The schools in the district have always offered tax preparation help for low income families. People volunteer to prepare the taxes and then they print them off and mail it for the families. During the last hardware refresh, a few of the elementary schools got rid of the Windows computer labs. The teachers and staff all have Windows laptops still though. They canceled it this year with the reason that they can’t print off the returns since they can’t print off the Chromebooks.
I understand that the printers they have maybe older, but I thought there was a way to print from a Chromebook that was on the same network as a printer attached to a Windows computer? I’ve done this with a Chromebook before, but I think I had to be signed into Chrome on both devices for it to work? I can see why that would be a problem here but still seems like there should be a way for this to work.
skane2600
<p>Printing from a Chromebook is always a hit or miss affair. It's definitely the biggest limitation they have. Since allowing Android apps to run has burst the "everything is done on the web" principle, Chromebooks need to support conventional printer drivers if they are going to go mainstream.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#398230">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>Sad though that the first step in using a Chromebook for printing is buying a Windows PC.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#398236">In reply to lordbaal1:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes, that's how it should have been designed to work at a minimum with local network printing a desirable enhancement. Silly to have to send print data to the cloud just to print in the next room.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#398255">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>That page describes how to connect over wifi (if you know it's IP address etc), but doesn't really describe the steps to connect a printer via USB.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#398284">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Printer support for CUPS is spotty and as I said months ago, requiring Windows to print from a Chromebook is a fail. The only reliable way to print from a Chromebook is to buy a printer that advertises its support of Cloud Print. As I also said, since Google now supports non-cloud functionality (e.g. Android apps) there's no reason they can't provide conventional printer support. </p>
Bats
<p>The easiest way is to convert the printer from wired to wireless. Being on the same network , the Chromebook should be able to pick up that printer and print to it. I believe another option is to through Google Cloud Print, however I don't know if they have that available via GSuite. I assume they do. The next option is to use a WiFi ready printer.</p><p><br></p><p>The solution of attaching a printer to a Windows Computer is old. Very old. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#445850">In reply to Patrick3D:</a></em></blockquote><p>Have Chromebooks recently added printer drivers? Are you saying that you can connect a Chromebook to <em>any</em> printer with a USB port and it will print properly? </p>