HP PCL/PJL reference (PCL 5 Color) - Technical Reference Manual
3-2 Using Palettes EN
In non-raster mode, the current palette contains all the available 
colors. In raster mode, indexed color selection uses the palette, but 
direct selection does not.
Default palettes are created by all the PCL color modes (Black and 
White, Simple Color, PCL Imaging, and HP-GL/2 Imaging). The active 
palette may be modified when in the PCL Imaging or HP-GL/2 
imaging modes, but not when in the Simple Color or Black and White 
modes. When switching between PCL 5 and HP-GL/2 contexts, the 
active palette is automatically transferred.
Multiple palettes can exist in the system via the Palette ID and Palette 
Stack mechanism. However, only one palette at a time can be active. 
A palette created in the PCL context remains active and unchanged 
when switching to the HP-GL/2 context, and a palette created in the 
HP-GL/2 context remains active and unchanged when switching to 
the PCL context. Performing a reset or entering PJL overwrites the 
active palette with the default black and white palette.
Whenever a new palette is created, the currently or previously active 
palette is destroyed. A new palette is created by power-on and also by 
the following commands: 
• PCL Reset (
?E) 
•Simple Color (
?*r#U)
• Configure Image Data (
?*v#W)
• HP-GL/2 Initialize (IN)
The active palette can be saved by pushing it onto the palette stack 
with the Push/Pop Palette command (
?*p#P). Popping a palette from 
the stack destroys the active palette—the popped palette becomes 
the active palette.










