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PrintGL 1.24 pen plotter emulator for IBM/DOS systems (C) Copyright Ravitz Software Inc. 1990,1992 Ravitz Software Inc. BBS/FAX 606-268-0577 P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA Compuserve 70431,32 Cary Ravitz p-1 Contents ------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ..................................................... 2 License and Registration 3 What Is New ...................................................... 4 Installation 5 Operation ........................................................ 6 How To Get HP-GL Plotfiles From Your Graphics Software 6 Messages ......................................................... 7 Syntax 8 Overview of Options .............................................. 9 /A - Location Option 9 /B - Tiling Option ............................................... 9 /C - Pen Color Option 10 /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 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 Options ..................................... 17 /Y - Y/D Switch Setting Option 17 /Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option ....................... 17 PrintGL Menu Interface (PMI) 18 PMI Menu Functions .............................................. 18 PMI Input and Output Choices 19 PMI Plot Options ................................................ 19 PMI Pen Options 19 PMI Page Layout Options ......................................... 20 PMI Other Options 20 Large Paper ..................................................... 20 Tips On AutoCAD 21 Useful Prefix and Suffix Codes .................................. 21 Answers 22 Display Output .................................................. 22 HP-GL Output 23 PostScript Output ............................................... 23 GEM .IMG and ZSoft .PCX Bit Map Output 24 Printer Output .................................................. 25 HP-GL Commands 29 HP-GL Character Sets ............................................ 38 Compatibility and Technical Information 40 User Support .................................................... 41 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 subset) 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, and plotters, IBM ExecJet, Quietwriter 2 and 3, LaserPrinter, and plotters, Canon LBP, BJ, and BJC printers, Kodak Color 4, Tektronix ColorQuick, and PostScript printers. It will also display plots with a CGA, EGA, VGA, enhanced VGA, or HGC, and output a ZSoft .PCX or GEM .IMG bit map file. 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, extra space, and label origin commands and proportional fonts from the HP 7550 command set. 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 PrintGL options, select a list of plotfiles, and run PrintGL. This simplifies the selection of PrintGL's many options and lets you run multiple plotfiles without intervention. PMI lets you save five configurations, so after initial setup you can use PrintGL 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, a $50 registration is requested. 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 register your 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 current disk (specify 3.5 or 5.25). If you previously registered PrintGL, you may send $15 to get a current disk and manual. Multiuser licenses are $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. Special license agreements are available for using PrintGL as a printer driver in a commercial program. Send a note to request more information on this. p-4 What Is New ---------------------------------------------------------- For version 1.24: multiple copies (/Q) improved Canon BJ130 driver (/FJ) supports the Tektronix ColorQuick (/FR) color 24 pin drivers use true black instead of CMY mix PMI includes five settings revised shading patterns reverse image is allowed on /F4, /FD, and /FL PostScript output lets you set the nominal resolution /DX1,..,/DX4 provide xon/xoff serial port drive /DH1,..,/DH4 provide hardware handshaking serial port drive For version 1.22: supports tiling (/B) supports the Canon BJC and HP DJ500C color inkjet printers supports Fujitsu 24 pin printers (/FF) generates Encapsulated PostScript preview bit maps /FV+ defaults to VESA 800x600 mode /F5* gives 360x360 graphics for the IBM 2390, 2391 /F1* gives 240x144 graphics for the IBM 2380, 2381 PMI can create BAT files /XP causes a pause for loading paper For version 1.20: revised font, kerned proportional font, character set 5 enhanced font (/ZE) improves curve smoothness supports the ES and LO HP-GL commands supports color PostScript For version 1.18: supports Toshiba 24 pin printers (/FO) /F6* gives 360x364 dpi on IBM Proprinter X24s 9, .10 .. .16 are allowed as line widths (9..16 pels) A..I specify line widths 2..10 in 4/1016 inch units (.1 mm) print size correction For version 1.16: HP QuietJet, ZSoft .PCX, Kodak Color 4 output formats compression mode drivers for 24 pin printers /J and /K prefix and suffix codes The latest version of PrintGL is available from the support bulletin board at 606-268-0577 (1200/2400,N,8,1 24 hours/day, XMODEM or YMODEM (1K XMODEM) download), packed in .ZIP format. p-5 Installation --------------------------------------------------------- The PrintGL package includes these files: PRINTGL.EXE program PRINTGL.DOC documentation CHARSET.PLT HP-GL character set plotfile PMI.EXE menu interface program SAMPLE.PLT sample plotfile README.