Earlier this week my trustworthy wireless inkjet HP 410 printer stopped working in the middle of night. I urgently needed to print out some documents for the next morning and therefore I had to bring out my old Canon PIXMA MP258 printer from the basement storage. Surprisingly it was still working after more than 2 years of abandonment and sitting in a dark closet. The inkjet cartridges had to be cleaned but after that it started working like it is brand new. The only problem was that it is a wired printer. Fortunately a simple app called PrinterShare solved my problem in seconds.
With the help of PrinterShare, we can share any wired printer connected to a Windows PC over a WiFi network, Bluetooth or the internet. Here is how:
On the PC to which the wired printer is connected:
- Download and install PrinterShare server from http://printershare.com/download-windows.sdf.
- After the installation, you are asked to login. Choose to “Signup for a new account”, supply an email address and it will email you the login details.
- After you have logged in to PrinterShare server, you will see a list of available printers on your PC. Select the printer you want to share, and click on Share button. Its status will change to “Shared” in the list.
On the remote device from where you want to print:
- Install PrinterShare client application (for Windows PC) or PrinterShare app (for Android).
- Tap on Select and then choose how you want to connect to the printer – Nearby WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, or PrinterShare Remote. For Nearby WiFi your remote device has to be on the same network as your Windows PC. For Bluetooth both your PC and remote device must have Bluetooth enabled and should be very close. For PrinterShare Remote, both devices should be connected to the internet. You may have to enter your PrinterShare login credentials for proceeding.
- Once it finds a printer on your selected method (for example, Nearby WiFi), it will show you the available shared printer list. Tap on the printer you want and it is done. You can print a test page if you want.
- Back to PrinterShare interface, you can choose to print pictures, contacts, web pages, messages, email messages, documents, content from your Google Drive and so on.
This is a quick and easy way to share your wired printers over WiFi network, Bluetooth or even the internet through the PrinterShare software. The free version has the limitation of limiting a single print job to have only 20 pages. These limitations can be removed by purchasing a software license for PrinterShare Premium.