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Buying Guide: Best Printing Apps
Printing isn't generally considered the most popular or sexy corner of the tech world. After Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO in August, The Onion ran a parody in which incoming CEO Tim Cook insisted that Apple's future was in printers, and that the release of the iPhone 5 and other upcoming products would be put on the shelf for at least four years while the folks at Cupertino developed home and office printers with "cutting-edge" features, such as fax functionality.
But the tide may be turning for this underappreciated product area. 3D printing is one exciting development: see 3D Printing: What You Need to Know for a primer. The rise of printer apps—both for printing from mobile devices and for pulling content off the Web for printout—is another. Granted, some of the Web apps featured here are eminently practical—there's nothing too sexy about printing out bills of sale or NDA forms—but they represent the liberation of the printer into a standalone device that can connect directly to the Web and print content from it. The culmination of this concept to date has been the HP Photosmart eStation, the first standalone family-room Web-enabled printer, which even has a removable controller that can double as a tablet and e-reader.
The Rise of Mobile Printing Apps
There are two types of print apps. The first are mobile printing apps, which enable you to print from an iPhone, iPad, Android, or other mobile device to a printer on the same Wi-Fi network as the mobile device on which the app is installed. Most, like Epson iPrint and HP ePrint, are made by printer manufacturers and print only to their brand of printers. Some are only good for printing photos, though the best of the current lot, such as the Epson, HP, and at least one other yet to be reviewed, can print office files, Web pages, and documents from the Cloud as well as photos, and you can even initiate scans from your handheld through these apps.
Printopia isn't technically a mobile app—it's a program that you install on a Mac—but it serves a similar function, with one twist: it enables you to print, using Apple's AirPrint function, from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from any Wi-Fi printer on your Mac's network. At launch, AirPrint only supported a select group of HP printers, though it has since become compatible with several other brands. Printopia works as billed, although AirPrint itself—which is part of the iOS operating system and thus an integral part of every recent Apple mobile device—isn't as impressive as it once was, as printer makers have unveiled much more full-featured print apps for their customers.
PC-Free Printing
The second kind of printer app actually runs on the printer itself, namely, one of the Web-enabled printers made by HP (who pioneered them) or Lexmark. These printers and multi-function printers (MFPs) are capable of connecting directly to the Web without needing a computer. They can print out content—Sudoku puzzles, maps, coloring book pages, business forms, and other content using these print apps, which can be purchased (or acquired, as many are free) from the HP ePrintCenter or the Lexmark SmartSolutions store for the respective brand of printer. Though we've yet to find a killer Web printing app, these programs are becoming more useful and varied, and hopefully soon more companies will launch Web-enabled printers.
FEATURED IN THIS STORY:
Mobile Printing Apps
Epson iPrint 2.0 (for iPad)
Free
Epson iPrint 2.0 (for iPad) is likely to let you forget all about your Epson printer's lack of AirPrint support. Read the full review ››
HP ePrint Home & Biz v. 4.0
Free
HP ePrint Home & Biz v. 4.0 (for iPhone) lets you print photos, documents, and Web pages with an iPhone to an HP Wi-Fi printer, and initiate scans from your phone. Read the full review ››
PrintJinni for Epson (for iPhone)
Free
PrintJinni for Epson lets you print Office documents, PDFs, and JPEGs from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to an Epson Wi-Fi MFP. Read the full review ››
Printopia
$19.95 direct
Bummed that your non-HP printer won't work with your iPhone and iPad's AirPrint? If you're a Mac user, Printopia is a perfect remedy. Read the full review ››
Web-Enabled Printer Apps
Financial Times News App (for HP Printers)
Free
The Financial Times News App lets you print headlines and story summaries that you can read in full on the Financial Times website. Read the full review ››
LegalZoom Bill of Sale Forms
$29.99 direct
Lexmark's Bill of Sale Forms app makes it easy to print most of legalzoom.com's bills of sale, but it leaves out three, and lacks the ability to modify the text before printing. Read the full review ››
LegalZoom Landlord and Tenant Forms
$39.95 direct
Lexmark's LegalZoom Landlord and Tenant Forms app lets you print a selection of LegalZoom's forms from your printer's front panel, without turning on your computer. Read the full review ››
LegalZoom NDA Forms
$37.95 direct
Lexmark's LegalZoom NDA Forms app makes it easy to print most of LegalZoom's NDA forms, but leaves out two, and gives you no way to personalize the forms before printing. Read the full review ››
Twitter (for Lexmark SmartSolutions)
Free
The Lexmark Twitter Search SmartSolutions app lets anyone with a compatible printer run Twitter searches from their touch screen, no login or Twitter account needed. Read the full review ››