* quick information To install PrintGL copy the distribution files to your working disk or directory. PRINTGL.EXE is a stand alone executable file. There are no extra printer driver files or overlays. PRINTGL.DOC is this manual. You can print it with "COPY PRINTGL.DOC PRN". The HP-GL character sets may be printed with the command PRINTGL CHARSET.PLT /M1 /AO0,0 and a /F option specific to your printer, and inserted in the manual. 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 value. SAMPLE.PLT is a sample plotfile to help you try out PrintGL. The README.* files are not needed to run PrintGL, but they must accompany the rest of the files if you distribute the package. p-6 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. When you display a plot, press 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. Ctrl-Break stops PrintGL at the next break point. Ctrl-Break is ignored when PrintGL is waiting for user input. 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 /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. 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. p-7 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 /FN 120x72 dots/inch (HxV) 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 device is noted (except for screen plots). If three 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 triple 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-8 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 PHP.BAT with the line: PRINTGL /FL /M1 /P %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 Then PHP 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-9 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 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-10 /C - Pen Color Option ------------------------------------------------ /C[O|T]c.. - color - default /CK /C specifies the color of each pen. 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). If the output format does not allow color then nonwhite colors are changed to 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 (one pel checkerboard) which produces the most uniform mixed colors. Mixed colors need line widths of at least 2 (4 for 2 pel shading patterns) to look good, and they may have visual artifacts on edges near a 45 degree angle. By default, colors are ored into the print, so they appear translucent. You can switch to opaque colors (overwritten into the print) with the O suboption, and then back to translucent with the T 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 (with standard pens) use translucent colors. " means repeat the previous color. /CK sets pen 1..8 to black /CKOR.MB""T.KY sets pen 1 to black pen 2 to opaque red pen 3..5 to opaque magenta on blue pen 6..8 to translucent black on yellow /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. 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). /D is ignored for display 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 p-11 /F - Output Format Option -------------------------------------------- /Fc[-|+[b]|*][!][~][x,y] - output format - default /FN~ The F option specifies the output format. -, +, and * are resolution modifiers, ! selects a compression mode driver, and ~ turns off color processing. -, +, *, !, and ~ are allowed even where they have no effect. The display mode (b) lets you choose a display mode for the nonstandard EVGA 800x600 mode. This must follow the format character and it may be entered in hex by prefixing it with $. You may enter the horizontal and vertical resolution of the output device in dots/inch. This overrides PrintGL's normal output device resolution, but does not affect the structure of the output format (-,+, and * generally do alter the output structure). These numbers must follow the format character and the display mode number. In addition to letting you choose any resolution for a bit map, this feature 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. Drivers marked below with ! have a compression mode driver, selected with "!". This may be very useful, but it depends on your printer. These drivers compress the output data by breaking bit map strips with printhead positioning commands. This saves data transmission time, but some printers spend more time positioning the printhead than is saved by not sending the data. A number of printers use compression mode by default. It can be turned off with ¡ (ASCII 173). Drivers marked below with ~ are color devices. Using ~ suppresses color processing, substituting black for all colors except white. /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 /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 /F7- Canon BJ (Proprinter mode), IBM ExecJet 180x180 /F7 Canon BJ (Proprinter mode), IBM ExecJet ......... 360x360 /F8 HP-GL 1016x1016 /F9 !~ NEC 24 pin ...................................... 180x180 /F9+ !~ NEC 24 pin (2 pass) 360x180 /F9* !~ NEC 24 pin (4 pass) ............................. 360x360 /FA- ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C 150x150 /FA ~ HP DeskJet 500C, Mannesmann Tally MT92C ......... 300x300 p-12 /FB- ~ Canon BJC 800 (Epson LQ mode) ................... 180x180 /FB ~ Canon BJC 800 (Epson LQ mode) 360x360 /FC CGA display ...................................... 62x25 /FD- Canon LBP (ISO mode) 150x150 /FD Canon LBP (ISO mode) ............................ 300x300 /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 ~ GEM .IMG bit map 100x100 /FGi,j ~ GEM .IMG bit map .................................. ixj /FH Hercules graphics card display 70x45 /FI- HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet .......................... 150x150 /FI HP LaserJet 3, DeskJet 300x300 /FJ- Canon BJ (BJ130 mode) ........................... 