Print documents anywhere from all of your gadgets with Google

By Kim Komando  |  komando.com

With the popularity of tablets, smartphones, netbooks and Chromebooks, you probably have a handful of gadgets around your home and office. They're great tools for sending emails, working on documents and taking care of other daily tasks. That's great, but those gadgets usually come up short when you need to print something out.

To print your stuff, you likely still have to be in your home or office and use a desktop computer or laptop. That's not the case anymore, though. Google has developed a solution to help you send documents straight from any of your gadgets to your printer from anywhere with an Internet or data connection.

With Google Cloud Print, you can print your documents from just about anywhere. All you have to do is connect your printer to your Google account using the Cloud Print homepage.

Google suggests using a newer Cloud Ready Printer, but the service will work with classic printers, too.

You can print through a variety of apps on any of your gadgets like Google Chrome, Cloud Print for Android and PrintCentral for iPhones and iPads.


GOOGLE CLOUD PRINT

To get started with Google Cloud Print, you'll need a Google account. Then, visit the Cloud Print link below and click the "Try it Now" button at the top of the page. You'll see the option to save the document as a PDF to Google Drive or print to a nearby FedEx location.

To add your printer to your account, click the "Connect your printer to Google using Google Cloud Print!" link. Google will then give you the instructions you need based on what type of printer you have. Setting up a Cloud Ready Printer is easy because they connect directly to the web.

But, you can still connect a classic printer like most people have. It'll just take a few more steps. You'll need to be at a computer that's connected to your printer to set it up. You'll also want to make sure the Google Chrome browser is installed. Then, just follow Google's directions to add your printer.

Once you're printer is added, you can send documents to it from anywhere using any gadget or computer. You can even share access to your printers with friends, family and coworkers. There's a full list of Cloud Print compatible apps for your gadgets on the site, too.