How to AirPrint to PDF on iOS Devices

PDF (Portable Document Format) is one of the most widely used formats for saving and sharing digital documents. PDF is a versatile format that is compatible with most Desktop and Smartphone devices by default. This is one of the reasons why PDFs have a trusted reputation in the Market.

And when it comes to making a PDF document from a certain layout or a website on the screen, iOS devices stand out as they offer an easier way to do that.

The AirPrint to PDF features available on iOS devices allows the user to easily make PDF out of on-screen elements that you see on your iOS device.

There are a lot of iOS apps that offer the feature of Export PDF. If an app offers you the feature to directly export a PDF, you should go with that option.

But if an iOS app doesn’t have that option, then this is where you’d need to use the Print to PDF feature.

In this article, we are going to take a deep dive into the Airprint to PDF features of iOS. We are also going to talk about the issues that you might have when printing PDF files on iOS and how you can get around them.

So, keep reading till the end to learn how to print to PDF on iOS devices including iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Part 1: How to AirPrint to PDF on iPhone

It is quite easy to print to PDF on an iPhone. You just need to make sure that the app that you are using, supports Airprint features.

Once you are sure that that app has the Airprint feature, you can proceed with the printing process.

If you are using the Mail App on iPhone, you’d find the print button next to the Forward and Reply buttons on iPhone.

Here is how you can print on iPhone using an Airprint-compatible app

1. Open the app and look for the Print option in it. Clicking on this option will display the standard system sheet to you.
2. From there, you can try out different rendering options. You can choose things like Monochrome output and preview all the changes before finalizing anything.
3. If you have an iPhone with 3D touch features, you can long-tap on the preview button to expand it. You can use the pinch-out gesture if your iPhone doesn’t support the 3D touch.
4. When you are in preview mode, you can tap on the screen just once to make the toolbar visible. You are going to see the share button there.
5. Tap on the Share button. This will take you to the system share sheet.
6. You will find a lot of settings for Saving the PDF on the layout.
7. For saving the file as PDF, you need to choose the Add to iCloud Drive setting. This will save a PDF copy of the document in your iCloud storage.

Part 2: How to AirPrint to PDF on iPad

The process for printing PDFs on iPad is quite similar to the one for iPhone. The steps that you use for iPhone are the same ones you need to use for the iPad.

Here is how you can print to PDF on an iPad

1. Open the print settings on an Airprint-compatible iPad app. This will open up the standard system sheet.
2. You can use either the 3D touch or the pinch gesture to expand the preview in a way that it fills the screen.
3. In the expanded preview mode, you need to tap on the screen to get the toolbar.
4. From the toolbar, you need to choose the share option. You will find this option on the Top-Right of the screen. You will see the export options there.
5. Now, you need to choose the Add to iCloud option to save the PDF file in the cloud.

Part 3: How to AirPrint to PDF on Mac

Just like with iPhone and iPad, you can print PDFs using the Mac OS apps that support print features. We are going to take the Safari app of Mac OS as an example and talk about how you can use it to save a website as a PDF.

1. Open the Safari app on Mac.
2. Go to the File Menu and choose the print option from there. This will give you the model sheet.
3. Customize and preview the margins and formatting, as per your preference.
4. You can go through settings like selecting the page range, printing in monochrome, or multiple pages per sheet. The changes that you make are going to have an impact on the final PDF.
5. Now, you need to press the PDF button which is going to be on the lower-left corner of the layout. You will find multiple options there.
6. Print to PDF is going to be the second option on the menu. The option is going to be named Save as PDF.
7. When you click on this option, it is going to require you to choose a location to save the PDF file.
8. Once you choose the location, the PDF will be saved there.

Note: There are many other options that you’ll find on the menu including the option to send the PDF as an Email Attachment, send the PDF to contact on iMessage, or save the PDF on iCloud.  

Part 4: Can’t print PDF files on Mac OS X, How to Fix?

If you can’t print PDF files on Mac OS X, then this section is for you.

The most probable reason for this is that the Adobe PDF Printer is not usable for certain Mac OS versions.

For example, the Adobe PDF Printer is not available for Mac OS X versions including Snow Leopard (v10.6) to Mountain Lion (v10.8).

So, if you are facing this issue, then here is the solution that you can use to get around that

1. Update the older version of Adobe Acrobat to Acrobat 9.1 Pro. The updater is going to delete the Adobe PDF Printer from the Printers List. After that, the Updater is going to add the Save as PDF option to the PDF Menu.
2. Now, from the PDF menu, you can choose the Save as PDF option to print PDF files on Mac OS X.

How to Manually Delete the Adobe PDF Printer?

When you upgrade your Mac OS X from Mac OS X Leopard (v10.5), Snow Leopard (v10.87), or Mountain Lion (v10.8), it is going to require you to manually delete the Adobe PDF Printer.

This is because the printer won’t get deleted automatically with the updater. Here is how you can delete the Adobe PDF Printer manually

1. Navigate to the Apple Option and then System Preferences on your Mac device.
2. Navigate to the Print & Fax Preferences settings.
3. Click on the Printing Tab to get the Printers List.
4. Choose the Adobe PDF 9.0.
5. Click on the “-” button to delete the Adobe PDF Printer.

Conclusion

Whether you want to save some important information as PDF or you have just come across a great read that you want to share with your friends, the Airprint to PDF feature can go a long way for you.

It is an amazing trick that can prove to be quite helpful for you for creating and sharing PDF files.

So, go over the process that we have talked about here for using the Airprint to PDF feature on iOS devices. And if you have any questions about printing PDFs on iOS devices, feel free to reach out to us.