Printer Command Language Reference

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Start Graphics at Left Graphics Margin Start Graphics at Current Cursor Start Scaled Graphics at Left Graphics Margin Start Scaled Graphics at Current Cursor # Graphics data bytes... End Graphics End Graphics with reset Rotate image LaserJet Landscape compatible Configure raster data # bytes move vertically # raster lines... raster height # pixels raster width # pixels scaled raster height # scaled raster width # uncompressed run-length encodes packbits (bytewise run-length) delta row compression block data adaptive compression CCITT3 1-D compression CCITT3 2-D compression CCITT4 compression

Printer Command Language

Functional reference

PCL escape sequences are summarised by function in the tables (right).

^Ec	is the escape character code hexadecimal 0x1B
...	indicates that a number of characters of parameter data follow the command
#	represents an integer or decimal paramter
a	is replaced by a single alpha character

RedTitan EscapeE may be used to view PCL or PDF and convert to Adobe Postscript, PDF, IBM AFP, or XEROX metacode formats.

Links

Printer Command Language functional reference
Page Length and Size Margins and Text length Horizontal Column Spacing (HMI) Vertical Line Spacing Deskjet print modes Deskjet raster graphics print modes Absolute positioning Relative Positioning Page Orientation Font Selection Font Spacing	Font Style Font Stroke Weight Selection Font TypeFace Number Selection Font Pitch Selection Font Selection by identification Font Management DownLoading Fonts Double-byte text parsing Rules patterns Raster Graphics	Color DeskJet and PCL5 only Obsolete functions Color Imaging Macros diagnostics - Reset and Self Test Underline Line Ending HPGL Paper Control Transparent Print data

PCL Page Length and Size
^Ec &l1A	Executive
^Ec &l2A	Letter
^Ec &l3A	Legal
^Ec &l26A	A4
^Ec &l27A	A3
^Ec &l80A	Monarch
^Ec &l81A	Commercial 10
^Ec &l90A	International DL
^Ec &l91A	International C5
^Ec &l101A	Custom paper
^Ec &l#A	Unknown Paper Size (#)
^Ec &l#M	Media type #
^Ec &l#P	Define Page Length to # Lines

PCL Margins and Text length
^Ec &l#E	Define Top Margin at # Lines
^Ec &l#F	Define Text Length as # Lines
^Ec &a#L	Define Left Margin at Column #
^Ec &a#M	Define Right Margin at Column #
^Ec &l#U	Long edge (left) offset registration #
^Ec &l#Z	Short edge (top) offset registration #
^Ec 9	Clear Margin

PCL Horizontal Column Spacing (HMI)
^Ec &k#H	Set HMI = #/120"

PCL Vertical Line Spacing
^Ec &l#C	Set VMI = #/48"
^Ec &l1D	1 LPI
^Ec &l2D	2 LPI
^Ec &l3D	3 LPI
^Ec &l4D	4 LPI
^Ec &l6D	6 LPI
^Ec &l8D	8 LPI
^Ec &l0D	12 LPI
^Ec &l#D	Set Line Spacing to # LPI
^Ec =	Half Line Feed
^Ec &u#D	Set # dpi dot resolution
^Ec &a0N	Contains negative motion
^Ec &a1N	No negative motion

HP PCL Deskjet print modes
^Ec &k0W	Unidirectional printing
^Ec &k1W	Bidirectional printing
^Ec &k2W	Unidirectional right-to-left
^Ec &k5W	66-line Text Scale mode
^Ec &k6W	Text Scale mode off

HP PCL Deskjet raster graphics print modes
^Ec *p1N	Bidirectional graphics
^Ec *p2N	Graphics print mode left-to-right
^Ec *p3N	Graphics print mode right-to-left
^Ec *p4N	Smart bidirectional graphics
^Ec *p#N	graphics print mode #

PCL Absolute positioning
^Ec &a#R	Move to Row #
^Ec *p#Y	Vert position = # Dots
^Ec &a#V	Vert position # Decipoints
^Ec &a#C	Move to Column #
^Ec *p#X	Horiz position = # Dots
^Ec &a#H	Horiz position # Decipoints

