FAQ: Can I print to a LabelWriter from an iPad?

Q) We are implementing a check in system and there is a mobile option available to be used with iPads. The company says the labelwriters won't print from an iPad. I find this a little hard to believe with all the advances in technology we have. Can it be done? Is there a special app to get around the system? Or is there a way to connect our labelwriters to the iPad?

There are two problems here.  Firstly, the iPad prints using AirPrint and the printer must support this (the Dymo's don't).  The Second is that the iPad (and other IDevices) are wireless, while the Labelwriter is a USB printer - and the iPad doesn't have a USB port, so there is no way to physically connect them.

So the printer would need to be connected to some other device which the iPad could print to, such as a PC/Mac or a print server (a small network device that can accept print jobs and send them to the printer - often used to share a non-networked printer between multiple PC's on a network).

In this case it would need to be some kind of wireless print server (that supports AirPrint), though we're not aware of any specific model that supports the Dymo machines and is wireless.  There is a Dymo Labelwriter specific Printer Server, but this is just a standard network device, not wireless.

So realistically, you'd need a Mac (or PC with suitable software) and then print that way.  You could try something like "Print n Share" by EuroSmartz, available in the iTunes store.  This allows printing to all sorts of devices from and iPhone/Ipad, including LabelWriters - but whether your specific app can use this to print is something you'd have to ask them directly.

We'd recommend checking this with your app provider and EuroSmartz before proceeding.