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PrintGL 1.30 pen plotter emulator for IBM/DOS systems (C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1990,1993 Ravitz Software Inc. BBS/FAX 606-268-0577 P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA Compuserve Cary Ravitz [70431,32] Introduction ....................................................... 2 License and Registration 3 What Is New ........................................................ 4 Installation 4 Operation .......................................................... 5 How To Get HP-GL Plotfiles From Your Graphics Software 6 Messages ........................................................... 6 Syntax 7 Overview of Options ................................................ 8 /A - Location Option 8 /B - Tiling Option ................................................. 8 /C - Pen Color Option 9 /D - Output Destination Option .................................... 10 /F - Output Format Option 11 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ................................ 13 /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options 13 /L - Page Layout Option ........................................... 14 /M - Magnification Option (Scaling, Size) 15 /N - Page Number Option ........................................... 15 /O - Origin and Orientation Option 15 /P - Plotfile Option .............................................. 16 /Q - Number of Copies Option 16 /R - Internal Resolution Option ................................... 16 /S - Pen Shading Option 16 /T - Temporary File Option ........................................ 16 /W - Pen Width Option 17 /X - User Interface Option ........................................ 17 /Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option 17 /Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option ......................... 18 PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) 19 PMI Specific Functions ............................................ 19 PMI Input and Output Choices 20 PMI Plot Options .................................................. 20 PMI Pen Options 20 PMI Page Layout Options ........................................... 21 PMI Other Options 21 Large Paper ....................................................... 21 Tips On AutoCAD 22 Answers ........................................................... 22 Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes 23 Color Processing .................................................. 24 HP-GL and ADI Commands 24 Output Devices .................................................... 25 Compatibility and Technical Information 32 User Support ...................................................... 32 p-2 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL is a shareware pen plotter emulator for IBM/DOS systems. It prints or displays HP-GL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language - 7475, 17440 subsets) or ADI (Autodesk Device Interface 4.0 vector plotter binary format) plotfiles on most PC graphics devices. HP-GL is widely supported by CAD, drawing, plotting, and other graphics programs including AutoCAD, Microstation, Generic CADD, MathCAD, Schema, OrCAD, and SAS. PrintGL will print on Epson and IBM 9 pin printers, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC, and Toshiba 24 pin printers, HP LaserJet, DeskJet, color DeskJet, PaintJet, QuietJet, HP-GL/2 devices, and HP-GL plotters, IBM ExecJet, Quietwriter 2 and 3, LaserPrinter, and plotters, Canon LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, Kodak Color 4, PDP ProTracer, Tektronix ColorQuick, and PostScript printers. It will also display plots with a CGA, EGA, VGA, enhanced VGA, or HGC, and output a ZSoft PCX bit map file or an Encapsulated PostScript file with preview bit map. Even if your graphics program supports your printer, you will probably find that PrintGL is faster, gives better print quality, and/or gives more formatting flexibility. PrintGL uses the best graphics modes available for each printer that it supports and uses transfer data compression to improve print speed on many printers. And it gives options such as orientation, magnification, position, and pen width, color, and shading. If you need printed graphics output from personal software, you can output HP-GL and use PrintGL to do the printing. This gives immediate support to a wide range of printers. And it lets you use the HP 17440 command set while still supporting lower function plotters. PrintGL interprets all of the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 (ColorPro with GEC) command set that is applicable to plotfiles except for character set 8 (Katakana). None of the digitize, output, or device control commands (except plotter on and off) are supported as these are only used with direct control of a plotter. And the error mask command is not supported. In addition to the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 commands, PrintGL handles paper feed, label origin, extra space, and enhanced clipping window commands and proportional fonts. PrintGL can be run from the DOS command line (and .BAT files) or from PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI). PMI is a menu driven program that lets you choose options, select a list of plotfiles, and run PrintGL. This simplifies the selection of options and lets you run multiple plotfiles without intervention. PMI lets you save five configurations, so after initial setup you can use it with minimal effort. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. p-3 License and Registration --------------------------------------------- PrintGL (including PrintGL Menu Interface) is provided as is. There are no warranties expressed or implied. PrintGL is copyrighted by Ravitz Software Inc. You may copy PrintGL only for use under this license agreement. PrintGL is distributed as shareware. You may use PrintGL without charge on a trial basis to determine its suitability for you. If you continue to use it after your evaluation, you must purchase a registered copy for $50. This registration covers use by a single person (on multiple computers) or installation on a single computer (may be used by a group of people). There is no cost to use a later 1.** version after registering any 1.** version. You may distribute PrintGL as a stand alone product if you keep the entire package together, unchanged, including this license explanation, and do not charge more than $10. You may not distribute PrintGL as part of another product. To purchase a registered copy of PrintGL, send your name, address, and $50 check to: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA You will be sent a printed manual and disk (always the latest version). Specify 3.5 or 5.25 inch disk. If you previously registered PrintGL, you may send $15 to get a current disk and manual. The price for multiple licenses is $50 for the first copy (with disk and manual) and thereafter $40 per copy with disk and manual or $25 per copy without disk or manual. For users outside the USA, please make checks payable in US dollars, and except for Canada, please use a check from a US bank if possible. Don't forget to include your country in your address. If you register through a business, be sure to include your name. PrintGL Printer Driver is a special version of PrintGL, modified for use as a printer driver. It may be licensed for use in commercial programs. Send a note to request more information on this. p-4 What Is New ---------------------------------------------------------- For version 1.30: /F@ supports the Canon BJC880 /F& supports the Canon BJC800, BJ200 native mode /F4+ supports the IBM LaserPrinter with 600 dpi PPDS upgrade /FD+ supports the Canon LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi /FU has been dropped. /FL! how gives the same output. Interprets Autodesk ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands (/YA) For version 1.28: multiple file output (see /D option) supports the LaserJet 4 at 600 dpi supports the DeskJet 550C and PaintJet XL300 pen widths can be up to 24 dots Ctrl-B (instead of ctrl-break) stops processing immediately For version 1.26: GEM IMG output (/FG) has been dropped low resolution (180 dpi) Canon BJ, BJC drivers have been dropped /FG drives the Pacific Data Products ProTracer /F7+ is a two pass (double ink) BJ/ExecJet driver /FB+ is a BJC driver with sparse line to line overlap /FV* drives VESA EVGA 1024x768 displays /F0 drives any HP-GL/2 raster device the nominal resolution of PS, HP-GL, HP-GL/2 may be specified line width N turns a pen off pen overwrite mode (opaque pens) is the default The latest version of PrintGL is available from the support bulletin board at 606-268-0577 (1200..9600,N,8,1 24 hours/day, XMODEM or YMODEM (1K XMODEM) download), packed in .ZIP format. Installation --------------------------------------------------------- Copy the files PRINTGL.EXE and PMI.EXE to your working disk or directory. They are all that you need to run PrintGL. PRINTGL.EXE is the command line driven executable file. PMI.EXE is the executable file for PrintGL Menu Interface. PMI needs to be able to find itself (PMI.EXE) and PRINTGL.EXE, so both of these files should be in a directory that is in your DOS PATH. If you prefer, you can set the environment variable PRINTGLP to be a path that tells PMI where to find itself and PRINTGL.EXE. If you have PRINTGLP defined, PMI ignores the PATH. In addition to the above files, these files are part in the package, and must be included if you distribute PrintGL as shareware: PRINTGL.DOC documentation ADD.DOC additional documentation since last release HPGL.DOC HP-GL reference HPGL.CHR HP-GL character set plotfile SAMPLE.PLT sample plotfile ORDER.FRM order form README.