Can anyone tell me what's causing my printer to print the way it is please and how I resolve it.

There's a very dark line on the far left of the page and a grey shadow over half of the left page.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/89y2slvby9...12.10.jpg?dl=0

It's a HP Laserjet 4050.

Printer Port? USB or Network.
Have you downloaded or bought Ubuntu?

Network printer, does the same thing with Windows computers. The last question baffles me, I didn't know you could buy Ubuntu?! (Downloaded).

Looks like the drum is on its way out -- it's probably worth running the self-clean routine though as that might fix it.

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Depending on the printer, the cartridge may be running a bit low (also can happen if the printer was recently moved).

Sometimes this can be helped by taking the cartridge out and tapping it against the wall (the print particles may be piled up on the left, try tapping the right side...).

This sometimes helps - but the cartridge needs/or will need replacing soon.

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I'm possibly with 273, it could be the pc drum is on the way out. But first, you should check the transfer roller beneath the toner cartridge, see here. The roller can be hooked out fairly easily but as mentioned in the instructions, don't touch it with your bare hands, wear rubber gloves. I've had spilled toner build up beneath it cause it to affect the transfer charge on the roller and hence the quality of the prints. Using rubber/vinyl gloves I've had some success in cleaning any spilled toner from it with a dry tissue.

The black rubber coating is carbon impregnated and is charged up to transfer the image from the drum to the paper, any toner on the transfer roller will affect the quality

Also, If you remove the toner cartridge and check the sprung flap on the bottom. Open the flap and check the drum beneath (DO NOT TOUCH IT THOUGH! it has a light sensitive coating which is also carcinogenic!) If you see corresponding "worn" areas at the edge, you should change the cartridge.

Note that "reconditioned " cartridges normally just have the toner refilled but the drum can be damaged which is why OEM cartridges are best (But unfortunately, more expensive )
You'll notice the strip at the left has a cyclical light/dark pattern which may equate to the diameter of the drum.

You can get maintenance kits for the LaserJet 4050 but you end up with fusers, etc, as well. See here.

Play Bonny!

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I tend to find transfer roller problems reported as "faint prints" or, occasionally, "bits missing from prints" rather than added artefacts -- due to the fact that the transfer roller is pulling toner from the image on the drum. The other cause of black lines on the output is something blocking the laser from hitting the drum and removing the charge from it.
(I could well be wrong, I've been proven wrong a few times this year in my diagnosis of printer faults)

Yes, it is possible. Every now and then a Linux distribution will make packaged versions of their product available for retail sale in stores such as Office Depot, Fry's Electronics, etc.
Many years ago, at least 15, maybe more, someone gave me as a gift, a boxed version of Red Hat. I used it for several days, didn't care for it and gave it away.
Since then I've seen other "Open Source" distributions in the stores and Ubuntu does come to mind.
Many distributions also sell their product via their own web site or they contract with a third party to sell CD/DVD sets through another site, along with T-shirts, coffee mugs, books, etc.