PCL Relative Positioning
^Ec &a+#R	Move down # rows
^Ec *p+#Y	Move down # Dots
^Ec &a+#V	Move down # Decipoints
^Ec &a+#C	Move right # cols
^Ec *p+#X	Move right # Dots
^Ec &a+#H	Move right # Decipoints
^Ec &a-#R	Move up # rows
^Ec *p-#Y	Move up # Dots
^Ec &a-#V	Move up # Decipoints
^Ec &a-#C	Move left # cols
^Ec *p-#X	Move left # Dots
^Ec &a-#H	Move left # Decipoints
^Ec &f0S	Push Cursor Position
^Ec &f1S	Pop Cursor Position

PCL Page Orientation
^Ec &l0O	Portrait
^Ec &l1O	Landscape
^Ec &l#O	Orientation #
^Ec &a0P	Rotation 0
^Ec &a90P	Rotation 90 (portrait -> landscape)
^Ec &a180P	Rotation 180
^Ec &a270P	Rotation 270 (landscape -> portrait)
^Ec &a#P	Rotation # degrees

PCL Font Selection
^Ec (#a	see PCL font selection
^Ec (8U	Roman-8 Symbol Set
^Ec (11U	IBM Danish/Norwegian Symbol Set
^Ec (10U	IBM-PC (USA) Symbol Set
^Ec (9U	Windows 3.0 Symbol set
^Ec (19U	Windows 3.1 Symbol set
^Ec )8U	Roman-8 as Secondary Font Symbol Set
^Ec )11U	IBM Danish/Norwegian as Secondary Font Symbol Set
^Ec )10U	IBM-PC (USA) as Secondary Font Symbol Set
^Ec )9U	Windows 3.0 Secondary Symbol set
^Ec )19U	Windows 3.1 Secondary Symbol set

PCL Font Spacing
^Ec (s1P	Proportional
^Ec (s0P	Fixed Pitch
^Ec (s#P	Unknown Font Spacing (#)!
^Ec )s1P	Proportional Spacing for Secondary Font
^Ec )s0P	Fixed Pitch Spacing for Secondary Font
^Ec )s#P	Unknown Font Spacing (#)!
^Ec (s#H	pitch # cpi
^Ec )s#H	Secondary Font pitch # cpi
^Ec (s#V	Point Size #
^Ec )s#V	Secondary Font Point Size #

PCL Font Style
^Ec (s0S	Upright
^Ec (s1S	Italic
^Ec (s#S	Font Style #
^Ec )s0S	Secondary Font is Upright
^Ec )s1S	Secondary Font is Italic
^Ec )s#S	Secondary Font Style #

PCL Font Stroke Weight Selection
^Ec (s-3B	Light Weight
^Ec (s0B	Medium Weight
^Ec (s3B	Bold
^Ec (s#B	Weight #
^Ec )s-3B	Secondary Font - Light Stroke Weight
^Ec )s0B	Secondary Font - Medium Stroke Weight
^Ec )s3B	Secondary Font - Bold Stroke Weight
^Ec )s#B	Secondary Font - Weight #

PCL Font TypeFace Number Selection
^Ec (s#T	Typeface #
^Ec )s#T	Secondary Font - Typeface #

PCL Font Pitch Selection
^Ec &k0S	Font Pitch 10.00 cpi
^Ec &k2S	Font Pitch 16.66 cpi
^Ec &k4S	Font Pitch 12.00 cpi
^Ec (3@	Choose Default font as Primary Font
^Ec (#@	Primary Font Requested Attribute Value #
^Ec )3@	Choose Default font as Secondary Font
^Ec (#@	Secondary Font Requested Attribute Value #

PCL Font Selection by identification
^Ec (#X	Select Primary Font by ID (#)
^Ec )#X	Select Secondary Font by ID (#)

PCL Font Management
^Ec *c#D	Define Font Id #
^Ec *c0F	Delete All Fonts
^Ec *c1F	Delete All Temporary Fonts
^Ec *c2F	Delete Last Font ID Specified
^Ec *c3F	Delete LAst Font ID and Char Code
^Ec *c4F	Make Font Temporary
^Ec *c5F	Make Font Permanent
^Ec *c6F	Copy/Assign
^Ec *c#F	Unknown Font Manmagement Command (#F)!

