File Formats: Printer Command Language (PCL)

Printer Command Language Format (PCL)

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

This file format is not supported in the non-vector toolkits. Read support and write support for this format are provided in the LEADTOOLS Vector Imaging Pro toolkit and are unlocked when the Vector features are unlocked.

LEAD supports version 3.0 and 5.0 of this file format.

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

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

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

PCL filter supports many features such as:

Support for Raster, text and rectangular area.

Support for Macros.

Enhanced performance of the filter.

Support for HPGL mode in PCL

Raster fonts

RTL Raster data

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

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

Viewing PJL with POSTSCRIPT data (requires the PDF filter)

Support for user-defined and pre-defined patterns

Support for Unicode symbols

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

File constants associated with this file format are:

Constant	Read Support	Write Support	Description
FILE_PCL	Yes	Yes	Printer Command Language – Hewlett Packard.
FILE_PLT	Yes	Yes	HPGL – Hewlett-Packard.
FILE_PCL_TEXT_AS_POLYLINE	Yes	Yes	Used to enforce saving text as polyline

When PCL files are rasterized, they are 24 BPP. You can read and write vector PCL files at 24 BPP.
When PLT files are rasterized, they are 4 BPP.

The following table indicates which objects LEAD can load and which objects it can save:

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

Required DLL: LFPCL. For a listing of the exact DLLs needed, based on the toolkit version, refer to Files To Be Included With Your Application.