Printing from iPad or iPhone via AirPrint and CUPS
Conclusions
In contrast to the popular workarounds using specialized printer apps, this approach does not require any intervention on the Apple device. You just use the existing print function. Figure 2 shows you what this process looks like on the iPad.
Figure 2: Printing from the iPad: Thanks to CUPS and Avahi, you can print from any computer via your Linux PC without worrying about configuration.
In just a few steps, you have prepared a CUPS server for printing via AirPrint. This saves you money, because not all printers support this technology out the box.
Moreover, the approach poses no specific requirements on the printer. The adjustments are made entirely on the Linux PC. In principle, this approach should work with any mini-server running embedded Linux, too.
Infos
- AirPrint: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356
- Zeroconf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeroconf
- Avahi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avahi_(software)
- AirPrint support in Natty and Oneiric: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-June/033612.html
- Bonjour: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_(software)
- CUPS configuration: http://www.debianadmin.com/setup-cups-common-unix-printing-system-server-and-client-in-debian.html
- AirPrint generate: https://github.com/tjfontaine/airprint-generate
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