Printing is pretty much dead in this all-digital world, but there are still some things you can’t easily digitize: shipping labels, bulletin board flyers, printing out an email for your boss, and sticking joke memes in your co-workers’ cubicles. And in this age where you do almost everything on your phone, it’s nice to have the option to print from it instead of having to jump to a computer.
Apple has managed to create one of the easiest methods of printing from a smartphone, prompting many printer manufacturers to adopt its AirPrint wireless printing feature. Apple also has a really easy way to create PDF documents instead of a traditional hard copy – if you know how to get there. In this article, we will show you both.
Print with AirPrint
It’s important to note that printing via AirPrint may not support all printer features, but you’ll likely get options for: number of copies, range, paper size, orientation, scaling, and other basic features.
To get started, you must have access to a wireless or network printer that supports Apple’s driverless AirPrint printing system. If you don’t have a printer yet, see how to choose the right one. If you’ve purchased a wireless printer in the last five years (or even up to 10 years in HP’s case), chances are it already supports AirPrint. Some printer manufacturers may also include an app that can print files from your device or via their own cloud service, but these are usually not as easy or convenient to use as AirPrint.
Next, make sure your iPhone and the printer are connected to the same wireless network. If your printer has an Ethernet port, you can alternatively connect it directly to your wireless router with an Ethernet cable and still be able to AirPrint from your iPhone. In corporate environments, your IT department may need to open the feature to allow printing from your iPhone.
OK – now it’s time to print something:
- Open what you want to print: an email or email attachment, a website in Safari, a file in the Files app, a photo, and so on.
- Tap the Share button to open the share sheet, then scroll down and tap the Print button. Some apps may have the print button elsewhere. For example, to print an email message in the Mail app, you need to tap the Reply button, then find Print at the bottom of the list of reply options.
- On the print options screen that appears, select a printer if there isn’t already a default option.
- You can now select the range of pages you want to print, quantity of copies, enable duplex printing and various other printing options.
- Tap Print and it’s off!
You can see the print queue/order status by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (iPhone with Face ID or iPad) or by double-clicking the home button (iPhone with Touch ID) to get to the App Switcher. You can also cancel the print here if it is not yet complete.
The print queue only appears in the App Switcher during active printing. Tap for a print summary while printing is still active, and you can also cancel it here.
Print to PDF file
It’s amazing how a useful feature like printing to PDF is treated as an Easter egg in iOS — especially since macOS has had an easy-to-see Save as PDF option for years. There is no PDF print button on iOS; instead you zoom in on the document to get the option, here’s how:
- Using the instructions above, get to the print options screen for the file or page you want to convert to PDF (see instructions above).
- Pinch in the preview of the print document as if you want to enlarge it. It will fly towards you like entering a new video game scene.
- You now have a PDF document open. You can scroll between pages, zoom, and search for text on this screen, all to confirm that the document you want looks right.
- Tap the Share button at the bottom left.
- Choose Save to Files to specify where you want to save the document, or choose another app to send it directly to someone, such as Mail, Messages, or AirDrop.
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