180x180 /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 ~ PostScript 1016x1016 /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 /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 append Encapsulated PostScript preview bit map ... 72x72 /FYi,j append Encapsulated PostScript preview bit map ixj /FZ ~ ZSoft .PCX ...................................... 100x100 /FZi,j ~ ZSoft .PCX ixj Most 9 pin printers, including the IBM Graphics Printer, work best with the /FN drivers, even if they claim Proprinter rather than Epson compatibility. 9 pin printers with 1/144 inch indexing, such as the IBM Proprinter and 2380, work better with the /F1 drivers. And some not fully compatible 9 pin printers only work with /FW, the Epson 9 pin alternate drivers. Most Proprinter X24 compatible printers, including the IBM Quickwriter and 2390, work best with /F5 or /FX. /F6 is only for the IBM Proprinter X24, XL24, X24E, XL24E, and 24P. p-13 /I - Scaling Point Location Option ----------------------------------- /IA|R|W[N] - IP point location - default /IA The I option sets the initial scaling points (P1, P2) as if you had set them from the front panel of the plotter. (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. These are not needed in the normal use of PrintGL. For plotter 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][O][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 8. F causes a form feed after the print. This is ignored for bit maps and display output. O sets pen overwrite mode. By default, pen colors are ored into the print. With the O suboption, they are overwritten into the print, so the lines are opaque. For PostScript devices and plotters, the color processing is done by the device, not PrintGL. PostScript devices act like pen overwrite mode is on and plotters act like it is off. R reverses the colors on displays, bit maps, and output formats 4, D, and L, (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 pels 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 top margin is modified to match the printer's native indexing, but is accurate to .02 inch. The margins for HP-GL and PostScript are measured from the device's 0,0 (left, bottom). Margins are ignored for display output and bit maps. THE PRINT WINDOW PLUS 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 or size suboptions and still have good margins. /LB7.5,3,.5,0 makes the print window 7.5 inches wide and 3 inches high, with a .5 inch left margin and no top margin, boxes the window, and does not do a form feed /LF7.54,10.14 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A paper /LF7.54,10.74 sets window equivalent to HP 7440 with A4 paper /LF7.84,10.20 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A paper /LF7.60,10.88 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A4 paper /LF10.20,16.38 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with B paper /LF10.88,15.90 sets window equivalent to HP 7475 with A3 paper p-15 /M - Magnification Option -------------------------------------------- /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 printers use /O1 and displays and plotters use /O2. This best matches the plotter's width/height ratio. Here are pictures of PrintGL's view of the output media compared to an HP 7475's view, to help with choosing a /O option. 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. 0 is the default solid line. 1..4 are 1 dot patterns (75%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%) and need line widths of at least three to give good looking lines. 5..8 are 2x2 dot patterns (75%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%) and need line widths of at least five to give good looking lines. Some printers, especially dot matrix printers in multipass modes, may wash out shading because they have a dot size that is large relative to the dot spacing. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 █▀█▄ ▀▄▀▄ ▀▄ ▀ ██████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀█▄█ ▀▄▀▄ ▄▀ ▀ ██ ████ ██ ██ ██ █▀█▄ ▀▄▀▄ ▀▄ ▀ ████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀█▄█ ▀▄▀▄ ▄▀ ▀ ██████ ██ ██ ██ /S024 sets pen 1 to solid, pen 2 to 50%, pen 3..8 to 12.5% /T - Temporary File Option ------------------------------------------- /T[+]f - temporary file - default /TPRINTGL.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, if the plot has over 1024 data points, with +. 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 .. .16 pels or A..I for 2..10 units of 4/1016 inch (.1 mm). A..I gives a device independent width, but it is an approximation, limited by the device technology. 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 pels are slightly distorted at the print window edge to fit within the four pel border. /WA sets pen 1..8 to .2 mm /WB2.16 sets pen 1 to .3 mm, pen 2 to 2 pels, pens 3..8 to 16 pels /X - User Interface Options ------------------------------------------ /X[C][P][S][F][U][H] - 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. H suppresses the help text. /XS gives only the most important messages /Y - Y/D Switch Setting Option --------------------------------------- /YD|Y - Y/D switch setting - default /YD The Y option sets the plotter's Y/D switch to D or Y. 