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

1-2 Introduction to HP PCL EN
PCL Printer Language Architecture
PCL printer language structure has been useful to guide language
functionality growth and command syntax definition. The PCL printer
language has evolved through five major levels of functionality driven
by the combination of printer technology developments, changing
user needs, and application software improvements. The five phases
of the PCL printer language evolution are:
The PCL printer language model succeeds because the following
points are observed:
z All HP LaserJet printers implement PCL printer language
features consistently.
z HP printers implement the above language feature groups in very
cost-effective formatters.
z HP printers have the ability to ignore most unsupported
commands.
PCL 1 Print and Space functionality is the base set of
functions provided for simple, convenient, single-user
workstation output.
PCL 2 EDP (Electronic Data Processing) /Transaction
functionality is a superset of PCL 1. Functions were
added for general purpose, multi-user system printing.
PCL 3 Office Word Processing functionality is a superset of
PCL 2. Functions were added for high-quality, office
document production.
PCL 4 Page Formatting functionality is a superset of PCL 3.
Functions were added for new page printing
capabilities.
PCL 5 Office Publishing functionality is a superset of PCL 4.
New publishing capabilities include font scaling and
HP-GL/2 graphics.