Mobile printing made easy

Mobile printing made easy

Take an Android mobile phone and try to print a webpage or a photo from it. It is quite likely that you will struggle to find the print feature.

Unlike the AirPrint feature found in Apple's iOS devices, there is no integrated print functionality for the Android operating system.

Of course, you can still print from an Android device. You just have to install the right print app, which is preloaded by some manufacturers.

For printer manufacturers, the rapid growth of mobile devices poses a quandary. Their products have often been seen as part of the PC ecosystem, but the PC industry is heading for a second consecutive year of contraction this year.

Meanwhile, mobile devices are picking up the slack. Tablet shipments are expected to grow by 42.7per cent this year, according to market research firm Gartner.

Although there are reports that the mobile phone market has peaked, it is still on course to grow by 3.7 per cent.

More importantly, Gartner estimates that 1.8billion handsets will be sold this year.

This trend is likely a catalyst for the formation of the Mopria Alliance, an industry grouping formed by printer stalwarts Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox. The alliance aims to make printing from mobile devices easy.

"Customers want to print from their mobile devices," said Mr Edwin Teoh, an assistant director at Canon Singapore. But this is frequently too complicated for the user, he added.

An IDC report earlier this year said: "Consumers still prefer to read documents in print, despite the growth in mobility."

"Mobile printing has not really picked up strongly," said Ms Lam Lai Ling, a senior research analyst at Gartner. She thinks it is because of a "low awareness of mobile printing" exacerbated by a lack of printer support and limited print options on mobile devices.

This is where the non-profit Mopria Alliance can make a difference. It aims to create a standard for native mobile printing that does not require downloading apps, drivers or fiddling with settings.

Think Apple's AirPrint.

But unlike that technology, which is not open to other mobile phone vendors, a new native standard would work across multiple mobile platforms.

A Mopria logo on these printers will tell consumers that they are compatible with mobile devices. They are likely to come with wireless connectivity, a feature already present on many of the latest printers. For instance, more than 90 per cent of HP printers now have some form of wireless printing capability.

While no Mopria-certified printers have been launched yet, it was previously announced that the technology should be ready some time this year.

Android, which owns a larger than 80 per cent share of the smartphone market, will also get native support for mobile printing with the new Android 4.4 KitKat.

Google said users will be able to print photos, documents and webpages to printers that are connected via Google Cloud Print. It is also compatible with HP's ePrint-capable printers and printers whose apps appear in the Google Play Store.

But before these new initiatives come to market, you can still get into mobile printing via the apps offered by your printer manufacturer.

Most are available on both Android and iOS. Although they may differ in terms of features, they will get the job done - mostly.

Check out what Digital Life thinks of five available printing apps. We will also give you a crash course on how to set up Google Cloud Print, which is compatible with most brands.

Setting up Google Cloud Print

The easiest way to print your documents remotely is to use Google Cloud Print. This technology connects your printer with the Internet, allowing you to print from anywhere. You can even share your printer with other users.

Google Cloud Print works with many printer models from major brands. They do not even need to be Wi-Fi capable. But you will need a computer with Internet connectivity and Google Chrome browser installed.

Here is how you can set up Google Cloud Print on your home printer.

Note that the following instructions are for non-Cloud Ready printers (typically without built-in Wi-Fi). There are also Cloud Ready printers, though the steps to configure them vary from maker to maker.

Firstly, you will need a Google account on your computer. You can sign for one online. It is free.

Connect the printer to the computer using the USB cable provided. Google Cloud Print needs both computer and printer to be switched on, so you should set it up on a desktop machine.

Ensure that you can send documents to the printer using the computer. Then run Google Chrome and sign in with your Google account.

Click the top right hand corner of the Chrome menu and choose Settings>Advanced Settings. Scroll down to Google Cloud Print and sign in.

You should then see a list of the printers currently connected to your computer. If your printer is not on the list, you should check again that it is properly connected and powered on.

Click on "Add Printer(s)" and you should get a message saying that the printers are now registered with Google Cloud Print.

Click on "Manage Your Printers" to access a page and see current print jobs, add more cloud printers and even share them with others.

To print to the Google Cloud printer from the Chrome browser, choose the print option from the Chrome menu and change the destination to find your Google Cloud Print device.

Install the driver

Google has a Cloud Printer driver that can be installed on any Windows computer (XP SP3 and above). This application lets you print via the Google Cloud printer from within Windows applications, such as Adobe Reader.

This is useful as you are not just printing from Google Chrome, which gives access only to webpages and documents on Google Docs.

Consider third-party apps

It is convenient to use Google Cloud Print to send a document to be printed at home when you are in the office. But you can do more if the app is installed on your smartphone.

Besides Google's official Cloud Print app for Android, there are third-party apps such as Cloud Printer, an add-on for those who use the Firefox mobile browser.

Users of iOS devices can try out PrintCentral Pro ($7.99), a full-featured app with a lot of additional functionality.

If your smartphone does not have a native app, you can also use Google Cloud Print with your mobile browser. You just need to point it to m.google.com.

Most printer manufacturers have also created their own mobile apps. Check the following pages to find out how they fare.

Canon Pixma Print

Platforms: Android (tested), iOS

Tested with the Canon Pixma MG7170

The glaring flaw in the Android version of this printer app is that it lacks a document print feature that the iOS version has.

Instead, the Android app allows only photo printing. The alternative is to save and print the document as an image file. When contacted, Canon did not reveal when it plans to upgrade the Android app with this critical functionality.