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. /YD puts the YD switch in the usual D position /Z - Chord Angle and Enhanced Font Option ---------------------------- /Z[i,j][E] - default, min chord angle, enhance font - default /Z10,5 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-18 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 a main menu item includes a capital letter, 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 Menu Functions --------------------------------------------------- The first column of main menu options is dedicated to PMI functions. These include running PrintGL, switching to alternate settings, exiting PMI, saving the current PMI settings, setting PMI options, and creating a BAT file corresponding to the current PMI settings. The "alt settings" item rotates between five PMI configurations. The current configuration name is on line 2. The "save settings" item saves the current PMI configurations. All of the current PrintGL and PMI options for each configuration are saved. 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 "creat 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 settings and accepts additional options. p-19 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. Bit map formats let you select the resolution in the "output format" list, but it will be overridden with the "modify output" "override h,v dpi" option. 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. 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 pel checkerboard is used. p-20 PMI Page Layout Options ---------------------------------------------- The fifth column of main menu options covers the page layout. The first four items are suboptions of the /L option - box, form feed, print window, and left and top margins. 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 D/Y switch setting (/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, 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 this is done with /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 11 inch paper), Canon LBP printers /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 in a Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, or NEC line printer, use these options: /LF10 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 printers 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 print margin should be set to 0 to get this width. p-21 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. 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, Epson, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC dot matrix and inkjet printers N inch paper 27 67 0 n Skip perf off 27 79 17 paper 27 67 0 17 Reset 27 64 HP-PCL printers Reset 27 69 Skip perf off 27 38 108 48 76 Portrait mode 27 38 108 48 79 11 inch paper 27 38 108 50 65 Top margin 0 27 38 108 48 69 14 inch paper 27 38 108 51 65 HP LaserJet N copies 27 38 108 nA 88 HP DeskJet 500C 50% shingling 27 42 111 49 81 (1/2 speed, reduced banding) No depletion 27 42 111 49 68 (uses more ink, better quality) PostScript N copies nA 32 88 67 Nominal dots/inch nA 32 88 88 IBM LaserPrinter 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 Canon LBP 11 inch paper 27 91 51 48 59 59 112 N copies 27 91 nA 118 14 inch paper 27 91 51 50 59 59 112 Cursor to top 27 91 48 100 Full page mem 27 59 27 91 50 38 122 Diablo mode 27 58 Manual feed 27 91 49 113 ISO mode 27 59 Automatic feed 27 91 48 113 HP QuietJet HP-PCL mode 27 37 65 DIP switch mode 27 37 64 p-22 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 your prints are coming out not quite to scale: Check that no calibration is being done by the graphics package. Use the "modify output" "override h,v dpi:" option or the /F option to override the printer's nominal resolution with the printer's actual resolution. See /F Output Format Option for information on print size correction. For the Canon BJC-800, the right margin defaults to 8 inches. Use "modify output" "prefix codes: 27 81 114" or /J27 81 114 to set it to 11.4 inches. Because the margin can only be set once between printer resets, you may need to use /J27 64 27 81 114 (27 64 is a printer reset). For the Canon BJ-330 and most other wide carriage PC printers, the maximum print window width is 13.57 inches. This is a printer limitation that you cannot get around. Display Output ------------------------------------------------------- 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 the VESA standard then specify the mode number that selects 800x600 16 color mode. Here are /FV+ options for common VGA cards ($ means hex). ATI /FV+$54 Paradise /FV+$58 Trident /FV+$5B Genoa /FV+$29 Renaissance /FV+$64 Video Seven /FV+$16 For MCGAs, use the VGA driver without color - /FV~. Display output cannot be redirected to a file (the /D option is ignored). p-23 HP-GL Output --------------------------------------------------------- /F8 outputs low level HP-GL, converting all text, arcs, fill, and clips to vectors. The output is HP 7440 compatible, containing only IN, SP, IW, LT, PU, and PD commands. PG is added if form feed is specified (the default). If you decline the form feed then multiple plots may be appended to the same page. PrintGL uses its width parameter (/W) as a pen selector, so for each pen in the original HP-GL, you may specify a new pen in the output HP-GL. The default /W option is /W12345678 (for /F8). Shading and color are ignored. 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. PrintGL's pen color and shading parameters are mapped into gray levels or RGB colors. PostScript overwrites as it draws, so overlapping lines appear opaque. You can specify the nominal resolution of the PostScript with a prefix code that includes the dots/inch followed by ' XX'. For example /J 54 48 48 32 88 88 sets 600 dpi. The actual resolution should be set to match, for example /FS 600,600. You can specify the number of copies similarly with the XC macro, for example /J 50 32 88 67 makes 2 (ASCII 050) copies. /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 (default 72x72 dpi) by appending it to the /FY, for example /FY100,100. Here is an example: PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FS PRINTGL sample.plt /Dsample.eps/LB6,6/O2/FY p-24 GEM .IMG and ZSoft .PCX Bit Map Output ------------------------------- Multiple page plots, and tiled plots do not work well with bit map output because the bit map formats have no facilities for multiple pages in one file. For both bit map formats, 1 is the background and 0 the foreground for b/w files. 