The short answer is: Your Mac might not have the latest printer driver or the driver is corrupted.
On macOS, adding a printer is a rather simple process:
Plug the printer into the Mac or connect it to your Wi-fi router
Open System Preferences
Click on "Printers & Scanners"
Click on the "+" button
Select the one that matches your printer brand and model
Click on the "Add" button
In most cases, that's enough and you can start printing.
Sometimes, macOS doesn't have the latest printer driver, or its driver is corrupted, which can lead to the issue at hand.
When the printer installation fails, the best is to follow this procedure:
Visit your printer manufacturer's website and search for your printer model
Download the latest driver(s) available for your version of macOS (there could be one for printing and another one for scanning)
Install the printer (and scanner) driver on your Mac
Remove the installed printer via the "-" button in System Preferences > Printers & scanners
Reboot your Mac
Re-add the printer (see procedure above)
That should do the trick.
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