* quick information p-5 Operation ------------------------------------------------------------ PrintGL reads a plotfile, does arc, character, fill, etc. to line conversion, stores the data in a coordinate list, and if needed, puts the list on disk. It then reorients the data and determines the plot size. Next the data is resized and relocated. For vector output formats (HP-GL, PostScript) data is output from here. For bit mapped devices (most printers, displays, bit maps) the coordinate list is rasterized and output in swaths. You are likely to see the printer print a swath and stop while PrintGL is processing the next swath. Esc stops PrintGL at the next good break point, leaving the printer ready for new data. Ctrl-B stops PrintGL as quickly as possible. You generally need to do a printer reset after a Ctrl-B. When you display a plot, press Enter or Esc to return to the DOS text screen, or any of the four cursor movement keys to scroll across the plot. Press S to cycle between full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page scrolling. PrintGL works within a printer's current margins and starts at the current vertical print position. If you decline the form feed suboption of the /L option then PrintGL leaves the printer at the start of the line directly below the plot. All printing is done in printer lines that cover the full height of the printhead. PrintGL will not automatically change a printer's operating mode. On multimode printers, the right operating mode must be set before running PrintGL or with the prefix code (/J) option. Internally PrintGL uses two byte coordinates on a 1016 dots/inch grid. This allows for plots with coordinates of over 30 inches - far larger than an HP 7475 can handle. However, if you are using PrintGL to emulate a large plotter, you may overflow the internal coordinate system. This condition is not checked, and it will cause garbage output. You can change the internal resolution to 508 dots per inch (giving 60 inch maximum plot sizes) with the /R option (/R508). This only helps store the original plot internally. The next step in PrintGL converts these coordinates to the requested size in the resolution of the output device, and these coordinates must also fit in the two byte coordinate list. p-6 How To Get HP-GL Plotfiles From Your Graphics Software --------------- To use PrintGL, you must be able to output HP-GL files from your graphics application. Most CAD, drawing, and graphing software lets you do this. Just tell the application to output your picture to a plotter. In either the configuration process or the output process, you will need to specify that you have an HP 7475 or HP 7440/17440 plotter and that you want the output to go to a file instead of a COM port (some programs name the file automatically and some ask you for a name). Once you have the file, you can print it with PrintGL, either from a DOS shell or after exiting the application. Messages ------------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL displays a number of messages to keep you informed of what it is doing. The output looks like this. Reading SAMPLE.PLT Plotfile has 1 page(s) Processing page 1 2283 data records Overall magnification 0.9964 Print window Horizontal 0.00 7.54 Vertical 0.00 10.14 Plot area Horizontal 0.42 7.13 Vertical 0.61 9.54 Output format /FT HxV dpi nominal 180x180, actual 180x180 color Writing to device LPT3 The first line is the plotfile that is currently being processed. The second line tells how many pages are in the plotfile, which page is being processed, and the number of data points in that page. The number of data points is roughly equivalent to the number of pen moves and is shown to give you an indication of the plot's complexity. The overall magnification is either the magnification that you specified with the /M option or the effective magnification after fitting to the print window with /MF. The print window line gives the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the print window, always starting at 0,0 and in inches. The plot area gives the horizontal and vertical coordinates of a box that just covers the plotted data. This uses the same coordinate system as the print window, so you can tell where the plot is relative to the print window. The output format and resolution are given and then the output destination is noted (except for screen plots). If three or four plane color is being used, the word "color" is displayed. If you have a black only printer, but the output format allows color (this is common with 9 and 24 pin printers), using color will greatly increase the PrintGL run time with no improvement in print quality. During processing, PrintGL informs you when it is processing and writing data, and you can watch the progress from 0% to 100%, along with the elapsed time. p-7 Syntax --------------------------------------------------------------- The calling syntax of PrintGL is: PRINTGL plotfile /option1 /option2 ... Spaces between parameters are not required. The plotfile may be specified with the /P option if it is inconvenient to make it the first parameter. If a given option is entered more than once, only the last entry is used. And if an option is invalid (but not incorrect), it is ignored. This lets you set up a batch file with your preferred options but override them as desired. For example, create PLOT.BAT with the line: PRINTGL /FL /M1 /P %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Then PLOT can be called just like PRINTGL but it defaults to HP LaserJet format with magnification 1. The DOS environment variable PRINTGL is examined by PrintGL and if it is nonblank then it is put in front of the command line parameters. If you put "SET PRINTGL=/FL/M1" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT then PrintGL will default to LaserJet format with magnification 1. This is ignored when running under PrintGL Menu Interface. If you do not enter any parameters or if any parameter is incorrect, PrintGL displays its option reminder screen. Below, [ and ] enclose optional suboptions and | separates mutually exclusive suboptions. The options and suboptions may be in any order except that multiple numeric suboptions are ordered and numeric suboptions must follow character suboptions where the characters may be digits. "c" refers to a suboption character, "x" and "y" to suboption numbers, "i" and "j" to suboption integers, "b" to a suboption byte, and "f" to a DOS file or device name. For numbers (x, y), a decimal point is allowed but is not required, and scientific notation is not allowed. "-" is allowed but not "+". For integer input (i, j), only base ten integers from -32768 to 32767 are allowed. "+" is not allowed. A byte (b) must be a base ten integer from 0 to 255 or a hexadecimal number prefixed with $ from $00 to $FF. Further range checking is done for most options to flag unreasonable input. If an option has multiple numeric suboptions, these may be separated with commas or blanks. ******************************************************************** It is very important to choose the right output format (/F option). It is likely that the default output format will work on your printer, but it is equally likely that it will not produce optimal results. Please look carefully at the entire list of output formats before choosing one, and do not assume that because a format works that it is the best one to use. ******************************************************************** p-8 Overview of Options -------------------------------------------------- PrintGL's