Most travel sites are becoming more digital with their processes; Orbitz has digital boarding passes, the Intercontinental Hotels Group is working on mobile apps as hotel room keys. But TripIt is returning to the tangible, with its new partnership with Lexmark. The new TripIt SmartSolutions makes it simple to print your travel plans, with cloud-computing bringing your necessary details to a printer near you.

SmartSolutions aims to be a one-touch printer solution connecting your travel account with a web-connected printer. The compatible printers are in Lexmark’s AIO inkjet lines, including the Platinum, Pinnacle, Prestige and Interact. Install the TripIt app on your printer, and it will bring up your necessary travel plans, ready to be printed.

The process may seem a tad long-winded, considering its a printer app and not just a remote printing option that works via email. HP’s web-connected printer launch earlier this month has ushered in a new set of expectations around the way in which we interact with printers, operating more specifically around an associated email address. TripIt accounts come with email addresses for centralized sending and access options, so it’s still easy enough to send itineraries to a web-connected printer using email options, no matter which way you slice it.

Yet the printer app market is one that will be rather interesting to watch develop. As apps become the new websites, they provide direct points of interaction for a given service. Apps are being supported on more devices, from navigation systems to microwaves. Lexmark is looking to increase the relevance of its products by supporting apps as well.

Already, the Lexmark SmartSolutions has a number of supported apps that alert you to your printer’s needs, print your Google Calendar and let you fax items to your local judiciary. Other companies are seeing the benefit of having a printer app, including Evernote, MobileMe and MSNBC Headlines.

Printer apps such as these are great for productivity purposes, but they also present an opportunity for marketing. HP has already made an explicit play towards print ads with a partnership with Yahoo, which places ads on printed content from various news feeds. Lexmark SmartSolutions is yet another potential marketplace for business and advertising applications to flourish.