Printing over the Internet

This printing scenario may be used in case you would like to print from your Android device to a remote printer; as long as you have Internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile network) and the receiving printer is connected to an intermediate computer with Internet connection, you will be able to print. If you would like a print job sent from your Android device to be printed shortly after you sent it to a receiving computer, the latter should be switched on, should not be in hibernation or in sleep mode and should be connected to the Internet. If your computer switches over to hibernation mode or to sleep mode, and you would like to keep it in ‘awake’ state, you will need to go to Control panel on your Windows machine > power management and adjust it accordingly. Otherwise, if your computer is offline or switched off, a print job will be parked at our servers and wait for your computer to log back in to the system, upon which PrinterShare will download the print job and will print it if it is set for automatic printing (alternatively it will download the print job and wait for a command to print the received print job).

A printer that you would like to print to remotely does not have to be necessarily physically connected to your computer (via USB or a parallel port) and can also be connected wirelessly, but it should already be configured to work with your computer.

1. The first step is to download PrinterShare console. Installers are available on our web page for free.
2. Once the software is installed on your computer, run it, but make sure that your printer (or printers) is switched on.
3. Now, you will need to create an account for remote printing. Left-click User > Log in.



4. Left-click button
5. Input your password and your email address. The user ID (a numerical value) will be generated automatically and sent to the email you have specified in this form along with your password.
6. Now that you're logged in, you'll need to share your printer online. Select the needed printer by left-clicking it in Local printers section of the main PrinterShare console screen.

   

   Then -- once it is highlighted -- press Local printers section with the list of printers. It will then appear in the list of remote printers with status. It will also be shared as a nearby printer.
7. Now, take your Android device and check that Wi-Fi is active on it by going to Settings > Wireless & Networks (Wi-Fi box should be checked) and that you are connected to a Wi-Fi network (Settings > Wireless & Networks > Wi-Fi settings). If you would like to print over mobile network, check that data access over mobile network is enabled (Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile networks, check Data enabled box).
8. With that taken care of, take your Android device and open PrinterShare by tapping on its icon.
9. If that is the first time you run PrinterShare, you will see a splash screen with two buttons: Read More (which will provide you with general information on PrinterShare’s functionality) and Continue. Tap Continue once you are ready to proceed.
10. You will see the main PrinterShare screen with icons that allow you to access various items that can be printed. Below the grid of icons you will see an icon of a printer with Not Selected displayed beside it. To select your shared printer, press the menu button on your device. The way your menu button looks and its location depend on the model of your Android device. Menu button can be a physical button that has to be depressed, a touch-sensitive button or it could be displayed on your device’s screen.

Examples of how a menu button may look:



11. Your Android device can be signed in to the same account as the receiving computer or can be signed in under a different account. If you would like to print using the same account on your Android device and on the receiving computer, tap Remote printer in the dialogue window that appears.

    

    Tap Login and enter your User ID and password which were assigned to your account which you created in desktop PrinterShare console previously. If you would like to print from your Android device using a different account than that in to which the receiving computer is signed in, you will need to create a new account. Tap New user and enter your name and your Email in the dialogue window that appears on your screen. Once you click 'ok', the login/password information will be sent to your email address for reference. Pressing Add Printer button will allow you to search for the account ID of the computer from which a printer that you would like to print to is shared.
12. You will then see the name of the printer displayed; tap it and you are ready to print.
13. Once you select an item you would like to print from the main menu of PrinterShare app, you will be taken to Print Preview screen where you will be able to adjust printing option (paper type, quality of printing, etc.) by tapping Options button which is located beside Print button that will, in its turn, actually send an item for printing.
    
    If the item you have sent for printing does not print shortly after you tapped Print, you will need to check whether print job is not waiting for your command to print in PrinterShare console on your computer. You can see a list of pending print jobs in Incoming window which you can access by clicking button located below Local Printers section of the main screen. Select the arrived print job by left-clicking it and then click Print button.

*Please note that PrinterShare console ‘looks’ for new print jobs every 2 minutes; if you would like to speed up the process of discovery, right-click PrinterShare console icon in system tray and left-click Check for new jobs.

PrinterShare console can handle incoming print jobs depending on the account they are sent from. To add a new custom rule, click Printer > Automation, left-click button, input account ID from which jobs are going to arrive; you can block print jobs from certain accounts (reject automatically), print jobs can be downloaded and wait for your command to print (do nothing) or printed once they are received (print automatically); accounts that are not added manually fall into category of Anyone, and print jobs arriving from these accounts will be handled according to the rule set for Anyone.

You can automate printing by left-clicking Printer > Automation and setting the account from which print job is originated to Print automatically in desktop PrinterShare console.