options fall into several categories. The first is input and output choices. The input is chosen with /P, the plotfile, and /N, the page number. Output options are /F, the output format (printer model), and /D, the destination port, device, or file. The second category is the page layout. /L controls the size and location of the print window (hard clip limits), and the option to box the window, send a form feed, reverse the image color, and use opaque lines. Tiling is set with /B and copies with /Q. The third category defines how the plot looks within the print window. /M, the magnification, sets the size of the plot. /A determines the location of the plot within the print window. /O sets the origin and orientation, and is used to rotate or mirror the plot. /I sets the plotter's initial scaling points. The fourth category defines the pens, /W for the width, /C for the color, and /S for the shade. And the last category determines how PrintGL processes the plot. This includes the temporary file /T, the default and minimum chord angle /Z, the plotter Y/D and S/E switch position /Y, the internal resolution /R, user interface options /X, and /J and /K let you set up and reset the printer for special situations. /A - Location Option ------------------------------------------------- /A[O][x,y] - location - default /A The A option determines the location of the plot in the print window via a point on the plot that is aligned with a point in the print window. You can specify the plot alignment point with x,y in inches from the plot's origin (before PrintGL applies magnification), or let it default to the plot center. For the print window alignment point, you can default to the center or specify the origin with O. /A puts the center of the plot at the center of the print /AO0,0 puts the plot 0,0 at the print window origin /B - Tiling Option --------------------------------------------------- /B[i,j,x] - tiling parameters - default /B1,1,0 /B lets you specify tiling options that break a large plot into pages. Each page is defined by the page layout option (/L). I and j specify the number of tiles (pages) horizontally and vertically. X specifies the overlap in inches. Displayed plots are sized based on the tiling, but only the first tile is displayed. Use the cursor keys to scroll the plot. /B2,2,.5 breaks the plot into 4 pages with .5 inch overlap /B is the same as /B1,1,0 and produces no tiling p-9 /C - Pen Color Option ------------------------------------------------ /C[O|T]c.. - color - default /CK /C specifies the color of each of 40 pens. The colors are B for blue, C for cyan, G for green, K for black, M for magenta, R for red, W for white, and Y for yellow. Unspecified pens use the last selected color (/CRGB is the same as /CRGBBBBBB). For black/white output formats, all nonwhite colors become black. Additional colors can be created with shade mixing. These colors use shading patterns to mix the eight pure colors. The format for a mixed color is .?? where each ? represents any of the eight pure colors. The first color is printed with the pen's shading pattern (/S option) and the second is printed with the inverse shading pattern. If the shade value is 0 (solid) it is replaced by 2 (50%) which produces the most uniform mixed colors. On many printers, using a shade of 1 (75%) or 3 (25%) gives a better color. Here are some useful mixed colors for inkjet printers. Use them with shade 1. color description color description .cb light blue .yr orange .mb violet .rk brown .cg blue-green .ck teal .yg yellow-green .kr black on DeskJet 500C Mixed colors need line widths of at least 2 (4 for 2 dot shading patterns) to look good, and they may have visual artifacts on edges near a 45 degree angle. Multipass dot matrix formats may not handle color mixing well. By default, colors are overwritten into the print, so they appear opaque. You can switch to translucent colors (ored into the print) with the T suboption, and then back to opaque with the O suboption. Make this mode switch in front of the pen that you want to change. For PostScript devices and plotters, the color processing is done by the device, not PrintGL. PostScript devices use opaque colors and plotters use translucent colors. " means repeat the previous color. /COKR.MB""T.KY sets pen 1 to opaque black pen 2 to opaque red pen 3..5 to opaque magenta on blue pen 6..40 to translucent black on yellow p-10 /D - Output Destination Option --------------------------------------- /D[+]f - destination - default /D1 The D option specifies the output printer port, device, or file. The + suboption causes files to be appended rather than overwritten (it has no effect on device output). 1, 2, and 3 select the BIOS printer routines. X1, X2, X3, and X4 select xon/xoff controlled serial port drive. H1, H2, H3, and H4 select hardware controlled serial port drive. You can also use the DOS devices LPT1, COM1, etc. /D is ignored for display output. PrintGL cannot set up the serial ports. This is usually done in the AUTOEXEC.BAT with MODE (probably MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P). If you specify a three digit number for a file name extension (for example .000), and multiple pages are output via the multiple copies option, tiling, or multiple HP-GL pages, then rather than appending the destination file, additional files are created with sequential extensions. This is useful for PCX and EPS output. /D2 sends output to the second parallel port via BIOS /DLPT3 sends output to the DOS device LPT3 /D+TEMP.PRN appends output to file TEMP.PRN /DOUTPUT.000 sends output to OUTPUT.000, OUTPUT.001, ... p-11 /F - Output Format Option -------------------------------------------- /Fc[-|+|*][!|¡][~][`][x,y] - output format - default /FN~ The F option specifies the output format. -, +, and * are resolution modifiers, ! and ¡ select compression levels, ~ turns off color processing, and ` switches four plane color processing on or off. These suboptions are allowed even if they have no effect. For 800x600 VGA (/FV+) you can append the display mode number. This must follow the format character. It may be entered in hex with a $ prefix. For HP-GL (/F8), HP-GL/2 (/F0), PostScript (/FS), PCX (/FZ), and PS preview (/FY) you can append the nominal device resolution. Matching the nominal resolution to the printer may yield improvements in print quality. For PCX and PS preview the nominal device resolution may be one or two numbers. For output formats other than bit maps, you can append the true horizontal and vertical resolution of the output device in dots/inch. This overrides the normal output device resolution, but does not affect the structure of the output. These numbers should follow all other suboptions. This lets you compensate for print size error. For example, a 360x360 dpi printer consistently under indexes so that a 6 inch high box comes out 5.94 inches. Using 360,363.6 (6/5.94*360 = 363.6) removes the error. For print size correction, you also specify a number from .5 to 2 which is interpreted as the nominal resolution times this number. For example on a 360 dpi printer, 1.0,1.01 is the same as 360,363.6. Each printer driver has a default level of data compression, chosen to give maximum compatilibity among the different printers that the driver supports. Many drivers have an optional enhanced level of compression, chosen with !. This will be incompatible with some printers. And some drivers let you turn all compression off with ¡ (ASCII 173). This is rarely of any use. Where these suboptions are effective, they are marked in the table below. Drivers marked below with ~ can handle color. Using ~ suppresses color processing, substituting black for all colors except white. ` switches between 4 and 3 plane color (see Color Processing). /F0[i] ~ HP-GL/2 ................................ 600x600, ixi /F1 ~ IBM 9 pin 120x72 /F1+ ~ IBM 9 pin (2 pass) .......................... 120x144 /F1* ~ IBM 9 pin (4 pass) 240x144 /F2 IBM Quietwriter 2 ........................... 240x240 /F3 IBM Quietwriter 3 240x240 /F4- !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 150x150 /F4 !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) 300x300 /F4+ !¡ IBM LaserPrinter (PPDS mode) ................ 600x600 /F5 ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 180x180 /F5+ ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (2 pass) ............. 360x180 /F5* ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 1 (4 pass) 360x360 /F6 ! IBM Proprinter X24 .......................... 180x182 /F6+ ! IBM Proprinter X24 (2 pass) 360x182 /F6* ! IBM Proprinter X24 (4 pass) ................. 