How to print a paper copy or a PDF from an iPhone or iPad

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Shipping labels, flyers for a bulletin board, and printing out an email for your boss are some of the things you can't do without printing. It is nice to have the option to print from your phone instead of having to use a computer.

One of the easiest ways to print from a phone is through Apple's AirPrint feature. If you know how to get to it, Apple has a way to make PDF documents. We are going to show you both.

Printing with AirPrint

It is important to note that AirPrint does not support all of the printers features, but you will get options for: number of copies, range, paper size, orientation, scaling, and other basic functions.

You need to have access to a wireless or network printer that supports AirPrint to start. Check out how to choose the right printer if you don't already have one. If you have purchased a wireless printer in the past five years or 10 years, you should be able to use AirPrint. Some printer manufacturers will include an app that can print files from your device or through its own cloud service, but these are not as easy to use as AirPrint.

Make sure your printers are connected to the same network. If your printer has an ethernet port, you can connect it directly to your wireless routers and still have the ability to AirPrint from your phone. If you're in an enterprise environment, you'll need to have your IT department open up the feature to allow printing from your phone.

It's time to print.

• Open up what you would like to print: an email or email attachment, a website in Safari, a file in the Files app, a photo, etc.
• Tap the Share button to open the share sheet, then scroll down and tap the Print button. Some apps may have the Print button elsewhere. For example, to print an email message in the Mail app, you need to tap the Reply button, then find Print at the bottom of the reply options list.
• On the Print Options screen that appears, select a printer if there isn’t a default option already.
• You can now choose the range of pages you’d like to print, amount of copies, enable double-sided printing, and various other printing options.
• Tap Print, and off it goes!

If you double click the home button and push upward from the bottom of the screen, you can see the queue. If the print hasn't been finished yet, you can cancel it here.

Print to a PDF file

Since macOS has had an easy-to-see Save as PDF option for years, it is amazing how a useful feature like printing to PDF is treated like an Easter egg in the App Store. You can zoom into a document to get the option to print to a PDF in the app.

• Using the above instructions, get to the Print Options screen for the file or page you want to convert to PDF (see instructions above).
• Pinch into the preview of the printable document as if you want to zoom in on it. It will fly at you like entering a new video game stage.
• Now you have the document open as a PDF. You can scroll between pages, zoom, and search text on this screen, all to confirm the document you want looks correct.
• Tap on the Share button on the bottom left.
• Select Save to Files to specify where you want to save the document or choose another app to send it directly to someone, such as Mail, Messages, or AirDrop.