Author: Jay

Print From Anywhere!

Needs

  1. Raspberry Pi (https://www.raspberrypi.org/) – Raspberry Pi 3 (not the original Raspberry Pi)
  2. Printer – I used an old HP LaserJet 1000
  3. Google Account – Free

Step 1 – Load Raspbian on the Pi.  Raspbian is the operating system that turns the Pi into a functioning computer. The easiest way to get up and running is using the NOOBS download and user guide found here:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/noobs/

Use NOOBS to get the Raspbian operating system on your Pi. Depending on the speed of your internet connection, this could take anywhere between 30-60 minutes.

Step 2 – Connect Printer

I am using an old HP LaserJet 1000 printer. The first thing I tried was to connect the HP to the Pi and see if it would be recognized and it wasn’t. So next I used the already installed web browser in the Pi and went to the HP site for Linux developers found here:

https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing

And discovered that my printer is covered by reading the list of covered printers.  I clicked on the button to download HPLIP and selected “Debian” since that is what Raspbian is based on.  The installation guide is found here:

https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing/install/install/index

Follow the instructions in the guide but also, you want to type “sudo” before the command beginning with “sh”.  The “sudo” command allows you to run as root which the program will warn against.  Running as root is the only way I have found that this will work.

Next, there are more options to select.  I had to let all of this run overnight and when I came back, the screen listed an error while it was trying to run the “make” command.  I believe this is because I was using an original model Raspberry Pi and it did not have the memory to run what it needed.  When I ran it with the Raspberry Pi 3 it went much faster and was successful.

Step 3 – Google Cloud Print

Google cloud print is an easy to set up way to enable you to print from any device. The device does not have to be on the same network! The only requirement is to have a Google Account.

Follow the instructions here to enable Google Cloud Print (go to step 3):

https://support.google.com/cloudprint/answer/1686197?visit_id=1-636653861586900591-567302067&rd=1

That’s it! I reviewed a bunch of tutorials that included some crazy long installs before I discovered this easy way to do it. I hope this helps you!