Printing documents from USB thumb drive? (HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus)

[SailingDutchman]

In the features guide for the 8600 all-in-one printers it states that it's possible to print documents without a PC (from USB port or memory. However, I can't seem to figure out how to do this. Anyone?

By the way, here's the snippet from the brochure:

Access documents and print them faster without using a PC
The e-All-in-One’s easy-to-access features transform the way you use your printing device. Complete more tasks
without your PC. The product’s touchscreen puts web content and copy, scan, and fax functions at your
fingertips. Select Apps to access online content or print the forms and documents you need most frequently—
without returning to your PC.2 Use the front-facing USB port or memory card slots to access saved documents or photos and print them quickly.

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2011/InnovationforImpact/OJ8600_Series_FeaturesGuide.pd...

[Waterboy71]

Hi SailingDutchman,

Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.

I see that you are attempting to print from a USB thumb drive. I can definitely help you with this issue. Please click on the following link that deals with Printing From a Memory Card or USB Flash Drive.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or if you require any additional assistance on this matter.

Thank you for your time.

[SailingDutchman]

@Waterboy71,

I already tried that, but the printer is detecting only images - not documents (e.g. PDF). Any idea how I can print documents from a memory card or USB flash drive?

[Waterboy71]

Hi again SailingDutchman,

Typically when you attempt to print from the thumb drive, it prints how the document was saved. Please make sure that it was saved as a PDF and not a PJEG.  A lot of times when a file is saved to a thumb drive or memory card it defaults to a JPEG format.

Please let me know if you need any more assistance.

[SailingDutchman]

I can assure you that there are valid PDF-files on the USB thumb drive that have the proper extension. The link you provided deals with printing photos, not documents.

Assuming that you have access to an 8600-series printer, can you try printing documents from a USB thumb drive?

[Waterboy71]

Hello again SailingDutchman,

Let me start off by saying that I do apologize.  I have research this issue extensively and I have found that the printer will NOT print document from a thumb drive. It will only do photo's from the thumb driver or memory card. I was confident that it would but I actually tested this myself on a 8600 that I have here in the office. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience on this matter.

Thank you for your time.

[SailingDutchman]

That's rather curious, as the brochure clearly states that this is a feature of the printer:

Access documents and print them faster without using a PC 
The e-All-in-One’s easy-to-access features transform the way you use your printing device. Complete more tasks 
without your PC. The product’s touchscreen puts web content and copy, scan, and fax functions at your 
fingertips. Select Apps to access online content or print the forms and documents you need most frequently—
without returning to your PC.2 Use the front-facing USB port or memory card slots to access saved documents or photos and print them quickly.

[Waterboy71]

Hi again

It states from the brochure that you have listed is as follows :

4.  Walk-up USB and memory
      card slots for walk-up
       photo printing and
       document scanning to
       memory cards.

In the document that I have sent you, it does show the process of saving scans or copies to a memory card or usb drive. I know this is not what you want to hear, but unfortunately this is the functionality of the printer.  When you connect the USB drive to the printer, it can only use the firmware to read the card. To print documents the printer would have to have Microsoft Word or Excel or whichever program you wanted the document to print from. It does not have the ability to read those formats of documents by the printer.  Only your computer can do this task.

I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Thanks again for your time.

[SailingDutchman]

The fact that item #4 doesn't mention documents doesn't change the fact that elsewhere in the same brochure it is very clearly stated that it is possible to print documents without a PC, from the USB drive or a memory card.

Access documents and print them faster without using a PC

[...]

Use the front-facing USB port or memory card slots to access saved documents [...] and print them quickly.

In addition, on page six it states:

Easily view and print from a USB drive and memory cards
Using the convenient, front-facing USB port and integrated memory card slots, you can quickly view and print
files. The e-All-in-One supports walk-up photo printing (JPEG, TIFF, and PNG) as well as scanning to memory
cards or USB flash memory (JPEG, TIFF, and PDF). This feature is perfect for printing saved files from notebooks
and other digital devices and quickly accessing presentations, documents, and photos without a PC.

I don't see any other way to interpret it than to conclude that HP is advertising the feature as a way to print documents (in addition to photos) from the USB port.

[Waterboy71]

I just sent you a private message. If you are not sure how to check your forum messages, this post has instructions.