6 things you might not know you can do with your inkjet printer
When it comes to your home printer, you might just be printing the odd photo or perhaps your kids’ homework. But today’s printers are capable of so much more.
Whether you’re looking to increase functionality, save some money on ink or flex your creativity with fun projects, here are a half-dozen cool things you can do with your inkjet printer.
Make photo fridge magnets
Proudly display your memories in a place you visit several times a day: your fridge. You can do this by purchasing magnetic sheets of paper — usually found for about $10 per five-pack at office-supply or craft-supply stores — that can be fed through any regular inkjet printer. Then cut them down to the appropriate size and shape, and have fun dressing up your fridge door with photos of those who matter to you. Tip: Make fun magnets and include them in birthday cards to friends and family.
Save on ink
Along with being more selective about what you print, you can save money on ink with Ecofont, a collection of downloadable font styles that are “perforated.” This means they have little holes in the letters, numbers and symbols and, therefore, when printed, can save up to 50 percent of your ink or toner. Download one font for free (or a $24.95 lifetime license for all), and you’ll see they’re virtually indistinguishable to the naked eye from regular fonts. Not only is this better on your wallet, but it also means fewer ink cartridges in landfill sites.
Back up your files
Most computer printers have ports for USB flash drives and memory cards. While you might think they’re for printing photos or documents directly — and that’s certainly the most popular application — you can also use those ports as added storage for your computer. Leave a spare thumb drive or SD memory card inserted in your printer, and you can save files to it as a backup, just in case of
hard-drive failure, a virus, a power surge and so on. Simply drag and drop files onto the drive letter in Windows Explorer (Windows) or to the Finder (Mac). This often works with wireless printers, too.
Print from outside your home
You’re aware Wi-Fi-enabled printers let you print from within your home, but many of these printers also let you print from anywhere outside the home, too. Often referred to as ePrint, many printers let you set up a free email address for it, which lets you email documents or photos from any smartphone, tablet or computer in the world, and the printing will commence immediately. Imagine taking the train to work and having the print job done before you step in the door? Or giving a nontech-savvy grandma a printer and emailing her photos of the kids? Similarly, some printers support cloud-based printing, via Google CloudPrint and Apple AirPrint.
Print from any iDevice
While millions own an iOS device — iPhone, iPad or iPod touch — only a handful of printers are AirPrint-compatible. Here’s the good news: There are downloadable programs that trick your iOS device into thinking any printer connected to your computer is AirPrint-compatible. Try Readdle’s Printer Pro (for iOS; $6.99), or download a program like OPrint (for Windows; free to try, $19.80 to buy) or handyPrint (for Mac; free) that serves as a middleman between your iDevice and your printer.
Download apps
You might not know it, but your computer printer might be capable of running apps on the printer itself. For printers that support it — as many HP models do — you’ll download and launch apps on the printer’s color screen. Apps could let you print a daily crossword or Sudoku puzzle; coloring pages and activities from Disney and DreamWorks Animation; recipes and menu planners; math sheets and other school-related activities; daily, weekly and monthly calendars; and art projects like finger puppets and 3-D model cars.