If you don’t have a cloud-ready printer available, and you need to print from your Android device, Jack Wallen shows you how to add a printing service to make this possible.
Printing from Android is incredibly easy when you have a cloud-ready printer available. But what about those situations when one such printer isn’t handy? Are you out of luck? No. In fact, Android actually makes it possible to install printer services for a number of different printer manufacturers…all from within Settings.
Let me show you how to install a printer service for Android. Before we do this, your Android device must be on the same wireless network as is your printer. If not, this won’t work.
Although this feature has been around for a while, in some instances of Android, the Printing option has moved. Open up Settings and, if you don’t find Printing listed, tap on Advanced. There it is. Tap Printing and then tap ADD SERVICE. This will open the Google Play Store with a listing of all the available printer services. Scroll through the list until you find the app that matches your printer. Tap that app and then tap INSTALL. Allow the installation to complete and then back up to Settings | Printing (or Settings | Advanced | Printing). At this point you can configure the printer. Depending on the printer, the available options will vary. In some cases, there is only On or Off. In some cases, such as the Samsung printer service, tap the menu button and then tap Add printer. From the next window, tap ADD PRINTER, give the printer a name, enter its IP address, and tap OK. You should now be able to print to this particular printer. Each printer setup will vary, but will complete with a working printer.
Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.