PCL DownLoading Fonts
^Ec *c#E...	ASCII Code # Decimal...
^Ec )s#W...	Create Font Header of # Bytes...
^Ec (s#W...	Download Character of # Bytes...
^Ec *c#R	Define Symbol set ID #
^Ec (f#W...	Define Symbol Set Characters (# Bytes)...
^Ec *c5S	Make symbol set permanent
^Ec *c#S	Symbol set control (#)
^Ec &n#W...	Alphanumeric ID #...

PCL Double-byte text parsing
^Ec &t0P	Single-byte chars
^Ec &t1P	Single-byte chars
^Ec &t#P	Double-byte mode #

PCL Rules
^Ec *c#A	Rule Horizontal Size # Dots
^Ec *c#H	Rule Horizontal Size # Decipoints
^Ec *c#B	Rule Vertical Size # Dots
^Ec *c#V	Rule Vertical Size # Decipoints
^Ec *c0P	Print Black Rule
^Ec *c1P	Print White Rule
^Ec *c2P	Print Grey Scale
^Ec *c3P	Print Cross-hatch Pattern
^Ec *c4P	Print User-defined Pattern
^Ec *c5P	Print Current Pattern

PCL patterns - same codes as for grey scale
^Ec *c1G	HP Pattern 1 Horiz Line
^Ec *c2G	HP Pattern 2 Vertical Line
^Ec *c3G	HP Pattern 3 Diagonal Lines
^Ec *c4G	HP Pattern 4 Diagonal Lines
^Ec *c5G	HP Pattern 5 Square Grid
^Ec *c6G	HP Pattern 6 Diagonal Grid
^Ec *c#G	#% Grey Scale
^Ec *p#R	pattern rotation #

PCL Raster Graphics
^Ec *t#R
^Ec *r0A
^Ec *r1A
^Ec *r2A
^Ec *r3A
^Ec *b#W...
^Ec *rB
^Ec *rC
^Ec *r0F
^Ec *r3F
^Ec *g#W...
^Ec *b#Y...
^Ec *r#T
^Ec *r#S
^Ec *t#V
^Ec *t#H
^Ec *b0M
^Ec *b1M
^Ec *b2M
^Ec *b3M
^Ec *b4M
^Ec *b5M
^Ec *b6M
^Ec *b7M
^Ec *b8M

# DPI Graphics resolution

PCL Color DeskJet and PCL5 only
^Ec *b9M	DeskJet compression
^Ec *b#M	unknown row compression mode #
^Ec *b#S	seed row # source
^Ec *b#V...	# colour data bytes
^Ec *r1Q	draft quality graphics
^Ec *r2Q	NLQ graphics
^Ec *r-3U	3-planes CYM
^Ec *r-4U	4-planes CYMK
^Ec *r1U	single plane palette
^Ec *r3U	3-planes RGB
^Ec *r#U	Unknown palette (#)
^Ec *b#B	Gray Balance #
^Ec *o#M	Print quality (#)
^Ec *o#Q	raster graphics shingling (#)
^Ec *o#D	raster graphics depletion (#)
^Ec *c#W-	define pattern # bytes
^Ec *p0R	rotate patterns
^Ec *p1R	no pattern rotation
^Ec *c#Q	temp/perm pattern mode #

PCL Obsolete functions
^Ec *p#N	raster print mode #
^Ec *r#Q	raster print quality #

