HP PCL/PJL reference (PCL 5 Printer Language) - Technical Reference Manual Part II

22-38 The Line and Fill Attributes Group EN
SP, Select Pen
This command selects the printer’s ‘logical’ pen for subsequent
plotting. An SP command must be included at the beginning of each
command sequence to enable the printer to draw.
SP pen number[;]
or
SP [;]
Although your printer does not have physical pens, for the purpose of
compatibility it has a ‘logical’ pen which you must select to print your
drawing.
z No Parameters— Cancels pen selection; subsequent plotting
commands are not drawn. Equivalent to (SP0).
z Pen Number— Selects the printer’s ‘logical’ pen. The printer will
not draw unless an SP is sent.
z 0 — Selects the white pen. To see a white pen on a non-white
background you must set transparency mode to OFF (TR0;).
z 1 — Selects the black pen; numbers greater than 1 are also
interpreted as 1.
Use the Pen Width (PW) command to change the line width. You may
change widths as often as you like, without sending an SP command
again.
Note If you are not using the Transparency Mode (TR) command, white is
always transparent. For more information on the Transparency Mode
command, see the TR command description later in this chapter.
Parameter Format Functional Range Default
pen number integer 0 or 1 No pen