How do I print from my iPad ?

Printopia is a ripoff, don't believe what you read here. I paid and "downloaded," it never appeared on my iPad. Now I have to go through the whole paypal refund fiasco, which apparently takes three months. This thing is a scam and the positive reviews are clearly from the alleged "company." Don't buy this. You can't print from an iPad, period.

Printopia actually runs on a computer that the printer you want to print to is connected to.

It acts as a bridge between the "Air Print" feature built into your iPad, and the Printer. It is not something that runs on your iPad, and frankly, you don't want it to, you want to use the built in software, it works very well.

orangeiguana wrote:

Printopia is a ripoff, don't believe what you read here. I paid and "downloaded," it never appeared on my iPad. Now I have to go through the whole paypal refund fiasco, which apparently takes three months. This thing is a scam and the positive reviews are clearly from the alleged "company." Don't buy this. You can't print from an iPad, period.

Strange. I've been printing from several iPads for a number of years now!

orangeiguana wrote:

Printopia is a ripoff, don't believe what you read here. I paid and "downloaded," it never appeared on my iPad.

It's not supposed to appear on yoru iPad.

It is an application for your computer.

Now I have to go through the whole paypal refund fiasco, which apparently takes three months. This thing is a scam

Which is why I recommend you NEVER use PayPal for anything It is a scam.

Don't buy this. You can't print from an iPad, period.

I print from my iPad all the time, thanks!

Thanks nice folks for your replies! I'm still mystified though. I have a computer which died this morning, and I also have a computer connected via WiFi to an HP laser printer. I have always been able to print via laptop to the printer, but now the laptop is not available. I am one of those weirdos without a PhD in computer science. Here's what I don't understand:

1.Is Printopia an app to connect your laptop to printer, or mobile device to printer? I'm unclear on why I would want to use it with a laptop, as it communicates just fine without it with the printer.

2. One of you helpful people suggested there is a built-in app in my iPad to print? If so, how do I locate and use it?

Many thanks. I am tearing my hair out.

Printopia is an application that runs on your Mac be it a laptop or desktop and allows AirPrint compatible devices such as an iPad or iPhone to find and use a non airPrint enabled Printer that is already setup on your Mac, be it wirelessly or wired directly to the Mac.

Printopia wrote:

Printopia allows you to share any printer already configured on your Mac. To enable or disable a printer, select the checkbox to the left of the printer in the Printopia settings screen. Once shared, it will be visible to supported iPhone and iPad devices in the Print options screen.

iOS 4.3 and above include the abilty to print from certain apps. There is no dedicated App per-se, its an option in many apps in the Send To menu (The twisted arrow icon in a box or just the Arrow Icon.

For instance in the Mail app on an iPad while looking on an emial if you tap on the arrow icon on the top right corner, one of the options is Print. Tap on it, and the Printer Options pop up allowing you to print that email to a detected printer.

Printopia allows printing and sending of files even when no compatible printer can be found, be emulating one from the computer its running on, so the iDevice can find it.

For more:

http://www.ecamm.com/mac/printopia/instructions.html

Phil, thanks for your patience, but I'm not finding this. When I click on the arrow, no printers are found. I think the problem may be that my laptop has died, so it is not communicating with WiFi. Also, I'm only on an iPad2, so unlike a laptop or disktop, there is no way to detect the operating system # and I'm guessing it is older than the one you mention.

This may help: AirPrint Basics

Don't know if your printer is AirPrint compatible.

You can check this list and see if your printer is AirPrint compatible.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356

If its not in the list, you can install Printopia on your Mac and make it appear on the Printers on your iPad.

To find the IOS version of your iPAd go to Settings->General->About Where its says Version is the version of your iOS.

Phil, again thanks for the great info. I'm assuming Printers is in iPad settings, but I'm not seeing it. Do you know where it is? Sorry to be such a dunce!

thanks RBI, I tried everything here already, but will go through it again as I may have missed something. I have a Genius Bar appt tomorrow for the laptop service, so maybe they will help me see what I'm missing.

There is no Printers in settings. Again if your printer is AriPrint compatible it will show up in the Send to Button when you tap Print.

If its not showing up there, then its either not connected to the Wifi network or is not an AirPrint enabled Printer.

Whcih is where Printopia would come in, and installing it on the MAc and having it running will let the iPad pickup a Printer that ahs been setup on the Mac even if its not AirPrint compatible.

Your printer does not need to be AirPrint compatible. This is why you got Printopia.

If it is AirPrint compatible, you do not need Printopia.

Phil, thanks for your patience, but I'm not finding this. When I click on the arrow, no printers are found. I think the problem may be that my laptop has died, so it is not communicating with WiFi.

Did you first install and run Printopia on your Mac?

You need to do this and have your Mac running to print from your iPad to the printer (through the Mac).

Your Mac need to be on the the same local network as your iPad when you print.

Also, I'm only on an iPad2, so unlike a laptop or disktop, there is no way to detect the operating system #

On the iPad, Settings > General > About.

Hey Chris and other helpful peeps,

Thanks for sticking with me! So it seems I need to download Printopia to the Mac first, which is impossible and the reason I'm here as my Mac died this morning and I'm left with only an iPad.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but why is Printopia necessary if you need a laptop? I can easily print from my laptop to my Airport-connected printer, except my MacBook Pro has expired. There's obviously a reason for this software to exist -- which I clearly am not understanding -- for people with no laptop but only an iPad from which to print. I need to print from iPad to printer without another computer, and I have an HP laserjet 1300 connected to the Airport.

Any ideas? I'm sinking here, but have a 10 am appointment at the Genius Bar. Thanks again, sorry if I appear to be a dolt, I'm really trying and appreciating your info.

Printopia let's you print from an iPad or iPhone to a printer connected to a Mac computer. That's it.

It is not to let you print from the Mac computer, there's no reason for that.

If you don't have a computer available , then you have 2 options to print from the iPad.

1. If the printer is AirPrint compatible, you don't need anything else. (AirPrint is the technology that allows an iPad or iPhone to print to a printer that has it)

2. If the printer is not AirPrint compatible then some manufacturers make printing Apps you can use.

For instance if your printer is an HP Printer, HP was a proprietary app in the App Store that will let you print to the printer.

Again look at the list of Printers in the article we've linked to, and make sure the printer you have is in the list.

If its not in the list, you will have to find the app from the maker of your printer, or tell us the make and model of your printer and we may give you a link to it if there is one.