Any Linux Distro Known To Print Graphics Well

[Mel Thompson]

I'm in Ubuntu 10.04. Done a hundred different distros over the last decade, but, so far, got the most mileage out of Ubuntu. One problem that's starting to wear on me, though, it that no distros really print graphics. At first I thought it might just be me. I'm not afraid of terminal commands and have been a QA lab tech and took programming classes. But, after reading a few articles outside of the community, I find that a lot of folks leave Linux when, for instance, they can't even print a readable map from Map Quest. Of course I did all the obvious stuff and searched the whole Internet before posting this. But one question I had is this: Is there a distro that maybe I've not tried that has actually started serious work on printing? My computer is an HP Pavillion and my printer an HP1012, two of the most common hardware items on the planet. Does anyone know of a distro that could simply print a image file with crisp, clean, bold lines? Text is fairly sharp, but graphics printing has always approximated the dot-matrix printer days. Anyone hear of any plan to work on that? I notice, for instance, in most of the various sites that have Linux forums, they have a category for everything: Laptops, Servers, Bluetooth, Installation, and on and on, but never a "Printing" category. Since printing issues are one of the main reasons people leave Linux, then it is telling that no one even wants to dedicate a major forum to it. I'm concerned.

[elija]

Can't say I've have experienced the same problem, text, vector or photo print out just fine. I'm also on Ubuntu and have a HP printer but it's a HP Photosmart C8180. I have HPLIP installed. I can't remember if that happened automatically.

Could it be your printer or the driver it is using?

[Freston]

Have you tried other printers?

Because I've been using HP printers for quite some time, and I don't recognize your problem at all. it could be this particular model that's giving problems?

[Mel Thompson]

Yeah, my model is a bit old, an old 1012, common, but getting a bit ancient. So, I may not know the answer to this question till I fork out for another printer. I once had a great PC, that for some reason had a mix of hardware Linux distros didn't like. A friend gave me a newer PD from his used collection, and then suddenly I could install most anything. It may just be that certain bits of old hardware just won't fly.