File Formats: Printer Command Language Format (PCL)

Printer Command Language Format (PCL)

The Printer Command Language vector format was developed by Hewlett-Packard, specifically to provide a means of communication between computers and printers. The PCL files contain the commands and the HP printers parse and decode those commands. This format also includes HPGL. For more information about HPGL, refer to PLT.

LEAD supports version 3.0 and 5.0 of this file format.

The default extensions used by this format are: PRN, PRT and PCL.

This format is used by Visual PCL, PCLTOOLS, redtitan EscapE and AutoVue.

This file format does not support layers or grouping, but it does support embedded raster objects.

PCL filter supports many features such as:

Support for Raster, text and rectangular area.

Support for Macros.

Enhanced performance of the filter.

Support for HPGL mode in PCL

Raster fonts

RTL Raster data

Support for all compression methods (RLE, TIFF, Delta, Adaptive and Unencoded).

Support for old versions of PCL v.3, besides v.5.

Viewing PJL with POSTSCRIPT data (requires the PDF filter)

Support for user-defined and pre-defined patterns

Support for Unicode symbols

Detecting non-standard PCL/HPGL files that lack a correct header

File constants associated with this file format are:

Constant	Write Support	Description
FILE_PCL	Yes	[251] Printer Command Language – Hewlett Packard.
FILE_PLT	Yes	[137] HPGL – Hewlett-Packard.

When PCL files are rasterized, they are 24 BPP.
When PLT files are rasterized, they are 4 BPP.

The following table indicates which objects LEAD can save:

Object:	Save:
Arc	Supported
Circle	Supported
Lines	Supported
Pie	Supported
Point	Supported
PolyBezier	Not Supported
PolyDraw	Not Supported
Polygons	Not Supported
Polyline	Not Supported
Raster	Supported
Rectangle	Supported
Text	Supported

Required DLL: LFPCL. For a listing of the exact DLLs needed, refer to ePrint Files.