1,1,1 is the background for color files, with 0 representing the absence of blue, green, or red. The bit usage may be reversed with /LR. The bit map is the size specified by the /L option plus eight pels in each direction. The width is extended to a multiple of sixteen pels. /FG creates GEM .IMG format files. The header is composed of 8 word values, high byte first: 1 8 number of color planes - 1 or 3 repeated data pattern length - 1 pel width in microns - round(25400 / horizontal dots/inch) pel height in microns - round(25400 / vertical dots/inch) scan line width in pels number of scan lines The scan lines follow, in top to bottom order. For color plots, each each complete scan line consists of a blue, green, and red scan line. Data for the scan lines are composed of these commands: $00 n b - n bytes of repeated bit mapped data $80 n b1 b2 .. bn - n bytes of bit mapped data /FZ gives .PCX output with the following format. 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 pels ) dpi_x,dpi_y, (2 bytes each ) 0,0,0, 0,0,191, 0,191,0, 0,191,191, (color palette ) 191,0,0,191,0,191,191,127,0,191,191,191, 0,0,0, 0,0,255, 0,255,0, 0,255,255, 255,0,0,255,0,255,255,255,0,255,255,255, 0, color_planes, (1 or 3 ) width (2 bytes, in bytes ) 1,0,..,0 The scan lines, top to bottom, follow. For color plots, each complete scan line consists of a blue, green, and red scan line. Each scan line is composed of these data commands: $00..$BF - 1 byte of bit mapped data $C1 b - 1 byte of bit mapped data $C2..$FF b - 2..63 bytes of repeated bit mapped data p-25 Printer Output ------------------------------------------------------- Canon BJ and BJC Printers, IBM ExecJet For the BJ130e, BJ10e, BJ10ex, BJ300, BJ330, and ExecJet in Proprinter mode, use /F7. This is the fastest way to drive these printers at 360 dpi. /FJ gives 360 dpi graphics for any Canon BJ printer in BJ130 mode. The printer is set to 10 pitch text when finished. You can use /FT* with the BJ or ExecJet printers in Epson LQ mode to get 360 dpi print, but it is very slow. These printers have an image density option (switch 1-9 on the BJ130, 1-4 on the BJ300, BJ330, and ExecJet). Low density eliminates every second pel. To get the full 360 dpi resolution, use high density. For the BJ300, BJ330, and ExecJet, also be sure that the front panel FONT HQ (high quality) light is on. For Canon BJC printers, use /FB in Epson LQ mode. This driver uses a graphics mode that is not supported by the BJ printers. Canon LBP Printers /FD works with any Canon LBP printer in ISO mode. At 300 dpi it takes up to one meg of printer memory to print a full page of graphics. At 150 dpi (/FD-) 512K handles a full page. It may help to set the printer memory mode with /J27 59 27 91 50 38 122. If the printer is in Diablo mode, PrintGL switches to ISO mode. To switch back to Diablo mode on completion, use /K27 58. 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, the IBM Graphics Printer, 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. Some Proprinters do not handle 1/240 graphics correctly. 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-26 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) /FT does not work with IBM Proprinter X24s in alternate graphics mode because it uses the esc $ command. HP DeskJet, Mannesmann Tally MT92C /FI works with any black/white DeskJet in portrait mode. /FA drives the DeskJet 500C and MT92C, and any color 300 dpi HP-PCL printer that supports data transfer mode 2. HP LaserJet /FL works with any LaserJet compatible printer in portrait mode. Portrait mode may be set with /J 27 38 108 48 79 or you can reset the printer with /J 27 69. /FI works with the LaserJet 3 and any HP-PCL 5 compatible printer. LaserJets with under one meg of memory may not be able to handle a full page of graphics. /FL uses less printer memory than /FI, so it may be preferred on LaserJet 3s with limited memory. p-27 HP PaintJet /FP drives PaintJet printers. PaintJet printers are sold with either a serial or parallel interface. The parallel interface is faster. The compression mode driver (/FP!) uses data transfer mode 2 (instead of 1) and works only with a PaintJet XL. HP QuietJet /FQ works with QuietJets in HP-PCL mode. /J27 37 65 /K27 37 64 sets HP-PCL mode and resets to the DIP switch selected mode on completion. 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. At 150 dpi (/F4-) 512K handles a full page. IBM 24 Pin Printers PrintGL has three drivers that cover Proprinter X24 compatible printers. The printers should be in 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 be on a 1/72 boundary when the graphics are printed. If you keep the line feed distance 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 can handle 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 that the vertical units command uses a different format that is not strictly IBM compatible. This driver works with Panasonic 24 pin printers in X24 mode. The compression mode drivers (! suboption) may or may not be an improvement with these printers. Proprinter X24 and XL24 printers are very slow with graphics. The X24E and XL24E are significantly faster. p-28 IBM Quietwriter 2 and 3 /F2 and /F3 drive the Quietwriter 2 and 3. Do not use 1 for pen widths because Quietwriters do not print consistent 1 pel lines. These drivers reset the line feed distance to 1/6 inch upon completion. Kodak Diconix Color 4 /FK drives the Color 4. Tektronix ColorQuick /FR drives the ColorQuick. p-29 HP-GL Commands ------------------------------------------------------- PrintGL's HP-GL specification is taken from the programming manuals for the HP 7475A, ColorPro (7440/17440), and 7550A. The 7550 manual is the best reference for HP-GL - HP manual 07550-90001. 