Google (News - Alert) has announced a number of improvements to the Google Cloud Print (GCP) service to enable simple, secure printing from any application to any device or printer. The announcement was posted on the company's site by Ashkay Kannan, a product manager.

The service works with the latest cloud-ready printers, and documents may be printed without the use of drivers or cables. New features include the ability to share and control access to printers so that friends and family may use them too. Google is also offering a “Save to Google Docs” option to make it simple to save online receipts and confirmation pages to an archive within the cloud.

Additional new features include a management page with a tablet-friendly design and a print button that enables users to upload and print files to cloud printers from anywhere. Webmasters may also add the print button element to their sites to enable printing functionality for mobile phones and tablets.

The company has also reached a new milestone with the latest release of its Chrome browser, enabling anyone using the browser on Windows, Mac or Linux to print any webpage to Google Cloud Print. Chromebooks already have access to GCP features, and now include a print preview that enables the same familiar experience whenever a user is on Chrome.

Google says the company has received plenty of enthusiasm from both users and developers since launching the GCP service earlier this year. There are more than six million printers connected using Google Chrome, while dozens of cloud-ready printers have been released or announced by companies like Epson, HP and Kodak.

The developer community has responded by releasing many applications and extensions to enable cloud printing from both the Android (News - Alert) and iOS operating systems.

Google says GCP will be enabled from additional products in the coming months, and the company plans to work with new partners to add more printers and printing services.