PCL Color
^Ec *v#S	foreground colour #
^Ec &p#I	palette ID #
^Ec &p0C	delete all palettes
^Ec &p1C	clear palette stack
^Ec &p2C	delete palette
^Ec &p6C	copy palette to current ID
^Ec &p#S	select palette ID #
^Ec *v18W-	configure image data (RGB or CYM)
^Ec *v30W-	configure image data (CIE Lab)
^Ec *v86W-	configure image data (Colorimetric RGB)
^Ec *v122W-	configure image data (Luminence-Chrominence)
^Ec *v#W...	configure image data # bytes (RGB)
^Ec &b0M	Mixed monochrome rendering
^Ec &b1M	Gray equivalent
^Ec *v#A	colour component 1=#
^Ec *v#B	colour component 2=#
^Ec *v#C	colour component 3=#
^Ec *v#I	assign components to palette index #
^Ec *p0P	push palette
^Ec *p1P	pop palette
^Ec *t#I	Gamma correction #
^Ec *l#W...	Colour look-up table # bytes
^Ec &b0F	Matte finish
^Ec &b1F	Glossy finish
^Ec &b#T	Dry time #
^Ec *o#W...	Colour treatment

PCL Imaging
^Ec *v0T	pattern = solid black
^Ec *v1T	pattern = solid white
^Ec *v2T	pattern = shading
^Ec *v3T	pattern = cross-hatched
^Ec *v4T	pattern = user-defined
^Ec *v#T	Unknown shading pattern #
^Ec *v0N	transparent source
^Ec *v1N	opaque source
^Ec *v0O	transparent pattern
^Ec *v1O	opaque pattern
^Ec *l#O	rasterOp #
^Ec *t#J	halftone render algorithm #
^Ec *m#W...	download dither matrix # bytes
^Ec *l#R	Pixel placement #

PCL Macros
^Ec &f#Y	Define Macro ID #
^Ec &f0X	Start Macro Definition
^Ec &f1X	End Macro Definition
^Ec &f2X	Execute Macro
^Ec &f3X	Call Macro
^Ec &f4X	Enable Overlay
^Ec &f5X	Disable Overlay
^Ec &f6X	Delete Macros
^Ec &f7X	Delete All Temporary Macros
^Ec &f8X	Delete Macro ID
^Ec &f9X	Make Temporary
^Ec &f10X	Make Permanent

PCL diagnostics - Reset and Self Test
^Ec E	Reset
^Ec z	Self_Test
^Ec Y	Display Functions On
^Ec Z	Display Functions Off

PCL Underline
^Ec &d0D	Single fixed Underline On
^Ec &d2D	Double fixed Underline On
^Ec &d3D	Single floating Underline On
^Ec &d4D	Double floating Underline On
^Ec &d#D	Underline (#) On
^Ec &d@	Underline Off

PCL Line ending
^Ec &s0C	Enable Line Wrap
^Ec &s1C	Disable Line Wrap

PCL Paper Control (* only available on some printers)
^Ec &l#X	Select # Copies
^Ec &l#G	Select bin #
^Ec &r#F	Flush pages #
^Ec &l-1H	Feed Z-fold media
^Ec &l0H	Eject Page
^Ec &l0V	Conditional page feed
^Ec &l1H	Feed from Tray 2
^Ec &l2H	Manual Feed
^Ec &l3H	Manual Envelope Feed
^Ec &l4H	Feed from Tray 1
^Ec &l5H	Feed from Tray 3
^Ec &l6H	Optional envelope feeder
^Ec &l7H	Auto select
^Ec &l8H	Feed from tray 4*
^Ec &l#H	Feed from external trays # (20-69)*
^Ec &l#T	Job separation (#)
^Ec &l0L	Disable Perf Skip
^Ec &l1L	Enable Perf Skip
^Ec &a0G	Next side
^Ec &a1G	Front side
^Ec &a2G	Back side
^Ec &l0S	Simplex
^Ec &l1S	Duplex Long-edge binding
^Ec &l2S	Duplex Short-edge binding
^Ec &l1T	Job separation - paper offset

PCL Paper Control - Obsolete
^Ec &l1H	Feed from Tray 1 (upper)
^Ec &l4H	Feed from Tray 2 (lower)
^Ec &l5H	Feed from paper deck