360x364 p-12 /F7 ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet .............. 360x360 /F7+ ¡ Canon BJ IBM mode, IBM ExecJet (2 pass) 360x360 /F8[i] HP-GL ................................ 1016x1016, ixi /F9 ! ~ NEC 24 pin 180x180 /F9+ ! ~ NEC 24 pin (2 pass) ......................... 360x180 /F9* ! ~ NEC 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /F& ~ Canon BJ native mode ........................ 360x360 /F@ ~ Canon BJ CaPSL mode 360x360 /FA- ! ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C ..... 150x150 /FA ! ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C 300x300 /FB ¡~ Canon BJ Epson mode ......................... 360x360 /FB+ ¡~ Canon BJ Epson mode (line overlap) 360x360 /FC CGA display ................................... 62x25 /FD- !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 150x150 /FD !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) .................. 300x300 /FD+ !¡ Canon LBP (ISO/CaPSL mode) 600x600 /FE ~ 128K EGA color display ........................ 62x45 /FF ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin 180x180 /FF+ ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180 /FF* ! ~ Fujitsu 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /FG ¡ PDP Protracer (IBM mode) .................... 360x360 /FH Hercules graphics card display 70x45 /FI- HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet ...................... 150x150 /FI HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet 300x300 /FI+ HP LaserJet 4 ............................... 600x600 /FJ Canon BJ BJ130 mode 360x360 /FK ~ Kodak Diconix Color 4 ....................... 192x192 /FL- !¡ HP LaserJet 150x150 /FL !¡ HP LaserJet ................................. 300x300 /FM 128K EGA monochrome display 62x45 /FN ~ Epson 9 pin .................................. 120x72 /FN+ ~ Epson 9 pin (3 pass) 120x216 /FN* ~ Epson 9 pin (6 pass) ........................ 240x216 /FO ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin 180x180 /FO+ ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin (2 pass) ..................... 360x180 /FO* ! ~ Toshiba 24 pin (4 pass) 360x360 /FP ! ~ HP PaintJet ...................... 180x180 /FQ HP QuietJet (PCL mode) 192x192 /FR ~ Tektronix ColorQuick ........................ 216x216 /FS[i] ~ PostScript 600x600, ixi /FT ! ~ Epson 24 pin ................................ 180x180 /FT+ ! ~ Epson 24 pin (2 pass) 360x180 /FT* ! ~ Epson 24 pin (4 pass) ....................... 360x360 /FV ~ VGA display 62x62 /FV+ ~ VESA 800x600 VGA display ...................... 78x78 /FV+b ~ 800x600 VGA display - mode b 78x78 /FV* ~ VESA 1024x768 VGA display ....................100x100 /FW ~ Epson 9 pin alternate 120x72 /FW+ ~ Epson 9 pin alternate (3 pass) .............. 120x216 /FW* ~ Epson 9 pin alternate (6 pass) 240x216 /FX ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 ...................... 180x180 /FX+ ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (2 pass) 360x180 /FX* ! ~ IBM 24 pin alternate 2 (4 pass) ............. 360x360 /FY[i[,j]] append EPS preview bit map 72x72, ixi, ixj /FZ[i[,j]] ~ ZSoft PCX ......................... 100x100, ixi, ixj p-13 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ----------------------------------- /IA|R|W[N] - IP point location - default /IA This option is not useful with any HP-GL that does not use the scale command or that initializes the plotter or sets the scaling points. The I option sets the initial scaling points (P1, P2 - the scaling points may be set in the HP-GL file with the IP command). A (absolute) sets the points to the default for the paper size (see below). R fits P1 and P2 to the print window with at least .25 inch margins and an x/y ratio of 10/7.2 (the same ratio as the HP 7475 with small paper). W fits P1 and P2 to the print window with a .25 inch margin. N makes the margin 0 for R or W and is ignored with A. The default scaling points depend on the print window (/L option) with the implied paper size and the plot orientation (/O option). paper options default scaling pts with RO90 command 7440 A /O1 /L 7.54,10.14 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7440 A4 /O1 /L 7.54,10.74 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7475 A4 /O1 /L 7.84,10.20 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 7475 A4 /O1 /L 7.60,10.88 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 7475 B /O1 /L10.20,16.38 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 7475 A3 /O1 /L10.88,15.90 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 7440 A /O2 /L10.14, 7.54 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7440 A4 /O2 /L10.74, 7.54 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 7475 A /O2 /L10.20, 7.84 250,596 10250, 7796 154,244 7354,10244 7475 A4 /O2 /L10.88, 7.60 603,521 10603, 7721 0,610 7200,10610 7475 B /O2 /L16.38,10.20 522,259 15722,10259 283,934 10283,16134 7475 A3 /O2 /L15.90,10.88 170,602 15370,10602 607,797 10607,15997 anything else 250,279 10250, 7479 279,250 7479,10250 /O3 and /O4 gives the same default scaling points as /O1 and /O2. /IA uses the default scaling points /IWN sets the scaling points to fit the print window /J, /K - Printer Code Prefix, Suffix Options ------------------------- /J[b,b,..] - printer code prefix - default /J /K[b,b,..] - printer code suffix - default /K /J lets you send codes to the printer before PrintGL's usual data is sent and /K lets you send codes after PrintGL's usual data is sent. This lets you set up and reset the printer for special situations. For HP-GL and PostScript output, the /J codes follow the initialization commands. The codes are specified with byte values (0..255 or $0..$FF) separated with blanks or commas. There is a limit of 80 characters for any option, so very long sequences must be handled outside of PrintGL. /J27 79 sets skip perforation off to allow plots larger than one page on most continuous form printers p-14 /L - Page Layout Option ---------------------------------------------- /L[B][F][R][x,y[,x,y]] - page layout - default depends on printer The L option defines the page layout. B boxes the plot at the print window edge using pen 40. F and N set form feed or no form feed. Form feed is the default and does not need to be specified. This is ignored for PCX and display output. R reverses the colors on displays, bit maps, and output formats 4, D, I, L, and U (Canon, HP, and IBM laser printers) and is otherwise ignored. This gives the equivalent of a photographic negative. The first optional x and y are the print window width and height in inches. These define the hard clip limits. These values are not checked against the printer's capabilities. If you specify a print window that exceeds the output device limits, the results are unknown. You may need to reset the printer's margins or page length for large plots (see Large Paper). The size needed for a given width and height exceeds x and y by 8 dots to allow for line widths. The second optional x and y are the left and top margins, measured from the printer's left margin and current vertical position to the print window. The margins for HP-GL and PostScript are measured from 0,0 (left, bottom). Margins are ignored for display output and bit maps. THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS THE MARGINS MUST FIT WITHIN THE PRINTABLE AREA. Each printer has a default page layout. The default print window is 7.54x10.14 for printers and bit maps and 10.14x7.54 for HP-GL and displays. These correspond to HP 7440 A size paper. The margins are printer specific to compensate for different paper handling. In evaluating user options, PrintGL processes each option and when finished reprocesses the default page layout for the chosen printer and then reprocesses the last user /L option. This procedure gives good default values so that your /L option can change the letter suboptions while keeping the default print window. /L7.5,3,.5,0 print window 7.5x3, left margin .5, top margin 0 /L7.54,10.14 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A paper /L7.54,10.74 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A4 paper /L7.84,10.20 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A paper /L7.60,10.88 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A4 paper /L10.20,16.38 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with B paper /L10.88,15.90 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A3 paper p-15 /M - Magnification Option (Scaling, Size) ---------------------------- /M[F]x - magnification - default /MF.9 The M option specifies the magnification. F fits the plot to the print window size. The default is /MF.9 which makes the plot 90% of the largest size