

It was created in the late 1970s and introduced in the late 70s and early 80s. PCL 1 is the foundational base set of functions provided for simple, single-user workstation output. It provided very basic printing and spacing functionality, but was limited to only text printing and ASCII characters. PCL 1 This version is supported by all HP LaserJet series printers (except the HP LaserJet 31 series products). The major phases of the PCL printer language are as follows: The first versions of PCL (PCL 1 and 2) were used in HP impact and Inkjet printers in the early 1980s. The creation of these levels was driven by the combination of printer technology developments, changing user needs and application software improvements. HP printers have the ability to ignore most unsupported commands without causing the printer or issuing device to crash.

HP printers implement the PCL feature in very cost-effective formatters.ģ. All HP LaserJet series printers implement PCL printer language features consistently.Ģ. The PCL printer language is successful because the following points remain consistent across all levels:ġ. It is why the HP laser printers quickly became the industry standard. This conceptual thinking enabled HP to minimize printer support problems and protect HP printer investment in applications and printer driver software. The PCL printer language is common to virtually all HP printers, but not universal and not always backward compatible.

HP PCL formatters and fonts were designed to quickly translate application output into high-quality, device-specific, raster print images. Issuance of the sequence was relatively easy from any high level language or from assembler.

PCL commands are compact escape sequence codes that are embedded in the print job before being sent to the printer. The first printer in HP's LaserJet series, the HP LaserJet was released in 1984 with the PCL 3 version of the language. PCL was originally conceived and devised for HP's dot matrix and Inkjet printers. In order to provide an efficient and effective way to control printer features across many different printing devices, HP created PCL. HP's History Of Printer Command Language (PCL)
