This article will show you how to select and set up a wireless printer in iOS 7 and iOS 8, so that you can print wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch with AirPrint. With an AirPrint enabled printer, anytime you need to print when you are on the same wireless network as the printer, you can just simply select print from any iOS app that supports printing. Here is a scenario to demonstrate how helpful this can be. My workplace has an Epson printer that supports AirPrint from iDevices. I had created a Pages document on my Mac Mini at home and saved it via iCloud. When I got to work, I needed to make some changes but I wasn’t in a place where I had access to my computer. So, I simply opened the document I had been working on at home in the Pages App on my iPhone. I quickly made the changes and then printed the newly updated document wirelessly to the Epson printer at work. I love it when technology just works! So, here is how to find a printer, set it up, and then print to it in iOS 7 and iOS 8 from your iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch.

1. Select your printer

There are hundreds of printers that now support AirPrint. This makes it easy to find a printer that will have the features and cost point that you are looking for. Just be sure that the description states that the printer can print to an iPhone, iPad (Mini), or iPod Touch using AirPrint. There are a lot of printers out there that have an e-print feature that is different than AirPrint and it doesn’t work nearly as seamlessly. I have selected 3 printers that I know have AirPrint compatibility and are all under or around $100. These printers are perfect for your everyday printing needs. Here they are (each of the links will take you to the printer on Amazon):

Airprint Compatible Printers on Amazon

1. Canon PIXMA MX922 Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax
2. Epson Expression Home XP-420 Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner & Copier
3. Brother MFC-J870DW Wireless Color Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax

For an exhaustive list of AirPrint enabled printers, see this article: AirPrint Compatible Printers

2. Setup Your Wireless Printer

Setting up most wireless printers is quite easy. All you will need to do is turn it on and enable the wireless signal. Then, find your wireless network and select it, entering your wireless network passcode. Once you have connected your printer to your wireless network, the next time you go to print from your iDevice, you will be able to select the wireless printer and print to it.

3. Print! Using your New Wireless Printer

There are quite a few apps that support printing on the iPhone, iPad (Mini) and iPod Touch. Here are a few of those: Mail App – Emails (tap on the share arrow at the bottom center to see a Print option when viewing an email), Mail App – Attachments (tap on the share arrow at the top right of any open email attachment to see the Print option), Pages App (tap the wrench icon in the upper right corner to see Print option when viewing a document), QuickOffice Pro (tap the printer icon at the top right of the screen – note: this app can open, edit, and print Microsoft Office documents including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint – see this article for more on How To Open and Edit MS Office Documents on iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch), Photos App (tap the share icon at the bottom left corner when viewing a photo to see Print option), and Safari (tap the share icon in the bottom middle of the browser to print a webpage). Of course, you can print anything that appears anywhere on your iPhone, iPad (Mini), or iPod Touch screen by simply taking a screen shot and then printing the screenshot from the Photos app (to take a screenshot on your iOS Device, simultaneously push the Home Button and the On/Off Button – the screenshot will appear in your Cameral Roll).

When you print something from your iDevice, the Print Center will be active in your multitasking tray until your print job has completed. The Printer Center appears to the left of your home screen when you enter multitasking mode. Once the printing is complete, the Print Center will disappear from the multitasking tray automatically. If you need to cancel a printing job, all you need to do is double tap the Home Button and tap on the Print Center icon. Then tap Cancel Printing.