One positive thing to note in the Linux community is that support for proprietary printers is on the rise. In the past installing drivers for printers was almost impossible. Most Linux users were restricted to network attached printers only without support for many local desktop printers. One simple reason for that is many manufacturers didn’t think Linux was a commercially viable option so they put all their resources into Windows and Mac printer drivers
Today, it’s a different story. HP for one has created dedicated drivers suite for most of its printers on the market today. Called HP Linux Imaging and Printing (HPLIP) helps you install drivers for popular printers on the market today and support for more printers are actively being added. Finding drivers for common HP desktop printers is almost as easy as finding one for Windows or Mac. This brief tutorial is going to show you how to install HP printer drivers suite in Ubuntu 12.10 if you need to.
This suite comes pre-installed in Ubuntu but most of the time doesn’t include support for newer printers. Manually updating it to support newer printers is one way to go.
To get started, go and download the latest version of HPLIP from here. Or use the commands below. The commands below download version 3.12.11. It may not be the same the next time you run this command below. So please verify the version and make the necessary changes below before running.
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/hplip/hplip-3.12.11.run
Next, run the commands below to begin the installation.
sh hplip-3.12.11.run
When prompted with the screen below, choose a for automatic installation.
Next, verify your version of Ubuntu and type y for yes to continue.
When prompted with the screen below, choose I to remove and re-install HPLIP with the new version.
After the installation, you may have to restart or begin installing your printers. To install HP printers that are supported, go to Dash and search for HP Device Manager
When it opens, click ‘Add’ to add a new HP Printer.
Next, select USB, Network or Wireless printer option and continue
Then choose the printer from the list you wish to install and click ‘Next’
Finally, click ‘Add Printer’ to finish the wizard
Enjoy!
