Printopia Makes AirPrint on iOS 4.2 Devices More Possible

AirPrint was one of the big tent pole features Apple touted for its iOS 4.2 update. There were rumors it wouldn’t be included and it did make it to the 4.2.1 release. But you do need to have your printers set up appropriately. An AirPrint-ready printer smooths things along so I’m told. I don’t have one, so I wouldn’t know, and actually didn’t plan on finding out.

That changed when I heard of this application. If you’re not in the market for a new printer or don’t have the appropriately networked printers you might want to try Printopia.  It is a Mac App not an iOS App.  It allows you to use the AirPrint capability from your iOS 4.2 device to print to any printer hanging off of your Mac computer and a bit more.

Printopia also allows you to print (send) to your Dropbox or Print (or send) to your Mac. Both options let you send a PDF or JPG file.

Your success with Printopia depends largely on the Apps you’re trying to print from. I tested it out using Pages and it works like a charm. Other Apps that don’t offer you a print option (usually found under the Share or Tools buttons) can’t take advantage of this.

You can try Printopia free for seven days. It costs you $9.99 after the trial or if you just want to plunge ahead. The setup is pretty straightforward (I’m using the free trial), and it worked for me as advertised.