HPLIP

HPLIP (HP Linux Imaging and Printing) contains print, scan and fax drivers for HP devices.

Do you require HPLIP?
Most HP printers do not require HPLIP to successfully print from. You can likely use a default CUPS install, which likely provides adequate drivers or PPD files.

If you have a MFD with a scanner feature, then you will require HPLIP as it is likely the scanner driver is provided only as a binary blob.

Kernel
You need to activate the following kernel options:

Software
Install :

Configuration
If installed with enabled qt4 USE flag, use the "HP Device Manager" to configure your devices.

If not or if the program don't work for you, run hp-setup in a terminal:

For network printer also specify the printer's IP address:

Printer
The above command, should provide an option to test print. If it fails printing due to lack of X as root, use your CUPS web interface located at http://localhost:631/ for printing a test page.

Scanner
Use xsane and then press the preview button to ensure the binary scanner driver is installed and working properly.

Buggy hp-setup
Install HPLIP with snmp USE flag and try again.

/usr/libexec/cups/backend/hp failed
rc-service cupsd stop

cp /etc/cups/printers.conf /etc/cups/printers.conf.20121104

Edit this " /etc/cups/printers.conf" and remove the lines prefixed with "State", "Reason" and "Type".

Upon saving the file and restarting the cupsd daemon, printing should resume.