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. Supported commands are listed below. Commands that are not applicable to printing, such as pen velocity, are considered supported but are completely ignored. Commands that are not supported are flagged and then ignored. 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. In reading a plotfile, PrintGL ignores carriage returns, line feeds, and nulls except where they may be valid characters (LB, SM, DT, esc.), and ASCII EOF (026) is interpreted as an end of file mark. AA x_center , y_center , arc_angle [, chord_angle] arc absolute AA moves the pen through an arc, starting at the current position, with the pen in the current up/down state. AF advance full page (7550 extension) AF starts a new plot. PrintGL starts every page with the pen up at 0,0. AP automatic pen pickup - IGNORED AR x_center_delta , y_center_delta , arc_angle [, chord_angle] arc relative AR moves the pen through an arc, starting at the current position, with the pen in the current up/down state. CA character_set designate alternate character set See HP-GL Character Sets for a list of character sets. CI radius [, chord_angle] circle CI draws a circle centered at the current position. The current up/down state and position are unchanged by a CI command. p-30 CP [spaces , lines] character plot CP moves the pen by character spaces (+ is along the text) and lines (+ is up), using the current up/down state. Using no parameters is the same as a carriage return/line feed. CS character_set designate standard character set See HP-GL Character Sets for a list of character sets. DF default values This sets default values for the following commands: CA, CS, DR, DT, ES, FT, IW, LO, LT, PA, PT, SC, SM, SL, SR, SS, TL. DI [run , rise] absolute character direction DI sets the baseline direction for labels. The default is 1,0. DR [run , rise] relative character direction DR sets the baseline direction for labels. Run and rise are a percentage of P2X-P1X and P2Y-P1Y. The default is 1,0. DTt define label terminator The label terminator ends an LB command. The default is ASCII 003. EA x_opposite_corner , y_opposite_corner edge rectangle absolute EA draws a rectangle defined by the current position and the parameters. The pen position and up/down state are unchanged. EC enable cutter - IGNORED EP edge polygon EP draws the current polygon edge. Any pen up/down used in creating the polygon is respected in drawing the edge. p-31 ER x_opposite_corner_delta , y_opposite_corner_delta edge rectangle relative ER draws a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. ES [ space [, line]] extra space (7550 extension) ES adds to the space between characters and lines. The units are in character cells (1.5*width, 2*height). The allowed range is -1 to 1. -.3333 causes characters to touch. EW radius , start_angle , sweep_angle [, chord_angle] edge wedge EW draws a wedge centered at the current position. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. FP fill polygon FP fills the current polygon. Pen up/down commands used in creating the polygon are ignored. There is a limit of 2000 fill line segments per polygon. FT [type [, spacing [, angle]]] fill type These are the fill types. Type 2 is identical to type 1 for PrintGL. 1 solid lines spaced at half the pen thickness (see PT command) 2 unidirectional solid lines spaced at half the pen thickness 3 lines at the specified spacing 4 cross hatched lines at the specified spacing 5 type ignored A spacing parameter of 0 sets the spacing to 1% of the P1-P2 diagonal. Spacing is in x axis units (this is only relevant if the axes have different scaling). PrintGL supports any integer angle for fill. Cross hatched lines are at angle + 90. IN initialize p-32 IP [p1x , p1y [, p2x , p2y]] sets scaling points P1 and P2 IP sets the scaling points (P1 and P2) in plotter units. P1 and P2 are used by a number of commands to help with size independent plots. IW [x_lower_left , y_lower_left , x_upper_right , y_upper_right] input window IW sets a clipping window in plotter units. With no parameters, the clipping window is turned off. LB..text..terminator label Labels use the current character set, based on CA, CS, SA, and SS commands. See HP-GL Character Sets for font specifics. LO [ position_number ] label origin (7550 extension) LO sets the label origin. The label origin relative to the label is shown in the diagram below. For positions 4..9 and 14..19 the label buffer is limited to 150 characters. The default is 1. 13 16 19 3...... ....... ...6... ....... ......9 . . . . . . . . . . 12 2 . . . . 5 . . . . 8 18 . . . . . . . . . . 