With the rising popularity of could-based computing, people continue to find new uses for cloud technology. This increasingly useful technology can be used in a variety of ways, including printing remotely using the cloud. There are a handful of ways that one can print remotely using the cloud, each of which has its own benefits and its own weaknesses.
E-Mail Printers
Hewlitt-Packard, Kodak and Epson all produce printers that are known as “e-mail printers.” In short, these printers have the ability to receive emails, read the emails and print out files attached to the email.
Using one of these printers is extremely easy. One simply needs to compose an email, attach the file you need printed and then send that email off to the printer. E-mail printers are one of the simplest ways to get a functioning cloud printing service working. Of course, the disadvantage to an e-mail printer is that, for most people, it requires the purchase of a new piece of hardware; the e-mail printer itself. This can make it one of the most expensive methods of printing through the cloud.
Google Cloud Print
For those who would rather achieve similar results without an extra layout of cash, Google’s Cloud Print service is free and tied to a Google account. To use this service, all you need is a printer attached to your computer, the Chrome browser and a Google account.
Before you can use Google Cloud Print, you must first configure your Chrome browser to activate cloud printing. This can be found under the Settings tab and the Advanced Settings link. Simply add your printer and you are ready to go.
From the remote device, be it your smartphone, tablet or laptop, you need only be signed in to your Google account. Make sure the document you want to print is in your Google Drive. Select that document and print it, and that’s all there is to it.
This method of cloud printing is simple to set up, easy to use and, perhaps best of all, free. The only real disadvantage is that you must use the Chrome browser and have a Google account, but considering how many people have those already, that’s really not too much of a disadvantage.
Printing With Dropbox
The cloud storage service Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud services out there, so much so that it is nearly synonymous in many peoples’ minds. Printing using Dropbox is also a fairly simple process. Anyone with a Dropbox account, the Dropbox app on their tablet or smart phone and a desktop or laptop computer connected to a printer can make use of this trick.
The first thing that will need to be done is to install a small Visual Basic program that runs in the background onto your Windows machine. You can find and download the program here. With a workaround, this can also be installed on Macs and Linux boxes. The source code for this program can be found here. What this file will do is monitor a specific Dropbox folder. When a file is placed into that Dropbox folder and the folder on the PC syncs with Dropbox, it will print whatever is in that folder. You will likely want to create a new folder for Dropbox files you plan to print, and don’t share it out lest your friends print waste your printer ink sending prank print jobs to your Dropbox folder.
On the remote device, you should have the Dropbox app installed. Dropbox apps are available for a wide variety of devices. When you want to print something from your remote device, simply drop the file into the special Dropbox folder and it will print out.
Printing Remotely Is Easy
As you can see, setting up a system to print from the cloud is simple and quick to set up. Other methods exist, but these are the simplest.
Photo credit: Johnny Ryan