Microsoft has released its first major Office for iPad update and with it, introduced printing to the software suite. According to the Microsoft blog post that announced the update, printing was the most common request from users and therefore, adding it was necessary.
Considering that the main use-case for Office is to create files that will either be printed or shared in another format, being able to print them is obviously a useful feature.
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Most of the desktop printing features are also included with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel for iPad. The only major difference is that wireless printing is attained through Apple’s AirPrint feature.
In Word, users can choose to print the entire document, one page, or a group of pages. The same is true for Excel and PowerPoint, so users shouldn’t be limited in their ability to use an iPad from start to finish with any Office file.
Two features, one for PowerPoint and the other for Excel, were also released with the update. Both are meant to enhance the way that files look in their respective programs. SmartGuides was released for PowerPoint and AutoFit was released for Excel.
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The Office team made it clear earlier this month that printing would be coming, which was not surprising given that the lack of AirPrint printing was the main complaint among reviewers.
Although the apps are technically free for the iPad, accessing them requires an Office 365 subscription. While the cost to use 365 is not particularly high, it has still prevented some people from using the apps since there are completely free alternatives available.
Now that those who are fine with paying for a subscription can print their documents from an iPad, there are almost no major complaints left to be addressed in future updates.
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Summary: Microsoft has updated its Office programs for iPad with Print functionality. Users can now wirelessly print their files using Apple’s AirPrint. The lack of printing was the main complaint attached to Office for iPad when it was released.
image credit: wired