I'm Lost with PCL

[Est1501]

I think you could help me.
I had to print invoice. I work with COBOL and UNIX.
I have a pdf overlay and i want to print it with some text like customer id... that i'll put in a text file.

I print my pdf file into a file to convert it in PCL, that's ok but now...

I have read a lot of post here but i'm still lost.

 

[jlasman]

You probably want to make a PCL macro from the PDF file. You should be able to do this successfully by printing through a Windows PCL driver to a file, and then edit the results to create the working macro.

If you don't know PCL, then it will probably be difficult. Other than say you need to delete all PJL commands and any PCL commands that reference paper size or tray selection, I can't think of any further advice to give you.

Jim Asman

 

[Buff1]

PCL is not difficult, just time consuming at first.

Invest in a technical reference manual that shows at least some examples.

If you know anything about Epson ESC/P language, it's similar in a lot of ways (and different in others).
The primary difference is that you can print anywhere on the
page with a single escape sequence in PCL. In ESC/P you can
too, but not with a single sequence.

 

[Est1501]

I have some manual that i found on the internet so I think i can learn PCL but there are no example. So could you tell me a name for a book or give me an example of PCL code to do my print.
Moreover technical vocabulary is, for me, difficult to understand because of my low level in English (I'm from France). It's probably an other reason to my difficulties.

Last year I made a printing soft with a ZEBRA printer. I had to put in my soft escape sequence like ^FO680,66^A0N,60,60^FN1^FS... I had to code where i want to start printing, what i want to print ... Is there a really difference between this 2 code except code itself?


At least, I'd like to know what kind of editor, you use to code in PCL or to see hexa code.

Thank you for your help, it's great to find a forum like this one and people who really help you.

 

[UncleRick]

here is a link to a basic intro. It was made for printer techs. It includes a section on editors and a section on macros. it might be helpful.

http://www.digitalissues.co.uk/html/software/utils/pcl_index.html

this link is to google to search for the PCL/PJL developers guide, good book.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=devguid+filetype:pdf&btnG=Google+Search

For creation and editing I use a hexeditor.

sorry, I don't know ZEBRA.

good luck,

 

[Buff1]

Remember that HP regards a capital (uppercase) letter as
the signal that a sequence has ended. For example
Ec(s10H12V0S0B4148THello

would print in 10CPI (characters per inch)
12V0S0B4148THello

whereas:
Ec(s10h12v0s0b4148THello
would print in 10CPI medium weight (basically an arial type
face)

Hello

(Ec stands for the escape character CHR$(27) in basic)

in basic, it would be sent something like this
PRINT #15,chr$(27)+"(s0h12v0s0b4148T"+"Hello"

(the ...4148T"+"Hello" can be combined to ...4148THello")
(assuming #15 is opened to the printer or file to be printed)

 

[jlasman]

NO! NO! NO!

The 10h inserted into that command is NOT going to make Univers print at 10 CPI. Univers IS a proportional font period. The character spacing is totally dependent on the characters themselves.

As your command is incomplete, not showing either the spacing or symbol set, the results are unpredictable.

If the font used prior to this command was fixed pitch, then you would get a fixed pitch font, NOT Univers.

If the previous font was proportional, then you will get Univers 12pt proportional, NOT fixed pitch.

As I understand it, the cases where you see, both a "v" and an "h" in the command, the pair are used together to resolve some ambiguity between two very similar fonts. Not to make a proportional font print as fixed pitch.



Jim Asman

 

[DansDadUK]

Jim is spot on with his explanation.

All I can add is that '#h' and'#v' are used together (in conjunction with '0p') to select a fixed-pitch bitmap font; the only font of this type available on modern LaserJet devices and clones is the LinePrinter font.

 

[Buff1]

sorry forgot to include 0p
Ec(s0p10h12v....