[Discuss] printing from tablets

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Edward Ned Harvey wrote:
> How do you print from Android?  I don't know.
> 
> If google has anything to do about it, I'm sure they have a way to enable
> CloudPrint.  So far in chrome ... It's a good idea, but it doesn't work
> reliably, so it's a disappointment.  I hope they'll get it right someday.

Yes, they have an app[1] for Google Cloud Print[2], though it seems to
be half-heartedly supported. (It isn't published under Google's name. It
isn't clear whether the author is a Google employee or independent.)

The app basically takes content from your Android device and packages it
up as a PDF file, send it to a cloud server, which a client service
running on one of your desktop machines retrieves and sends to your printer.

(I thought maybe Google Cloud Print might be a way to work around the
distortion I see when I network print from a Linux desktop to a
Windows-attached Canon inkject - supposedly due to bugs in the Linux
printer driver. But although Chrome on Linux does include the Google
Cloud Print client, it only works as a printer server. Unlike on
Windows, it doesn't create a virtual printer driver.

Note, if you search for information on Google Cloud Print and Linux,
you'll get a bunch of hits on a Python script that layers on top of CUPS
to again let your Linux attached printers act as cloud printers. From
what I've read it also doesn't provide a virtual driver. And it appears
to have been obsoleted by what is now built-in to Chrome...unless you
don't want to install Chrome.)

1. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pauloslf.cloudprint
2. http://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/


> In Dolphin Browser Mini ... I don't even see a print button.  Maybe
> it's somehow hidden...

That seems to be the bigger problem with printing on Android. It isn't
anticipated by the applications. It's glued-on as an afterthought.

If I recall correctly, the printer app shows up as a target on the
"Share" menu. I'm not sure how/if that works for things like web pages
that need to be rendered. For things like images (the only thing I've
tried printing so far) you can either "Share" them or select them from
the file system.

As you pointed out there isn't a big need for printing on Android, so
maybe the poor integration isn't that much of a loss.

But if you are a consumer who just bought a "Google Cloud Print-Ready"
printer (available from HP, Epson), and an Android tablet, and you
expect your photo manager app to be able to trivially print off your
chosen photos, you might be disappointed. (Maybe it's better in Android
4.0.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/