1...... ....... ...4... ....... ......7 11 14 17 LT [pattern_number [, pattern_length]] line type PrintGL's line type patterns are close to, but not identical to HP's. Line type patterns are dynamically limited to a minimum length of 4 pels for types 1 and 2 and 16 pels for other types. no parameter ──────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 dots at endpoints only 1 ∙ ∙ ∙ 2 ──────── ──────── ──────── 3 ──────────── ──────────── ──────────── 4 ──────────── ∙ ──────────── ∙ ──────────── ∙ 5 ────────── ── ────────── ── ────────── ── 6 ────── ── ── ────── ── ── ────── ── ── Pattern length is a percentage of the P1-P2 diagonal with a default of 4%. p-33 PA [x , y] [, x , y] ... plot absolute PA sets absolute mode and optionally moves the pen in the current up/down state. PD [x , y] [, x , y] ... pen down PD sets the pen down and optionally moves it with the current absolute/relative mode. PG [i] new page (7550 extension) PG starts a new plot. The parameter is ignored. PrintGL starts every page with the pen up at 0,0. PM i polygon mode PM 0 starts polygon mode. The current position is the first point in the polygon. PM 1 starts a new subpolygon. The position after the next pen movement is the first point in the subpolygon. The first pen move of a subpolygon is done with the pen up, regardless of the current up/down status. PM 2 ends polygon mode. PM 1 and PM 2 close the current subpolygon with the current pen up/down state. If used without first starting polygon mode (PM 0), PrintGL adds an implied PM 0 before processing the PM 1 or PM 2. The following commands are accepted in polygon mode: PM, PA, PR, PU, PD, AA, AR, CI (circles are automatically prefixed and suffixed by PM 1), and IN (ends polygon mode). The polygon buffer is limited to 500 data points. PR [x_delta , y_delta] [, x_delta , y_delta] ... plot relative PR sets relative mode and optionally moves the pen in the current up/down state. PS paper size - IGNORED PrintGL ignores PS. The paper size must be set with the /L option. p-34 PT [thickness] pen thickness PT specifies twice the line spacing used in solid fills and may be from 0 to 5.0 mm. It is reset to .3 mm with each SP command. PU [x,y] [,x,y] ... pen up PU raises the pen and optionally moves it with the current absolute/relative mode. RA x_opposite_corner , y_opposite_corner shade rectangle absolute RA fills a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The rectangle edge is not drawn. RO [angle] rotated coordinate system RO or RO0 sets up a normal coordinate system. RO90, the only other allowed value, sets up a system that is rotated 90 degrees. The type of rotation depends on the paper size. This command does not change the scaling points, so an IP command is useful after an RO. The HP 7475 specifies two different meanings for RO90 depending on the paper size (A/A4 or B/A3). PrintGL decides which type of rotation to do based on the sum of the print window width and height. If this sum is greater than 24 inches then large paper rotation is used. Otherwise, small paper rotation is used. Small paper rotation: Large paper rotation: RO 0 RO 90 RO 0 RO 90 y┌────────┐ 0,0┌────────┐y 0,0┌────────┐y y┌────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 0,0└────────┘x x└────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ x└────────┘ 0,0└────────┘x RR x_opposite_corner_delta , y_opposite_corner_delta shade rectangle relative RR fills a rectangle with corners defined by the current position and the command parameters. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The rectangle edge is not drawn. p-35 SA select alternate character set SA specifies the alternate character set as current. The alternate character set is chosen with CA. SC [xmin , xmax , ymin , ymax] scaling SC sets user units for subsequent drawing. The units are defined by user values for P1 (xmin,ymin) and P2 (xmax,ymax). Using no parameters turns scaling off, and subsequent drawing is done in plotter units (1/1016 inch). SI [width , height] character size absolute SI sets the capital letter box width and height in centimeters. Letter spacing is 1.5 * width and line spacing is 2 * height. Using no parameters with B or A3 paper is the same as SI.285,.375 and any other paper is the same as SI.187,.269. SL [tan_angle] character slant SL sets the character slant. The parameter is interpreted as the tangent of the angle from vertical. Using no parameter sets the slant to 0 degrees. SM[c] symbol mode SM sets symbol mode, which centers the symbol mode character at any plotted point. Any character from ASCII 033 to 127 except ";" sets symbol mode. Any other character turns symbol mode off. SP pen_number select pen SP selects a pen. Using 0 or no parameter stores the pen without selecting a new pen. This is usually done at the end of a plot. PrintGL ignores any drawing with pen 0. SR [width , height] character size relative SR sets the capital letter box width and height as a percentage of P2X-P1X and P2Y-P1Y. Letter spacing is 1.5 * width and line spacing is 2 * height. Using no parameters is the same as SR.75,1.5. p-36 SS select standard character set SS specifies the standard character set as current. The standard character set is chosen with CS. TL [positive_length [, negative length]] tick length TL sets the tick lengths used by XT and YT. The parameters are lengths above and below the current position as a percentage of P2Y-P1Y for x-axis ticks and a percentage of P2X-P1X for y-axis ticks. UC [[pen_control ,] x_delta , y_delta] ... user character UC specifies a user defined character. The pen control number is 99 for pen down or -99 for pen up. Pen movements are relative, with x_delta in units of 1/4 the character width and y_delta in units of 1/8 the character height. VA adaptive velocity - IGNORED VN normal velocity - IGNORED VS pen velocity - IGNORED WG radius , start_angle , sweep_angle [, chord_angle] shade wedge WG fills a wedge centered at the current position. The current pen position and up/down state are unchanged. The wedge edge is not drawn. XT x-axis tick XT draws a vertical line, with length specified by the TL command, at the current position. The pen position and up/down state are unchanged. p-37 YT y-axis tick YT draws a horizontal line, with length specified by the TL command, at the current position. The pen position and up/down state are unchanged. esc.