Canon Pixma MG3170 – Network Scanning or Scan to Memory Hack

I bought the Canon PIXMA MG3170 to replace my current printer. It is a wireless, duplex printer and I wanted to put it in the storeroom so as not to take up precious space. The wireless printing functionality worked fine: I just had to walk to the printer, powered it on, returned to the computer to print out my files before collecting the print job and turning the printer off. Scanning was a nightmare in comparison: It seems that Canon left out the scan to memory stick functionality or wireless/direct scanning on their basic / lower tier PIXMA models. This meant that I had to walk to the scanner, put in the first page, walk back to the computer to press scan, and rinse and repeat. For a 5 page scan, it would involve walking back and forth a total of 10 times. Well, the solution I found was: Scan to Mobile!

This lack of scanning functionality was very disruptive initially so thankfully, I found a solution which improved the scanning situation tremendously. It is to use the Canon Easy-PhotoPrint app which works great to wirelessly scan and save images (either PDF or JPG) from a PIXMA multifunction printer to your Android or iOS device. It allow the creation of a multi-page PDF file too. I have it on an iPod Touch which I otherwise use as a HTPC remote.

There are quite a few reviews that as a printing tool, its options are limited. You can only print out specific files and you can’t modify the settings, like to enable duplex mode. I have not use it for printing – but if you want to, the latest firmware 2.05 on Canon’s website now allows the PIXMA MG3170 to support Airprint. As a pure scanning tool, it works great for me. After scanning, I could choose to email myself or upload the files to Dropbox or other Cloud medium.