that will fit in the print window. /M1 gives the same size plot as an HP 7475 plotter. /MF.9 fits the plot to the print window and shrinks it 10% /M1 plots at the same size as an HP 7475 /M.5 plots at half the size of an HP 7475 /N - Page Number Option ---------------------------------------------- /N[i] - page number - default /N /Ni says to print only page i of the plotfile. If you do not specify i then all pages in the plot will be printed (this is the default). /N prints all pages in the plotfile /N3 prints only page 3 /O - Origin and Orientation Option ----------------------------------- /O[1|2|3|4[L]] - origin, orientation - default /O The O option sets the print window origin and orientation. The origin is one of four corners numbered 1..4 for upper left, lower left, lower right, and upper right, and implies a plot rotation. The L suboption specifies a left handed coordinate system, which mirrors the plot. If no origin is specified then it is chosen so that the x axis is the longer dimension. Here are pictures of PrintCAD's view of the output media compared to an HP 7475's view. HP 7475 PrintGL display or A size B size printer plotter y┌────────┐ 0,0┌────────┐y ul ┌─────┐ur ul ┌────────┐ur │ │ │ │ 1 │ │4 1 │ │4 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0,0└────────┘x │ │ │ │ ll └────────┘lr │ │ │ │ 2 3 │ │ ll └─────┘lr │ │ 2 3 x└────────┘ /O1 puts the print window's origin in the upper left corner /O2 puts the print window's origin in the lower left corner p-16 /P - Plotfile Option ------------------------------------------------- /Pf - plotfile - no default The plotfile may be specified as the first parameter with no prefix, or it may be specified anywhere in the option list with /P. If you use a file name mask with "*" and/or "?", each matching file is processed, but the first failure or user break stops all processing. /Q - Number of Copies Option ----------------------------------------- /Qi - number of copies - default /Q1 /Q sets the number of copies of each printed page. The default is one. Page printers produce multiple copies faster using the "N copies" prefix code (see Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes). /R - Internal Resolution Option -------------------------------------- /Ri - internal resolution - default /R1016 /R sets the internal grid resolution in dots/inch. It is normally 1016 and rarely needs to be changed. To fit very large plots into the -32768..32767 coordinate limit, use /R508. Setting the resolution to a multiple of the output device resolution times the magnification may yield a small improvement in print quality. /S - Pen Shading Option ---------------------------------------------- /Sc.. - pen shading patterns - default /S0 /S assigns a shading pattern to each pen. Unspecified pens use the last specified shade. The shade values are 0..8 and A..F. The percent coverage for each shade is list below. Narrow line widths may not work well with some shade patterns. 0 100% 1 75% 5 75% coarse pattern A 6.2% D 87.5% 2 50% 6 50% coarse pattern B 3.1% E 62.5% 3 25% 7 25% coarse pattern C 1.6% F 37.5% 4 12.5% 8 12.5% coarse pattern Some printers, especially dot matrix printers in multipass modes, wash out shading because they have a dot size that is large relative to the dot spacing. /S024 sets pen 1 to solid, pen 2 to 50%, pen 3..40 to 12.5% /T - Temporary File Option ------------------------------------------- /T[+]f - temporary file - default /TPLOT.TMP PrintGL uses a temporary file when there is not enough memory to handle a plotfile. You can use /T to put it on a RAM disk for extra speed. You can force the use of a temporary file with + ( if the plot fills the buffer). If you use a RAM disk this may speed printing. p-17 /W - Pen Width Option ------------------------------------------------ /Wc.. - pen widths - default /WA The W option assigns pen line widths. Each width may be 0..9, .10 .. .24 dots, A..I for 2..10 units of 4/1016 inch (.1 mm), or N to turn off the pen. A..I widths are approximations, based on the device technology. Odd widths of 9 or above are modified to the next higher (even) width. Unassigned pens use the last assigned width. For nonsquare matrix printers, PrintGL uses pen points optimized for an h/v ratio of .67, 1, or 1.5. Widths are figured in the direction of higher resolution, and are not accurate in the other direction. Line widths of over eight dots are distorted at the print window edge to fit within the four dot border. /WA sets pens 1..40 to .2 mm /WB2.16 sets pen 1 to .3 mm, pen 2 to 2 dots, pens 3..40 to 16 dots /X - User Interface Option ------------------------------------------- /X[C][P][S][F][U] - interface options - default /X The X option sets various interface options. C causes a break when a plot is clipped. P causes a pause before each printed page. S suppresses location and size messages. F suppresses location, size, file name, and page number messages. U suppresses unsupported command and incorrect number messages. /XS gives only the most important messages /Y - D/Y and S/E Settings, ADI Handler Option ------------------------ /Y[D|Y][S|E][A] - D/Y and S/E setting, ADI handler - default /YDS The Y option sets the plotter's D/Y switch to D or Y and the S/E switch to S or E. Y starts with the plotter off and responds to esc.(, esc.Y, esc.), and esc.Z commands. D starts with the plotter on and ignores these commands. S sets the standard interpretation of IW (clipping window) commands. E sets 7550 enhanced interpretation of IW commands, so that they use scaled coordinates. The A suboption turns on PrintGL's ADI handler. In this mode Autodesk ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands are interpreted (along with HP-GL). The ADI plotfile should be created at 1016 steps/inch with up to forty pens and up to six non-solid line types. /YD puts the YD switch in the usual D position p-18 /Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option ---------------------------- /Z[i,j][E] - default, min chord angle, enhance font - default /Z10,5 This option is not useful with any HP-GL that draws circles, arcs, and text as line segments rather than using HP-GL circle, arc, and label commands. The Z option specifies the default and minimum chord angles for circles and arcs. The HP 7475 defaults to a chord angle of 5 with no minimum. Using chord angles of less than 10 returns little print quality improvement and adds to processing time. The default is /Z10,5. For better emulation use /Z5,2. The E suboption says to use the enhanced font, which doubles the number of chords on curves in text, improving the curve smoothness. This is only effective on character heights above .5 cm. /Z5,2 sets the default chord angle to 5 degrees, the minimum to 2 p-19 PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) ----------------------------------------- PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) is a menu driven program that lets you select PrintGL options, choose a list of plotfiles, and run PrintGL. To run PrintGL Menu Interface, enter PMI at the DOS prompt, and press Enter. There are no command line options. The PMI main menu is displayed at the top of the screen, and the bottom of the screen is used differently for each main menu option. The PMI main menu is divided by column into six groups. Each group is described below. When the cursor is on a main menu item, the current value of the option is displayed below the main menu. To change the value, press Enter (or left mouse button). The options are modified with cursor movement and typing numbers/names. The Enter key returns you to the main menu with the new option values. Esc (or right mouse button) returns you to the main menu with the option values unchanged. If one of the first two letters of a main menu item is capitalized, that item may be accessed immediately by pressing the letter. When a cursor bar has a notch, the value in the notch may be edited. PMI Specific Functions ----------------------------------------------- The first column of main menu options is dedicated to PMI functions. These include running PrintGL, switching to an alternate configuration, exiting PMI, saving the current PMI configurations, setting PMI options, and creating a BAT file corresponding to the current PMI configuration. The "Alt config" item rotates between five PMI configurations. The current configuration name is on line 2. The "save configs" item saves all of the current PMI configurations. The plotfile list is not saved. PMI saves its configuration by writing to PMI.EXE. To find PMI.EXE it looks in the current directory and then searches the DOS PATH, saving to the first PMI.EXE that it finds. The "menu options" item lets you set the configuration name, mouse sensitivity, screen colors, up to five initial plotfile masks, and the name of the BAT file created by the "create BAT" option. Screen colors are specified with the standard IBM BIOS attributes. For color displays, the left hex digit is the background color and the right hex digit is the foreground color. Bright colors are not available in the background. 