laser printers, that cost less per page, are better quality, without having to layout the print in InDesign first. Has anyone used it? We'd hate to setup a macmini, running 24/7 to act as a print server. The hardware solution looks to be the best solution ( ). So for people who have already made the investment into higher-end printers, we feel left behind. We're also very impressed with the ability to print articles from Bloomberg app off of the iPad. The cost per print on laser & solid ink/wax is about 2-4 ¢ a page, but we think we're putting an HP executive's first born through college using the inkjet- I imagine is around 25 ¢ a page!
None of these are Airprint, and each printer cost north of $3000. So that said, we have a workhorse Tektronix (Xerox) 750 laser that we use for drafts, a Tektronix/Xerox Color Thermal (Solid Wax Ink) for proofs, and also a Minolta. The iPhone software actually prints better than using Microsoft Office Image Manager program, on the same HP printer. We are pleasantly surprised with the native support, especially for scaling images, built-in to the iOS itself. Our company bought an HP, airprint-compatible inkjet printer, to test the printing capability of our iPhones & iPad Mini. We decided to try AirPrint, and were pleasantly surprised.
Printopia has a trial version so you don't have to spend $20 just to find out. Wake on Demand requires AirPort Base Stations, anything else may work but is not guaranteed.
The Mac wakes, the print job is sent, and the Mac goes back to sleep according to the settings in Energy Saver. I could never get WoD to work reliably on earlier releases of OS X, but the feature has been working reliably since at least Lion.
Portable Macs, for example, must be plugged in to a charging source. Read about how it works to understand its capabilities and limitations.
See Apple's Wake on Demand support page for more details on this.Ībout Wake on Demand. You may be able to take advantage of Apple's "Wake on Demand" feature if your Mac and your base station meet certain specific requirements. Q: Does Printopia require my Mac to be on?Ī: Since Printopia runs on your Mac to share printers to iOS devices, the Mac must be on and logged in for Printopia to function. Wake on Demand is not related to Printopia in the strictest sense, and it is not as if the Mac announces the presence of its non-AirPrint printers as much as it announces the presence of itself and its available services, which would include Printer Sharing. Can you confirm that a Mac running printopia can announce non-Airprint compatible Printers Airprint-disguised across the network while it is asleep?