Printing from a Kindle

Posted Thursday, July 28th, 2011 by .

Though the Kindle from Amazon was a pioneer in the e-reader industry, many things about this mobile device were limiting.  For instance, the inability to connect your Kindle to a printer via USB cable and print resulted in a number of complaints from teachers, attorneys, medical staff and other professionals who could use excerpts from these downloaded books for educational or legal purposes.Mobile Device Printing

There is a slight loophole in the original Kindle, though, that does actually let you print text, but it can be complicated and time-consuming.  Here are instructions on how to do it:

  1. Use the cursor and wheel to select the text you wish to print.
  2. Select copy.  The text will be sent to the clipboard named My Clippings.
  3. Connect the Kindle to a computer via USB cable.
  4. Open the My Clippings file on your computer and print.

Note: if you are trying to print a number of pages, you will have to do so one page at a time.

More recently, Amazon released the Kindle Fire, which is far more than just an e-reader.  This mobile device has the features to rival iPads and Android tablets, but also serves as a personal library.  Though printing capabilities are not built into the Kindle Fire, applications can be downloaded to allow it.

If you are trying to print to an HP printer equipped with the ePrint software, such as an HP PhotoSmart 5510, that machine will have an email address assigned to it.  All you have to do is access your personal email account (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) on the Fire and send the document you wish to print to your printer’s address.

If you are using any other kind of printer that supports mobile printing, you have a couple of options.  Printer manufacturers have begun designing free apps specifically for mobile printing to their machines, such as Brother iPrint&Scan and Epson iPrint.  The other option is downloading a universal app, such as PrinterShare, which is not free, but will make a world of difference for anyone who does a lot of printing from their tablet.

When downloading apps to your Kindle Fire that are not found in the Amazon app store, you will need to follow this simple process to allow it:

  1. Go to Quick Settings.
  2. Select More and then Device.
  3. Choose Allow Installation of Applications from Unknown Sources.

And so it seems, there is no easy answer to the question, “Can I print from my Kindle?”  So far, Amazon has not made it a convenient or simple feature, but there are ways to do it, if you have the patience.

Greg Gladman
Greg Gladman has two degrees from the University of Cincinnati and prides himself on managing the operations and customer service at Ink Technologies. With a mind like a vault, he is full of useful and useless information, making him an asset to the company and to his Tuesday night trivia team. When he is not working, he spends his time bowling and playing golf. Greg dedicates much of his free time to raising money and awareness in support of the fight against blood cancers.
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One Response to “Printing from a Kindle”

  • Benefits of wireless:
    October 2, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    […] up his work in his office on the Mac, and mom is perusing a gluten-free recipe book on her eReader, all can be connected to a wireless printer and print on-the-spot.  Oh, and don’t forget about […]