0 black 4 red 8 gray (bright) C bright red 1 blue 5 magenta 9 bright blue D bright magenta 2 green 6 brown A bright green E bright yellow 3 cyan 7 white B bright cyan F bright white "Create BAT" creates a BAT file that can be run with "batfile hpglfile /opt1 /opt2 ..". The BAT file contains the options defined by the current PMI configuraton and accepts additional options. p-20 PMI Input and Output Choices ----------------------------------------- Column two of the main menu lets you choose the plotfiles to plot (the /P option in PrintGL), the plot page number (/N), the output destination (/D), the output format (/F), and modifications to the output - compression mode, device resolution override and prefix and suffix printer codes (/J,/K). You may enter up to 99 plotfiles in the "plotfile" main menu option. To choose from a list of files, enter a mask name and press Enter (the cursor must be on the mask). PMI will then display a list of corresponding files. Select any number of the files by moving the cursor to the desired file and pressing Space (or the middle mouse button). If no files have been selected, then pressing Enter selects the file under the cursor. The selected files are added to the file list at or below the cursor. Files that would overflow the 99th position on the plotfile list are dropped. When you run PrintGL, PMI runs PrintGL for each file on the plotfile list. Masks are ignored. For any plotfiles that PrintGL does not successfully process, PMI inserts an arrow in front of the plotfile name. You can view the results from the "plotfile" main menu item. The arrow is not considered part of the file name by PMI, so you do not need to remove it to retry PrintGL. Printers that support color have a color option ("clr:" on the menu). This lets you specify a black/white printer even though you may have set up colors with the "pen color" menu. Output formats that do not support color do not have this option and always convert the selected colors to black and white. PMI Plot Options ----------------------------------------------------- The third column of main menu options define how the plot will appear on the page. The options include magnification (/M), origin (/O), position (/A), and initial scaling points (/I). Left handed (mirrored) orientations are not available from PMI. PMI Pen Options ------------------------------------------------------ The fourth column of main menu options covers the pen characteristics: color (/C), shade (/S), and width (/W). Each of these menus use the up and down cursor keys to select a pen, and the left and right cursor keys to choose an attribute. Only fifteen pens are supported in PMI. For color selection, the one character colors (b,c,g,k,m,r,w,y) represent pure colors, and the two character colors are shade pattern mixes. The shade pattern mixed colors use the current shading option for that pen, unless the shade pattern is 100% (solid), in which case a one dot checkerboard is used. p-21 PMI Page Layout Options ---------------------------------------------- The fifth column of main menu options covers the page layout. The first three items are suboptions of the /L option - print window and margins, form feed, and box. Tiling options (/B) and multiple copies (/Q) are also here. Reverse image is not available from PMI. PMI Other Options ---------------------------------------------------- Options that are generally set once and then never touched are in column six. These include the temporary file name (/T), and under "other", the default and minimum chord angle (/Z), plotter switch settings (/Y), internal resolution (/R), pen overwrite mode (opaque lines - /LO), and the pause to load paper option (/X). Large Paper ---------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL can handle printing on paper larger than the usual 8.5x11, but this takes some extra work. First you need to increase PrintGL's print window to cover the large paper. This is done with the /L option or "print window" in PMI. The print window plus the margins (/L or "print margins") must fit within the printer's printable area. And then you must make sure that your printer recognizes the larger paper height. For continuous forms paper this is best done by setting skip perforation to off, either by printer switch or with PrintGL prefix codes. For Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers (dot matrix, ink jet, thermal) use /J27 79, or "modify output" "prefix codes" 27 79. For cut sheet paper, on Canon (except BJ native mode), Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, and NEC line printers use /J27 67 0 n, where n is the page length in inches And for some printers you need to increase the right margin past 8 inches. For the Canon BJC in Epson mode use /J27 81 114. For page printers, legal size paper may be specified with these printer code prefixes: HP-PCL printers /J27 38 108 51 65 (/K27 38 108 50 65 to reset to letter), Canon LBP /J27 91 51 50 59 59 112 (/K27 91 51 48 59 59 112 to reset), IBM LaserPrinter /J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 2 1 (/J27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 1 to reset). To get a 10x16 print window on 11x17 paper with a Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, or NEC line printer, use these options: /L10 16 .4 .25 /J27 67 0 17. You will probably need to adjust the margins (.4 .25) for best centering. The maximum width of the print window on most narrow carriage printers is 8 - 8/(horizontal dpi). For 300 dpi printers, this is 7.97. At 120 dpi it is 7.93. The maximum width of the print window on most wide carriage printers is 13.6 - 8/(horizontal dpi). At 180 dpi this is 13.55. At 360 dpi it is 13.57. The horizontal margin should be set to 0 to get this width. p-22 Tips On AutoCAD ------------------------------------------------------ There are many ways to use PrintGL with AutoCAD. Here is a good way to start. Configure AutoCAD for an HP 7550 plotter. Select output to a file. Do not do any plotter calibration. Set a specific scale, do not fit. Do not rotate. Set a plotter window that is larger than you will ever need, 30x30 for example (this will prevent AutoCAD from clipping the plot). Set up your plotter pen table so that each screen color is assigned a different pen. With PrintGL you can rotate (/O or "origin"), magnify (/M or "magnification"), assign pens (/C,/S,/W or "pen color", "pen shade", "pen width"), and calibrate (/F or "modify output" "override h,v dpi"). Use /A or "position" "plot center at print window center" to automatically center your plot in the print window. Answers -------------------------------------------------------------- If your plot is messed up, with wraparound lines covering the page, you have probably exceeded PrintGL's internal coordinate limit. This happens when the HP-GL coordinates exceed 32 inches. Reduce the internal resolution with "other" "internal dpi: 762" or /R762 for coordinates up to 42 inches or /R508 for coordinates up to 64 inches. If you are having trouble getting the print size or location as desired, check your /L option or "window/margins". The print window plus the print margins must define an area that fits in the printable area of the paper. Printers cannot print over the entire area of the paper. They usually require .25 to .5 inch margins. If your prints are coming out not quite to scale: Check that no calibration is being done by the graphics package. Use the "modify output" "h,v size multiplier:" option or the /F option to adjust the print size. See /F - Output Format Option for information on print size correction. For the Canon BJC-800 in Epson mode, the right margin defaults to 8 inches. Use /J27 64 27 81 114 to set it to 11.4 inches. For the Canon BJ-330 and most wide carriage printers, the maximum print window width is 13.57 inches. This is a printer limitation that you cannot get around. If your printer ejects the paper before the plot is finished, you probably needed to specify a paper length prefix code. For most line printers use /J27 67 0 n where n is the page length in inches. p-23 Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes --------------------------------------- Below, n represents any number 0..255, nA represents