The app is integrated with your browser so you can print webpages from inside the browser. Its scan feature supports JPG and PDF, so documents can be scanned with a Canon Pixma all-in-one printer and sent to your mobile devices.

As for the photo print feature, the app scans your phone to locate images and displays them in a grid. You can choose to send multiple images for printing but you are limited to only five copies each.

While Canon touts the cloud capabilities of this app, it actually opens up your browser to access Canon's cloud service. This requires you to register and log in separately.

You will also need to get the printer ID from your printer.

Once this is done, you can access your services such as Evernote, Picasa, Flickr, Facebook and Dropbox.

The printer settings section offers useful tools such as the option to show the model of the printer inks (which can be difficult to remember) and even the ink levels.

Canon offers a variety of different apps for its printer product lines, so you should take care to download the correct version.

The Pixma's Android version is hamstrung by not having a document print feature.

HP ePrint

Platforms: Android (tested), BlackBerry, iOS

Tested with the HP Envy 4500 e-All-in-One printer


The HP ePrint app can print webpages, along with photos and documents (PDF and Microsoft Office formats) saved to the mobile device. Unlike some of its rivals, it is not integrated with third-party services such as Dropbox or Evernote.

Print options are decent, including providing choices of colour or greyscale, size and printout quality. The latest version adds rotation, crop and other rudimentary photo-editing options.

But while printing is in progress, the app is occupied and cannot be used for other tasks. Even accepting an incoming phone call will cause the print job to be cancelled.

There is no progress bar for the print job. A notification is sent to the mobile device when the job is done.

Unique among these apps is HP's Public Print feature, which uses your phone's GPS to find special HP public print locations in your vicinity. The idea is to let you send your files to one of these locations - typically a hotel or an airport lounge - and you can collect the printout later.

But if you are not at home and wish to print using your printer at home, you will have to send the file as an e-mail attachment to a special HP ePrint e-mail address that was previously registered.

If that sounds old-school, it is - because it does not actually use the app. To be fair, this is the same approach used by all printer companies, too.

Needs more integration with third-party apps.

Epson iPrint

Platforms: Android (tested), iOS

Tested with the Epson Expression HomeXP-202

Epson's printer app is unlikely to win any design awards with its simple layout and large fonts. But it is functional and even connects to several third-party cloud services such as Dropbox and Evernote.

The interface does present its clunky side occasionally, for instance when you try to print from a webpage using the built-in browser. You will simply get a blank URL field with no integrated search feature.

But you do get access to your browser history and bookmarks.

It compares unfavourably with printer apps that offer a full-fledged browser. Of course, you could use your phone's default browser to reach the desired page, then use the app to print it.

When printing photos, the Epson iPrint app allows you to make minor edits. You can zoom in on a certain part of the photo and switch between landscape and portrait modes.

Multiple photos can be selected and edited at the same time. The app can scan your mobile device to locate images, even pulling up the ones from instant messaging clients.

As with the Canon app, you can check the ink level and do basic maintenance such as head cleaning.

When the printer is low on ink, you can order a supply. But this was not tested.

Clunky at times, but very functional.

 

Brother iPrint & Scan

Platforms: Android (tested), iOS, Windows Phone 7.5 and 8

Tested with the Brother MFC-J2510

Brother's iPrint & Scan app is the only one here to support the Windows Phone platform.

Overall, it is a fairly basic app that focuses on printing. It lacks the extras found on other printer apps, including the ability to monitor the ink levels on the printer.

It does have a Near-Field Communications (NFC) feature to connect with supported Brother printers.

The app can print documents, photos, webpages and e-mail messages. The interface is straightforward, though some may find it oversimplified.

For instance, you cannot select a printer before you start a print job. But once you have configured the printer settings for the first time, they are saved.

A minor complaint: Readying a file for printing takes slightly longer than with the other apps tested.

Print options are also fewer than expected. You can change the paper size, switch between colour and greyscale and print on two sides.

However, you cannot make more than five copies of any document.

That the interface would not allow a user to select multiple photos for printing seems a major oversight.

But what it does have is a printing progress bar - a useful visual cue not found on some of its competitors.

There is no option to access photos or documents from cloud services such as Dropbox or Evernote.

Basic app with little third-party integration. Processing speed seems a tad slow.

 

Samsung Mobile Print

Platforms: Android (tested), iOS

Tested with the Samsung Xpress M2875FW

Samsung Mobile Print adopts an interface familiar to mobile users. It arranges the features supported (such as Gallery, Document and E-mail) as icons on a grid.

The app works with Samsung's laser printers, which have both scan and fax capabilities.

Its most interesting feature is the integration with the mobile phone camera.

From within the app, you can turn on the phone camera, take a picture and then have it automatically made ready for printing.

In print preview, you can crop and rotate the image.

Like other printer apps, Samsung Mobile Print includes a browser for printing of webpages, including a preview function.

While the browser within the app does have a built-in search feature, it appears a bit slower than the other apps tested.

The app comes with Google Drive integration so you can connect to your account and have your documents downloaded onto the phone for printing.

Document print options include the ability to specify the page range and the type of paper and even enable printing on both sides of the paper.

The app also allows you to print from e-mail, Facebook and Google Drive.

Simply by logging into your accounts via the app, you can access these online services and send them to the Samsung printer.

But compared with other printer brands, Samsung's Mobile Print could do with adding more cloud services such as the addition of Dropbox and Evernote.

The interface is simple and user-friendly, but lacks third-party integration.


Get a copy of Digital Life, The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.