INTRODUCTION

Included in this directory are a collection of ".prt" files,
all with filenames that begin "hp-" that provide support for
the majority of the relatively contemporary Hewlett-Packard
DeskJet printers as well as the PCL5 LaserJet printers.

Note that these tables are NOT compatible with the previous
hp3.prt and hp4.prt tables that were written in 1993; thus
the move to hp-3.prt and hp-4.prt to distinguish between them.
The same is true of the hp855.prt etc. table written in 1995.

An effort has been made to keep the tables as compatible as
possible across all printers, but as printer capabilities
vary widely, 100% compatibility is obvious not possible. Basic
commands common to all printers, e.g. bold "on/off" etc. have
the same code number on all tables. Further every table uses 
the same code number for Courier 10 pitch. Font availability
is one of the biggest differences from one printer to the next.

Note that some of the tables presented here have NOT been tested
because of the lack of an appropriate printer to test with, but
most of the codes have been tested on one printer or another. Please
report any anomalies you observe, particularly a print code itself
is printing rather than carrying out the intended printer operation.

DESKJET NOTES

None of the DeskJet printers in the 500 series or 600 series have
scalable fonts. All are bitmaps.

In the case of the 500, 520, 550, 560, as well as the OfficeJet,
not all of the internal fonts are available in both portrait and
landscape orientation. Portrait fonts show (P) in the code description
and likewise (L) for landscape fonts. The few fonts for these printers
that are available in both orientations show (P)(L) in the description.
All available fonts in these printers can be printed in a bold variant.
This is not true of italics, and those fonts that have an italic
companion show (i) in the description.

The 540 and the 600 series(600, 660 etc.) fonts are available in both
portrait and landscape orientations. All can be bolded, but only those
marked with (i) are available in italics.

The 800 series(850, 855, 870) all contain scalable fonts like the PCL5
LaserJets. In fact these fonts are identical to the same fonts in the
laser printers and are available in both orientations and italics,
although, there is no bold/italic font for Letter Gothic, but bold
and italic are there. Print code numbers for scalable fonts common to
both 8xx printers and the LaserJets have the same number, so it is
quite likely that an output format designed for an 8xx printer would
print correctly on a LaserJet that had the some fonts. 


LASERJET NOTES

All of the LaserJet tables are very similar and differences between
them reflect the minor variations in the printer features and avail-
able fonts. For example, printers that are potentially duplex capable
have the duplexing codes included. If a font or feature is not avail-
able on a particular printer, that code will be blank on the table.

There are 20 blank codes on all the tables (59-78) for users to roll
their own. This space can get consumed rather rapidly if you are
downloading forms to the printer. There is a handful of others blanks
scattered throughout the table.


GENERAL USAGE

It is strongly recommended that fonts and page formatting be set
explicitly in the print code rather than to rely upon defaults that
can be easily changed by naive users at the printer's control panel.
To this end the printer init code (code 3 on all tables) will reset
the printer, select the PC-8 symbol set, select 10 pitch Courier type,
and for color capable printers select the KCMY pallette. This happens
without intervention.

Further the page size, line spacing, orientation, and margins also
need to be set before the first page is printed, but because these
elements may vary from job to job, they must be set up in the form
initialization code on the options page when defining the output
format. To help is this regard, the four codes 55-58 contain setup 
strings for 

           55. Letter Size Portrait  6 lpi (60 print Lines)
           56. Letter Size Landscape 6 lpi (45 print Lines)
           57. Letter Size Portrait  8 lpi (80 print lines)
           58. Letter Size Landscape 8 lpi (60 print lines)

and these codes are on all tables. Simply quote the applicable code
number for the page layout desired in the format init. For other page
sizes and margin settings, you will have to write additional codes.
The format codes for the LaserJets also initializes the HP-GL/2 frame
to perfectly ovelay the PCL page at 300 dpi.

Jim Asman
jim@spctra.wimsey.bc.ca
