www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/hp2xx/hp2xxinf_11.html

search

	Buy GNU books!

HP2XX, A HP-GL Converter

2.7 Printer formats

Currently, there is only one well-tested printer format (not counting `eps', which is printable on PostScript printers): `pcl', which stands for HP PCL Level 3. Essentially it is a raster format, but it comes with a few restrictions and additional options which correspond to printer properties. It prints on HP Laserjet and HP Deskjet series printers and compatibles.

The restriction concerns the resolution (DPI) during rasterization. Due to printer hardware limitations, only `-d 75', `-d 100', `-d 150', and `-d 300' are recommended (hp2xx will emit a warning for other values, but will try to create the desired output); option `-D' must not be used. Some recent printer models do support 600, 720 or even higher resolutions, but even for those the requirements both in terms of cpu load and file size may be prohibitive at least on older systems.

There are two flags which may be useful if the output goes directly to a printer: Option `-i' initializes the printer and tries to select the required paper format before the output starts, and `-F' sends a FormFeed (ASCII 12) after the output.

For the HP Deskjet printer series, there is support of some "special" commands; `-S 1' activates these. There is a limited support of color modes available, too: For the DJ500C and newer models, hp2xx can generate both CMY-based and CMYK-based color output (if colors are used: see option `-c'). Supply option `-S 3' for CMY color mode, and option `-S 4' for CMYK color mode (for the DJ550C). The Deskjet modes automatically invoke TIFF compression (mode 2), while pure PCL Level 3 does not know about compression. NOTE: Some recent low-end Designjet plotters (if ordered without the HPGL processor board) and probably also some models of Deskjet use a sparsely documented variant called PCL3GUI which appears to differ at least in the initialization sequence used. Currently hp2xx will not work well -- maybe even not at all -- with such printers.

A driver for the Esc/P2 raster language used by the Epson Stylus series of inkjet printers has been added in hp2xx-3.4.0. This should work at least for the small-format printers at 720 dpi.