PCL/HPGL
^Ec *c#X	HP GL Picture frame width # decipoints
^Ec *c#Y	HP GL Picture frame height # decipoints
^Ec *c0T	HP GL Picture anchor point = current position
^Ec *c#K	# inches HP GL plot width
^Ec *c#L	# inches HP GL plot height

PCL Line Termination
^Ec &k0G	CR=CR LF=LF FF=FF
^Ec &k1G	CR=CR+LF Lf=LF FF=FF
^Ec &k2G	CR=CR LF=CR+LF FF=CR+FF
^Ec &k3G	CR=CR+LF LF=CR+LF FF=CR+FF

PCL Transparent Print data
^Ec &p#X...	Transparent Print Data # Bytes...

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Ec

...

#

a

Ec &l1A

Ec &l2A

Ec &l3A

Ec &l26A

Ec &l27A

Ec &l80A

Ec &l81A

Ec &l90A

Ec &l91A

Ec &l101A

Ec &l#A

Ec &l#M

Ec &l#P

Ec &l#E

Ec &l#F

Ec &a#L

Ec &a#M

Ec &l#U

Ec &l#Z

Ec 9

Ec &k#H

Ec &l#C

Ec &l1D

Ec &l2D

Ec &l3D

Ec &l4D

Ec &l6D

Ec &l8D

Ec &l0D

Ec &l#D

Ec =

Ec &u#D

Ec &a0N

Ec &a1N

Ec &k0W

Ec &k1W

Ec &k2W

Ec &k5W

Ec &k6W

Ec *p1N

Ec *p2N

Ec *p3N

Ec *p4N

Ec *p#N

Ec &a#R

Ec *p#Y

Ec &a#V

Ec &a#C

Ec *p#X

Ec &a#H

Ec &a+#R

Ec *p+#Y

Ec &a+#V

Ec &a+#C

Ec *p+#X

Ec &a+#H

Ec &a-#R

Ec *p-#Y

Ec &a-#V

Ec &a-#C

Ec *p-#X

Ec &a-#H

Ec &f0S

Ec &f1S

Ec &l0O

Ec &l1O

Ec &l#O

Ec &a0P

Ec &a90P

Ec &a180P

Ec &a270P

Ec &a#P

Ec (#a

Ec (8U

Ec (11U

Ec (10U

^Ec

^Ec &l1A

^Ec &l2A

^Ec &l3A

^Ec &l26A

^Ec &l27A

^Ec &l80A

^Ec &l81A

^Ec &l90A

^Ec &l91A

^Ec &l101A

^Ec &l#A

^Ec &l#M

^Ec &l#P

^Ec &l#E

^Ec &l#F

^Ec &a#L

^Ec &a#M

^Ec &l#U

^Ec &l#Z

^Ec 9

^Ec &k#H

^Ec &l#C

^Ec &l1D

^Ec &l2D

^Ec &l3D

^Ec &l4D

^Ec &l6D

^Ec &l8D

^Ec &l0D

^Ec &l#D

^Ec =

^Ec &u#D

^Ec &a0N

^Ec &a1N

^Ec &k0W

^Ec &k1W

^Ec &k2W

^Ec &k5W

^Ec &k6W

^Ec *p1N

^Ec *p2N

^Ec *p3N

^Ec *p4N

^Ec *p#N

^Ec &a#R

^Ec *p#Y

^Ec &a#V

^Ec &a#C

^Ec *p#X

^Ec &a#H

^Ec &a+#R

^Ec *p+#Y

^Ec &a+#V

^Ec &a+#C

^Ec *p+#X

^Ec &a+#H

^Ec &a-#R

^Ec *p-#Y

^Ec &a-#V

^Ec &a-#C

^Ec *p-#X

^Ec &a-#H

^Ec &f0S

^Ec &f1S

^Ec &l0O

^Ec &l1O

^Ec &l#O

^Ec &a0P

^Ec &a90P

^Ec &a180P

^Ec &a270P

^Ec &a#P

^Ec (#a

^Ec (8U

^Ec (11U

^Ec (10U

^Ec (9U

^Ec (19U

^Ec )8U