PCL

PCL printer commands tell the printer which tasks to perform or which fonts to use. This document provides a quick reference for users who are already familiar with PCL command structure.

• The PCL 5e printer commands are backward compatible with previous versions of PCL.
• The PCL 6 printer commands take full advantage of the printer’s features.

HP-GL/2

The printer has the ability to print vector graphics using the HP-GL/2 graphics language. Printing in the HP-GL/2 language requires that the printer leave PCL language and enter HP-GL/2 mode, which can be done by sending the printer PCL code. Some software applications switch languages through their drivers.

PJL

HP’s Printer Job Language (PJL) provides control above PCL and other printer languages. The four major functions provided by PJL are:

• Printer language switching
• Job separation
• Printer configuration
• Status readback from the printer

PJL commands may be used to change printer default settings.

Figure 1: Examples of commonly mistaken characters

Figure 2: Elements of typical printer command

1 - Escape character (begins escape sequence)

2 - Category of command

3 - Value field (contains both alpha and numeric characters)

4 - Uppercase letter (terminates escape sequence)

Combining escape sequences

Escape sequences may be combined into one escape sequence string. There are three important rules to follow when combining code:

1. The first two characters after the EC character (the parameterized and group characters) must be the same in all of the commands to be combined.
2. When combining escape sequences, change the uppercase (termination) character in each individual escape sequence to lower case.
3. The final character of the combined escape sequence must be uppercase.

The following is an example of an escape sequence string that would be sent to the printer to select legal paper, landscape orientation, and eight lines per inch:

EC&l3AEC&l1OEC&l8D

The following escape sequence sends the same printer commands by combining them into a shorter sequence:

EC&l3a1o8D

Entering escape characters

Printer commands always begin with the escape character (EC). The following table shows how the escape character can be entered from various DOS software applications.

DOS Software Application	Entry	What Appears
Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony	Type \027	027
Microsoft (R) Word for DOS	Hold down Alt and type 027 on the numeric keypad	<--
WordPerfect for DOS	Type <27>	<27>
MS-DOS (R) Edit	Hold down Ctrl-P , and press Esc	<--
MS-DOS Edlin	Hold down Ctrl-V , and press [	^[
dBase	?? CHR (27)+"command"	?? CHR (27)+" "

Figure 3: Variable boxes for symbol set and point size

NOTE:

Fonts are either "fixed" or "proportional" in spacing. The printer contains both fixed fonts (Courier, Letter Gothic, and Lineprinter) and proportional fonts (CG Times, Arial (R), Times New Roman, and others). Fixed-spaced fonts are generally used in applications such as spreadsheets and databases, where it is important for columns to line up vertically. Proportional-spaced fonts are generally used in text and word processing applications.

Job control commands

Function	Command	Options (#)
Reset	ECE	n/a
Number of Copies	EC&l#X	1 to 999
2-sided/1-sided printing	EC&l#S	0 = Simplex (1-sided) printing 1 = Duplex (2-sided) with long edge binding 2 = Duplex (2-sided) with short edge binding

Page control commands

[1] For custom paper, replace "Custompapertype" with the name of the paper, and replace the "#" with the number of characters in the name, plus 1.

Function	Command	Options (#)
Paper Source	EC&l#H	0 = prints or ejects current page 1 = Tray 2 2 = manual feed, paper 3 = manual feed, envelope 4 = Tray 1 5 = Tray 3 7 = auto select 8 = Tray 4 20-69 = external trays
Paper Size	EC&l#A	1 = Executive 2 = Letter 3 = Legal 25 = A5 6 = 11 x 17 24 = A6 26 = A4 27 = A3 44 = B6-JIS 45 = B5-JIS 46 = B4-JIS 71 = Postcard (single) 72 = Postcard (double) 80 = Monarch 81 = Commercial 10 90 = DL 91 = International C5 100 = B5 101 = Custom
Paper Type	EC&n#	5WdBond = Bond 6WdPlain = Plain 6WdColor = Color 7WdLabels = Labels 9WdRecycled = Recycled 11WdLetterhead = Letterhead 10WdCardstock = Cardstock 11WdPrepunched = Prepunched 11WdPreprinted = Preprinted 13WdTransparency = Transparency #WdCustompapertype = Custom[1]
Orientation	EC&l#O	0 = Portrait 1 = Landscape 2 = Reverse Portrait 3 = Reverse Landscape
Top Margin	EC&l#E	# = number of lines
Text Length (bottom margin)	EC&l#F	# = number of lines from top margin
Left Margin	EC&a#L	# = column number
Right Margin	EC&a#M	# = column number from left margin
Horizontal Motion Index	EC&k#H	1/120-inch increments (compresses print horizontally)
Vertical Motion Index	EC&l#C	1/48-inch increments (compresses print vertically)
Line Spacing	EC&l#D	# = lines per inch (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 16, 24, 48)
Perforation Skip	EC&l#L	0 = disable 1 = enable

Cursor positioning

Function	Command	Options (#)
Vertical Position (Rows)	EC&a#R	# = row number
Vertical Position (Dots)	EC*p#Y	# = dot number (300 dots = 1 inch)
Vertical Position (Decipoints)	EC&a#V	# = decipoint number (720 decipoints = 1 inch)
Horizontal Position (Columns)	EC&a#C	# = column number
Horizontal Position (Dots)	EC*p#X	# = dot number (300 dots = 1 inch)
Horizontal Position (Decipoints)	EC&a#H	# = decipoint number (720 decipoints = 1 inch)

Programming hints

Function	Command	Options (#)
End of Line Wrap	EC&s#C	0 = Enable 1 = Disable
Display Functions On	ECY	n/a
Display Functions Off	ECZ	n/a

Language selection

Function	Command	Options (#)
Enter PCL Mode	EC%#A	0 = Use previous PCL cursor position 1 = Use current HP-GL/2 pen position
Enter HP-GL/2 Mode	EC%#B	0 = Use previous HP-GL/2 pen position 1 = Use current PCL cursor position

Font Selection

[1] Order the PCL 5/PJL Technical Reference Documentation Package for symbol set charts or for more information.

[2] The preferred method is to use the primary pitch command.

Function	Command	Options (#)
Symbol Sets[1]	EC(#	8U = HP Roman-8 Symbol Set 10U = IBM Layout (PC-8) (code page 437) Default Symbol Set 12U = IBM Layout for Europe (PC-850) (code page 850) 8M = Math-8 19U = Windows 3.1 Latin 1 9E = Windows 3.1 Latin 2 (commonly used in Eastern Europe) 5T = Windows 3.1 Latin 5 (commonly used in Turkey) 579L = Wingdings Font
Primary Spacing	EC(s#P	0 = fixed 1 = proportional
Primary Pitch	EC(s#H	# = characters/inch
Set Pitch Mode[2]	EC&k#S	0 = 10 4 = 12 (elite) 2 = 16.5 - 16.7 (compressed)
Primary Height	EC(s#V	# = points
Primary Style[1]	EC(s#S	0 = upright (solid) 1 = italic 4 = condensed 5 = condensed italic
Primary Stroke Wt.[1]	EC(s#B	0 = medium (book or text) 1 = semi bold 3 = bold 4 = extra bold
Typeface[1]	EC(s#T	Print a PCL font list to view the command for each internal font.