My Ever Expanding iPad

My iPad 2 (WiFi) continues to become a valuable tool.  I bought it primarily to use for emails, and web surfing.  It has evolved to a game console, a highly sophisticated GPS navigation system ( Add GPS To Your iPad 2 WiFi http://wp.me/p2J68t-aY), a remote for my Media center (XBMC Media Center Setup http://wp.me/p2J68t-87), and a tool to access and maintain my server (WebSSH Connects To SSH Secure Servers From iPad or iPhone http://wp.me/p2J68t-6u).  Thanks to Print n Share, my iPad is now becoming a laptop replacement, and as a result, an invaluable business tool.

Print n Share does more than print

I actually more or less backed into Print n Share.  I use a Logitech Keyboard and fairly decent office suite (Office2 HD). To take advantage of the office suite and fully transition the iPad to laptop status, the iPad needs to print.  So, I began combing the App Store for an app to do just that.  After kicking a few programs around, I came across Print n Share.  Initially, it looked like it had more “bells and whistles” than I needed, but I thought I would give it go.  I am glad I did. This is truly an amazing bit of software, and those “bells and whistles” combine to create a robust business app. It is well engineered, and focuses the iPad into a solid business oriented machine.

A major key to Print n Share’s strength, rests in its design.  The program elegantly creates a separate interface within iOS.  Here, you have the ability to use a well sorted out email client, and access your calendar, contacts, the web, images, along with additional clipboard functionality.  You can print to network, shared, and WiFi printers.  Additional software is used for network and shared printers (a free download, that creates a small print server for shared printers, and allows a pass through for network attached printers).  You can also share files from specific folders between your computers and the Print n Share interface.

Here is more detail about the program’s features, as described by software’s publisher, EuroSmartz (http://mobile.eurosmartz.com):

• Fully Functional Printing with Options. Print direct to most existing WiFi or shared printers, or use the free printer software for ALL printers.
• USB & Bluetooth printers can be used with free print server software.
• Also print to AirPrint printers. Print remotely via 3G/4G. Print using ALL the same document formats to ALL printers that can used by your Mac/PC (e.g. USB, WiFi, Bluetooth, shared, networked etc.).
• Convert documents to PDF files (in-app upgrade).
• Print from Pages, Numbers or Keynote to ANY printer.
• Use “Open in Another App” to print in just a few taps.
• Print all your documents and files to ANY existing printer.
• Calendar:  Viewing and Printing (in-app upgrade.) Calendar viewing and printing. Utilizes existing calendar entries. View by Day/Week/Month. Handy Month drop-down view. Easily create new appointments. Integrated with Exchange, Apple and Google Calendars.

• 

  Email:  Print email and attachments. Access multiple email accounts. View favorite email accounts together in a single inbox. Save emails and attachments. Attach multiple files and images to new emails. Send emails with formatted text and embedded images. Insert contact details into emails. Forward and reply to emails. Full screen viewing of emails. Queue emails for sending later. View queued and sent emails. Supports POP3, IMAP and SSL email accounts. Supports most Exchange 2007 OWA servers. Filter IMAP/OWA email by date.  Advanced Email (in-app upgrade) IMAP sync for sent/deleted emails Email search multiple fields for filtering View emails belonging to each contact Move emails to IMAP server folders

•  Documents:  View/Print Office 2007, XP, 2003 & 2008 files. View/Print iWork Pages, Numbers & KeyNote files. Store documents, attachments and images.  Zip/Unzip files directly on your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. View files/documents in portrait, landscape and full screen mode. Playback iPad or iPhone supported audio and video files. Edit and print text documents.
• Sharing:  Group files into folders. Drag and drop files and folders to arrange. Navigate through your computer’s folders to find files. Copy whole folders from your computer Share files with several Macs and PCs, even remotely Print to PDF (in-app upgrade.) Convert common file formats into a PDF. Save Web pages as PDFs Email PDFs directly from within the app. Use “Open in…” to transfer files from other apps & make them into PDFs (other app will need to support “Open in…”).  WiFi Hard Drive Mount your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch as a network disk on your Mac/PC. Drag and drop documents & files to/from your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. Open, view & send documents and files while away from your Mac/PC Cloud Services (in-app upgrade). Google Docs box, ShareFile CloudMe, DropBox FTP servers WebDAV Print contacts.
• Contacts:  Select multiple contacts for printing. Print as combined list or card layout. Insert contact details into emails.  Add received email addresses to your contacts. Search for contacts. Sort by first or last name.
• Photos: Print photos. Select and print multiple photos from your album. Use the camera to take photos and print straight away. Save photos as files for viewing or emailing. Move photos to a folder on your computer, Email photos as attachments or embedded in messages.Select print orientation and size before printing. View photos in full screen mode.
• Web Pages:  Print from Safari by inserting a z before http for any web page.  Copy and paste web pages which will retain formatting. Print web pages as you are browsing within the app. Send web pages as email attachments. Full screen browsing view. Save web pages as files for printing or viewing later. Save page bookmarks. Import bookmarks from your PC or Mac. Bookmark folders Forward and back navigation.
• Clipboard: Archive and Transfer (in-app upgrade.) Copy and print items from other apps. Copy & transfer to another iPad/iPhone. Copy & transfer to your PC/Mac via WiFi Copy & transfer from your PC or Mac. Archive clipboard items. Transfer clipboard via Bluetooth.

Putting It To Use

Simply put, it works as advertised.  The only real issues I have is with the email client, – it  takes a little too long to draw graphics.  I do not have a WiFi printer, so I needed to download the free software connecting package from EuroSmartz.  I installed the software, and within a couple of minutes, I was printing to my Canon Pro 9000 Mark II printer (this is a “professional” quality photo printer, so I wondered if printing to it would sort successfully, – it did, and prints great).  Saving documents and folders to share or archive are a snap.  Cloud access adds flexibility to the sharing process.  This is a well integrated package.

Tired of lugging around that laptop?  Putting Print n Share on your iPad will go along way in turning your laptop into a paper weight.  The app in available at the App Store for $9.99.