any number in ASCII format (1 becomes 49, 2 becomes 50, 43 becomes 52 51, etc.). Canon, Reset 27 64 Epson, N line paper 27 67 n Fujitsu, N inch paper 27 67 0 n IBM, NEC 17 inch paper 27 67 0 17 dot matrix, Right margin n columns 27 81 n (not for IBM) inkjet Skip perforation off 27 79 Unidirectional printing 27 85 1 HP PCL Reset 27 69 Portrait mode 27 38 108 48 79 Top margin 0 27 38 108 48 69 Skip perforation off 27 38 108 48 76 11 inch paper 27 38 108 50 65 14 inch paper 27 38 108 51 65 11x17 inch paper 27 38 108 54 65 Manual feed 27 38 108 50 72 N copies 27 38 108 nA 88 (page printers) HP DJ500C High quality, slow 27 42 111 49 81 No ink depletion 27 42 111 49 68 HP PJXL300 Low quality, fast 27 42 111 45 49 81 HP QJ HP-PCL mode 27 37 65 DIP switch mode 27 37 64 IBM LP 11 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 1 n 14 inch paper, tray 1, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 3 1 2 n 14 inch paper, manual, n copies 27 91 70 5 0 1 1 2 n N copies 27 91 70 5 0 0 0 0 0 n Can BJ nat Page length, right margin (x.1 in) 27 40 103 3 0 n 1 n Can CaPSL Reset 27 99 11 inch paper 27 91 51 48 59 59 112 14 inch paper 27 91 51 50 59 59 112 Manual feed 27 91 49 113 Automatic feed 27 91 48 113 Full page memory mode 27 59 27 91 50 38 122 N copies 27 91 nA 118 Cursor to top of page 27 91 48 100 Diablo mode 27 58 ISO mode 27 59 PostScript N copies nA 32 88 67 Paper tray n nA 32 88 80 p-24 Color Processing ----------------------------------------------------- Color graphics devices use a variety of color technologies. PrintGL supports these basic types. CMY or cyan/magenta/yellow is used by inkjet printers with no black ink. This uses three color planes and give eight pure colors. CMYK or cyan/magenta/yellow/black is used by inkjet and dot matrix printers. This uses four color planes and give eight pure colors. Using black ink instead of a cyan/magenta/yellow mix gives a more neutral black color. RGB or red/green/blue is used by displays and bit maps. This uses three color planes and give eight pure colors. RGBI or red/green/blue/intensity is used by displays and bit maps. This uses four color planes. All simple colors except black are intense. When you specify any color mixed with black at shade 0, then instead of mixing the colors at 50%, the intensity is turned off. This gives fifteen pure colors. CMYK and RGBI are used by default when they are appropriate. You can switch to CMY or RGB with the ` suboption of /F. For displays this gives a better picture of how a printer will handle the colors. For dot matrix printers it may speed printing by eliminating the use of the black ribbon. /FA! (300 dpi color HP-PCL) uses CMY color by default. /FA!` switches to CMYK color to let you access true black on the DeskJet 550C. HP-GL and ADI Commands ----------------------------------------------- PrintGL supports the 7475 and 7440/17440 command sets except for character set 8 (Katakana), digitize commands, output commands, the error mask command, and some device control commands. In addition, PG, AF, ES, LO, character set 5, and proportional spaced fonts, from the 7550, are supported. And forty pens are allowed instead of eight. With /YA set, PrintGL supports ADI 4.0 vector plotter binary commands. The file is assumed to have a resolution of 1016 dpi. Forty pens and six line types (other than solid) are allowed. Coordinates are limited to 32767. HPGL.DOC and HPGL.CHR include details of HP-GL, ADI, and PrintGL's interpretation. The 7550 manual is the best reference for HP-GL - HP manual 07550-90001. p-25 Output Devices ------------------------------------------------------- Canon BJ and BJC Printers, IBM ExecJet PrintGL has five basic drivers for the Canon BJ, BJC, and IBM ExecJet. /F7 is the IBM mode driver. It works with the BJ130e, BJ5, BJ10/10e/10ex, BJ20, BJ200, BJ300/330, and ExecJet. /F7+ gives dark print with line to line overlap. /FJ is the BJ130 mode driver. It works with all Canon BJ printers in IBM or native mode. The printer is set to 10 pitch text. /FB is the Epson mode driver. It works with the BJ200 and BJC800/820. Color is supported. /FB+ gives sparse line to line overlap. For the BJC800/820 the prefix code 27 81 114 sets the print width to 11.4 inches. /F& is the native mode driver. It works with the BJ200 and BJC800/820 in any mode. Color is supported. Epson/IBM mode prefix codes are not compatible and are not needed. /F@ is the CaPSL mode driver for the BJC880. Color is supported. Some of these printers have an image density option (DIP switch and/or front panel switch). Low density eliminates every second dot. To get the full 360 dpi resolution, use high density. Canon LBP Printers /FD works with any Canon LBP printer. If the printer is in Diablo mode, it is switched to ISO mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics. The ! suboption switches to CaPSL 4 data compression. /FD+! is the best driver for the LBP 8 Mk4 at 600 dpi. You might need to set up the printer with /J27 59 27 91 50 38 122. To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K27 58. p-26 Display When you display a plot, the cursor keys scroll the plot, S cycles between full, half (the default), quarter, and eighth page scrolling, and Esc returns to DOS. /FC drives a CGA, but does not give color. The EGA drivers, /FE and /FM, require a 128K or 256K EGA. /FC will work with a 64K EGA. /FM is for an EGA card with a digital (TTL) monochrome monitor. /FH supports the Hercules monochrome graphics card. /FV works with any VGA card. /FV+ requires a system with 800x600 16 color support. By default /FV+ assumes VESA support. If your VGA card does not support VESA then add the mode number for 800x600 16 color mode, for example /FV+$5B. Here are mode numbers for common VGA cards ($ means hex). ATI $54 Orchid $6A Renaissance $64 Trident $5B Genoa $29 Paradise $58 Tseng $29 Video Seven $16 /FV* works with VESA systems that support 1024x768 16 color mode. For MCGAs, use the VGA driver without color - /FV~. Display output cannot be redirected to a file (the /D option is ignored). Epson, IBM 9 Pin Printers /FN, /FW, and /F1 cover a wide range of Epson/IBM compatible 9 pin dot matrix printers. You need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon to get color prints. The * drivers use 1/240 graphics. /FN+, /FN*, /FW+, and /FW* use 1/216 indexing and do three vertically interleaved passes. /F1+ and /F1* use 1/144 indexing and do two vertically interleaved passes. /FW sets line feeds to 1/6 inch. For Epson printers and other printers with 1/216 indexing hardware, /FN is preferred. For some not quite compatible printers, /FW works. For IBM Proprinters and other printers with 1/144 indexing hardware, /F1 gives better results. These drivers use the following escape codes: esc 3 set n/216 line feeds for all /FW esc J index n/216 (n=2 for 1/144 index) for all /FN and /F1 esc L graphics command for /FN, /FN+, /FW, /FW+, /F1, and /F1+ esc Z graphics command for /FN*, /FW*, and /F1* esc r set ribbon color (only if color is specified) p-27 Epson, Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba 24 Pin Printers /FT covers all Epson LQ printers and many compatible printers (Panasonic in LQ mode and others). /FF works with Fujitsu 24 pin printers in Fujitsu mode. /F9 works with NEC 24 pin printers. /FO works with Toshiba 24 pin printers. /FO resets the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. For all of these drivers, you need a cyan/magenta/yellow/black ribbon to get color prints. The + and * drivers use 1/360 graphics mode, and the * drivers use 1/360 (1/120 for /FO*) indexing and reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch on completion. A clean paper path with equal tension on each side is needed for good 360x360 graphics. Many 24 pin printers are not capable of 360x360 graphics and a few cannot handle 360x180 graphics. The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement with these printers. The /FT drivers use the following printer escape codes: esc $ absolute tab esc * ' graphics command for /FT esc * ( graphics command for /FT+, /FT* esc + set n/360 indexing for /FT* esc 2 set 1/6 indexing for /FT* esc J index n/180 for /FT, /FT+ esc r set ribbon color (only if color is specified) HP DeskJet, HP PaintJet XL300, Mannesmann Tally MT92C /FI works with any black/white DeskJet in portrait mode. /FA drives the DeskJet 500C, PaintJet XL300, MT92C, and any color 300 dpi HP-PCL printer that supports data transfer mode 2. /FA has three modes and covers different levels of 300 dpi color HP-PCL printers. /FA uses RGB color and works with the DeskJet 500C and Mannesmann Tally MT92C. /FA! uses CMY color which can speed printing in some cases. This works with the DeskJet 500C, DeskJet 550C, and PaintJet XL300. /FA!