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Printing directly with bluetooth printer

Benda

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Hi
Is there any program that will allow me to print directly via a bluetooth connection to a portable.
If yes which printers are avaiable.
Thank you
 

twerppoet

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Afraid not. The iPad does not support bluetooth printers.

As far as I know, the below is the current state of iPad printing.

And before you ask :) None of the current AirPrint printers can be considered mobile, though I believe there is a smallish All-in-One from Cannon. Both the printer and iPad have to be on the same network, so you can't just use a printer and iPad. You also need a wi-fi network they can both join.

_________________



Some printers are directly compatible with AirPrint on the iPad. This includes several HP printers and a smaller selection of Canon and Epson printers. Be absolutely certain the printer supports AirPrint before buying. Some printers may require a firmware update to work. These are usually available on the manufacturers site. If you get this kind of printer you can print directly from within apps that support the feature, which is many.

iOS: AirPrint 101

Of course some of us already have printers and do not want to buy a new one. There are a couple ways to do this.

One is to use a printing app on the iPad.
Most (or all) other print apps can only print pictures and/or files that have been copied to that app via Open In or other method. Print n Share used to be able to print from AirPrint enabled apps if it was loaded the background. It lost this ability with iOS 5. It may still work with iOS 4 if you get it before the app is updated in the App Store.

The second method is to load a program on the computer that will emulate an AirPrint compatible printer. Your computer must be on and have the printer available to it. The cheapest (free) is Airprint Activator. More features can be had with FingerPrint (mac and windows) and Printopia (mac only).

There is a third way. A few printers (mostly HP's again) can be set up with their own email address. PDF attachments can be sent via this address to be printed. The last review I saw (several months ago) said it could be quite slow (big files not recommended), and sometimes the emails got lost and never printed. The advantage was that you could literally send/print from anywhere you have an internet connection.
 

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