A local printer is a common desktop printer that is connected directly to just one computer. The printer is connected via a USB cable, or serial ports. In an office environment, this means that your entire print job can be done on that computer. This can sometimes be inconvenient, especially when there is no means of transferring your file to that computer at that time.
You can, however, ”share” the local printer for other computers in that network. To get this done, you can connect the printer to your network router, using an Ethernet cable. This makes the printer a Network Printer.
A Network Printer is really no different from a local printer, except other users on the network will have access to it, and will be able to use it as if it were a local printer.
To set up your computer to enable printer sharing, for Windows
Click on Network And Sharing Center on your control panel,
Choose “Change advanced system settings” on the left side,
Turn on file and printer sharing.
Then, you can add and share the printer on your network
Click on Devices And Printers on the right side of your the Start Menu,
Click on Add A Printer on the menu tab,
Choose ‘Add A Network, Wireless or Bluetooth Printer’
Click on the printer, and you print a test page to be sure your sharing was successful.
This is basically all you have to do to share your office printer.