( esc.Y plotter on Esc.( and esc.Y turn the plotter on. This is only relevant with the /YY option. esc.) esc.Z plotter off Esc.) and esc.Z turn the plotter off. They are only effective with the /YY option. The plotter on and off commands let you include comments or data to pass through to another device in the plotfile. These are flagged as unsupported commands if /YD is set, as an indication that you should set /YY. esc.@, esc.H, esc.I, esc.M, esc.N, esc.R RS-232 device control commands - IGNORED p-38 HP-GL Character Sets ------------------------------------------------- PrintGL supports all of the character sets that are included with the HP 7475 and 7440/17440 except Katakana, and adds character set 5 and the proportional spaced fonts from the 7550. PrintGL's characters are similar to but not identical to HP's. 0 ANSI ASCII 1 9825 character set 2 French/German 3 Scandinavian 4 Spanish/Latin American 5 Special Symbols (7550 extension) 6 JIS ASCII 7 Roman Extensions 8 Katakana - NOT SUPPORTED BY PRINTGL 9 ISO IRV (International Reference Version) 30 ISO Swedish 31 ISO Swedish For Names 32 ISO Norway Version 1 33 ISO German 34 ISO French 35 ISO United Kingdom 36 ISO Italian 37 ISO Spanish 38 ISO Portuguese 39 ISO Norway Version 2 The character sets specify a font for codes 033..127. Codes 000..032 and 128..255 are independent of the character set and are all no ops except these. 003 default label terminator 008 backspace 009 half backspace 010 line feed 011 reverse line feed 013 carriage return 014 select alternate character set 015 select standard character set 032 space Each of the character sets is available as a proportional font by adding 10 to the set number. The proportional fonts are kerned to improve appearance (the character spacing is adjusted to compensate for character shape). Use the LO command to simplify working with proportional fonts. To improve the appearance of large text, use the ES command to reduce the character spacing. Codes 65 to 81 in character set 5 are symbols designed to be used in symbol mode (SM command) or as one character labels. When used in a label (LB command) these characters are centered at the current pen position and leave the pen position unchanged. p-39 The HP-GL characters cannot be printed with the standard ASCII character set. The file CHARSET.PLT is an HP-GL file that can be used to print a replacement for this page, showing the character sets. Use the command PRINTGL CHARSET.PLT /M1 /AO0,0 with a /F option specific to your printer to do this. p-40 Compatibility and Technical Information ------------------------------ PrintGL will run on any IBM compatible MS-DOS computer. It will work in a region as small as 112K but may need more memory for high resolution or wide prints. 144K is enough for the worst case black only prints - 13.5 inches wide, 360 dpi. Color output requires an additional 32K or more for high resolution or wide prints. 256K is enough for the worst case. A larger region usually makes things go faster by allowing larger buffers and averting the use of a spill file. By default, PrintGL uses the BIOS printer interrupt to send data to the printer. The D1..D4 and H1..H4 drivers send data directly to the serial port, without using or setting the serial port 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 standard DOS CON output. Graphics screen modes (except Hercules) are set up with BIOS, and graphics screen updates are done by writing directly to the display buffer. PMI will run on any IBM compatible MS-DOS computer. It will work in a region as small as 192K. When running PrintGL, all but 48K is given to PrintGL. More memory may allow PrintGL to run more quickly. 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. When saving the current settings, PMI 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. When under DESQview, PMI should be started in a text mode, and it writes directly to the DV selected 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. p-41 User Support --------------------------------------------------------- The quickest way to resolve problems with PrintGL is to use the support bulletin board. The Ravitz Software support bulletin board is at: 606-268-0577 1200/2400,N,8,1 24 hours/day. To ask a question (or make a comment or suggestion), first prepare a file with the details of your question. Please be very specific, and include any related information on your hardware, software, and operating environment. 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. XMODEM is also required for downloading answers. All question and answer files are public. The latest version of PrintGL is available from the bulletin board, packed in .ZIP format, and may be downloaded with XMODEM or YMODEM (1K XMODEM). Anyone may use the bulletin board. You may send questions to Compuserve - 70431,32 Cary Ravitz. You may send questions by mail to: Ravitz Software Inc. P.O. Box 25068 Lexington, KY 40524-5068 USA Please send a diskette (360K, 1.2M, 720K, or 1.44M, 720K is best) with your question so that example files or a newer version of the software may be included with the response. Return postage is appreciated.