` uses CMYK color to give give better blacks on the DeskJet 550C. p-28 HP LaserJet /FL works with any LaserJet compatible printer. /FL! works with LJ 2 (PCL 4) printers. /FI works with LJ 3 (PCL 5) printers. /FI+ is a 600 dpi driver for the LaserJet 4. All of these drivers work in portrait mode, which may be set with /J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69. LaserJets with under one meg of memory may not be able to handle a full page of graphics. /FU uses less printer memory than /FI, so it may be preferred on LaserJet 3s with limited memory. HP PaintJet /FP drives 180 dpi PaintJet printers. The compression mode driver (/FP!) uses data transfer mode 2 (instead of 1) and works only with a PaintJet XL. /FA! (the DeskJet 500C CMY driver) works with the PaintJet XL300. HP QuietJet /FQ works with QuietJets in HP-PCL mode. HP-GL and HP-GL/2 /F8 outputs low level HP-GL, converting text, arcs, fill, and clips to vectors. The output is HP 7220 and HP-GL/2 pen plotter compatible, containing IN, IP, SC, SP, IW, LT, PA, PU, and PD commands. PG is used for form feeds. If you specify no form feed then multiple plots may be appended to the same page. /F0 drives HP-GL/2 raster devices. Use /F8 for HP-GL/2 pen plotters. You can specify the nominal resolution of HP-GL or HP-GL/2 by appending it to the /F option (for example /F8 300). When you set the nominal resolution of HP-GL to other than 1016, enhanced IW command interpretation (HP 7550 enhanced mode) is needed to handle dashed lines correctly. For HP-GL output the width parameter (/W) is used as a pen selector, so for each pen in the original HP-GL, you can specify a new pen in the output. The default /W option for /F8 is /W12345678. Shading and color are ignored. IBM LaserPrinter /F4 drives any LaserPrinter in PPDS (native) mode. /FL will work if the LaserPrinter is in HP LaserJet mode, but this may be slower than PPDS mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics. The ! suboption switches to 4029 data compression. /F4+! works with the 4029 with 600 dpi PPDS upgrade. p-29 IBM 24 Pin Printers PrintGL has three drivers that cover Proprinter X24 compatible printers. Use native mode, not AGM. The first driver, /F6, is for all IBM Proprinter X24s and the 24P. These printers do 1/144 inch indexing, and using them at 180 dpi results in horizontal white streaks every 2/3 inch. The /F6 drivers compensate for this by indexing 19/144 inch per line, giving 182 dpi. To work properly the printer must start on a 1/72 boundary. If you keep the line feeds at a multiple of 1/72 (1/6, 1/8, 1/9) then this will always be the case. The second X24 compatible driver is /F5 and is referred to as X24 alternate 1. This is for printers that are X24 compatible except that they do 1/180 inch indexing. This is probably the case with most X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter and IBM 2390 and 2391. /F5* works only with printers that do 1/360 indexing, including the 2390 and 2391 but not the Quickwriter. The third X24 compatible driver is /FX and is referred to as X24 alternate 2. This is the same as /F5 except for the vertical units command. This driver works with Panasonic 24 pin printers in X24 mode. The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement. IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 /F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Line feeds are set to 1/6 inch on completion. Kodak Diconix Color 4 /FK drives the Color 4. Pacific Data Products ProTracer /FG drives the ProTracer (base model) in IBM Proprinter mode. The maximum print window width is 14.97. p-30 PostScript Output /FS outputs printable Encapsulated PostScript with no preview bit map. Text, arcs, fill, and clips are converted to vectors, so PrintGL is not a general purpose HP-GL to PostScript converter. If no form feed is specified then "showpage" is not output, and more PostScript may be appended to the page. PostScript overwrites as it draws, so overlapping lines appear opaque. You can specify the nominal resolution of the PostScript by appending it to the /F option (for example /FS 300). You can specify the number of copies with a prefix code that includes the number of copies followed by ' XC'. For example /J 50 32 88 67 makes 2 (ASCII 050) copies. You can specify the paper tray with the XP macro. /FY appends a black/white TIFF preview bit map to a PostScript file. To use it, create a PostScript file with PrintGL and then run PrintGL again, specifying the same options except /FY instead of /FS. The destination file is appended by default. /FY assumes a PostScript file, generated by PrintGL, is being appended. You may set the resolution - the default is 72x72 dpi. Here is an example: PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FS PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FY Tektronix ColorQuick /FR drives the ColorQuick. p-31 ZSoft PCX Bit Map /FZ gives ZSoft PCX bit map output. The format used by PrintGL is described below. For multiple page plots and tiled plots use a three digit number for the output file (/D option) so that a new (sequentially numbered) file will be created for each page. The file starts with a header composed of 128 byte values: 10,2,1,1,0,0,0,0, max_x,max_y, 2 bytes each, in dots dpi_x,dpi_y, 2 bytes each 0,0,0, 0,0,192, 0,192,0, 0,192,192, color palette 192,0,0,192,0,192,192,192,0,192,192,192, 0,0,0, 0,0,254, 0,254,0, 0,254,254, 254,0,0,254,0,254,254,254,0,254,254,254, 0, color_planes, 1, 3, or 4 width 2 bytes, in bytes 1,0,..,0 The scan lines follow, in top to bottom order. For color plots, each complete scan line consists of a blue, green, red, and intensity scan line. The intensity line is not included for /FZ`. 1 is the background and 0 the foreground for b/w files. 1,1,1,1 is the background for color files, with 0 representing the absence of blue, green, red, or intensity. The bit usage is reversed with /LR. Each scan line is composed of these data commands ($ means hex): $00..$BF - 1 byte of bit mapped data ($00..$BF) $C1 $C0..$FF - 1 byte of bit mapped data ($C0..$FF) $C2..$FF $00..$FF - 2..63 bytes of repeated bit mapped data The width and height of the bit map are specified by the /L option plus eight dots. The width is extended to a multiple of sixteen. p-32 Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------ PrintGL and PMI will run on any IBM compatible system with MS-DOS 2.0 or above. It requires up to 256K of free memory. More memory may speed printing. By default, PrintGL uses the BIOS printer interrupt to send data to the printer. The H1..H4 and X1..X4 drivers send data directly to the serial port, without using or setting the hardware interrupts. If a file or device is specified for output then DOS 2.0 file handling is used. Messages are written to the screen with DOS CON output. PMI runs PrintGL via a DOS shell. It searches the current directory and then the DOS PATH, calling the first copy of PRINTGL.EXE that it finds. To save the settings, it makes the same search for PMI.EXE. PMI can use any text or graphics display mode that allows at least 80 columns and 25 lines of text. In text modes, PMI writes directly to the display buffer, and in graphics modes, BIOS is used to display text. Under DESQview, PMI writes to the DV screen buffer. PRINTGL.EXE may be compressed with PKLITE, LZEXE, or other EXE file compressors. PMI should not be compressed because it rewrites PMI.EXE when saving the user settings. PrintGL and PMI were written by Cary Ravitz and compiled with Borland's Turbo Pascal 6.0 and Turbo Assembler 2.0. User Support --------------------------------------------------------- Correspondence about PrintGL may be sent via the support bulletin board, fax, Compuserve, or mail. BBS: 606-268-0577 1200..9600,N,8,1 24 hours/day To ask a question, prepare an ASCII text file with the details of your question. Then call the bulletin board and choose the upload question option. XMODEM file transfer protocol is required for this. Your question will be assigned a number (such as 1015) - remember this number. An answer file (with the assigned number) will be posted, usually within 24 hours. To get an answer, call the bulletin board, choose the download option, then the answer option, and then enter the answer number. Compuserve: Cary Ravitz [70431,32] Fax: 606-268-0577 If you hand dial, the BBS will answer and hang up (about 20 seconds), then the call is routed to the fax. Faxes from outside the USA may be answered via letter. The fax may be unavailable sometimes. Mail: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA