Did you know that you can print documents simply by dragging their file onto a printer icon? This is a great shortcut if you don’t want to have to open a document before printing. Of course, to make this really convenient you need a way to quickly access your printers folder. You could maybe add a shortcut to your printer to the desktop, or pin it to the Start menu. Here’s how to do these in Windows Vista:
To create a desktop shortcut in Windows Vista:
- Click on the Start button and type Printers in the search box then press Enter
- Click and drag your preferred printer from the Printers window onto your desktop (or just right click and choose Create Shortcut; your shortcut will automatically be created on the desktop)
- Right-click on the new desktop icon to rename if desired
To pin this shortcut to the Start menu in Windows Vista:
- Drag the newly created desktop icon (from step 3 above) over the Start button, wait a second for the menu to open then drag upwards to drop your shortcut at the top of the list, normally just above the Internet Explorer link
To print your documents:
- Locate your document file in Windows Explorer and drag the icon onto your Printer shortcut icon. Windows will automatically open the file, invoke the print command, then close the file down once again.
Bonus tip: Windows Vista users who regularly print files in this way may also like to try out the Drag&Drop and Print Sidebar gadget that does exactly what its name suggests