| • | Choose PCL document output format from the Options|Configuration dialog (f8) then click the Options... button on the 'General' page, or
Choose PCL document format from the File|Export dialog (Ctrl E) – see PCL document file export – then click PCL options... |
| • | Click Apply to accept the 'Options' page configuration.
 EscapeE resumes displaying the 'General' page or
the Export dialog. |
| 1. | Select Use data compression when exporting to modern printers; adaptive compression methods reduce the size of files containing images. |
| 2. | You may reduce the size of the file by choosing: |
| o | to Render all but text as graphic, which retains the 'text' features (e.g. search). |
| o | You may reduce the size of the file further by choosing to Render as graphic instead. |
| • | In addition, you may now choose to Include text as well as the graphic; this would use least memory of all. |
See Notes below.
| 3. | If you would like to store text as longer phrases (to improve searching) select Combine text strings together. |
| 4. | It is usually best to select Include TrueType fonts unless you are using a printer that does not support TrueType fonts. If this is not selected then bitmapped fonts will be used, which in some cases may result in a smaller output file depending on the point sizes used. |
| 5. | If you have set up substitute fonts in the 'Fonts | Substitute Fonts...' dialog, you may Use standard fonts if substitute font given. |
| o | Select Always to always use standard fonts i.e. so that only fonts from the library are used and no fonts are downloaded. |
| 6. | Select Save fonts separately in file if required (see Notes below). You may enter a filename in the edit-box below or simply use the *.hp default. |
| 7. | Select LIDIL (graphics only) printer if exporting to a host-based printer. |
| 8. | Tick the Omit blank pages option if appropriate – for example when exporting a document which is to be viewed on screen (not printed) from a duplex original. |
| 9. | Select Keep original element order if the document has ordered opaque elements (e.g. shading) to overwrite text or lines. |
| 10. | Select Printer supports scalable images unless you are using an old printer that cannot handle scaled graphics. |
| o | The Do not use PJL commands check-box to remove unwanted PJL from the output if the printer is not strictly PCL compatible. See also Preamble and PJL options: Notes. |
| o | An editing window for entering a Preamble: see Preamble. |
| 12. | Set the resolution for line drawing and images and for text positioning: 600dpi or 300dpi. |
| 13. | To enable macro(s) to be created from the PCL, enter the macro number (EscapeE initially defaults to 100) then choose: |
| o | Permanent – macro retained from one job to the next, or |
| o | Temporary – macro deleted from printer at the end of the current job. |
Setting either of these options causes the LIDIL (graphics-only) printer box to be checked, thus ensuring that the macro is exported as a graphic. The macro number is also displayed on the PCL export dialog.
| 14. | To use a different Input tray from that specified in the original document, use the spin box to set up the original tray number and enter the new tray number in the box alongside. |
| 15. | To use a different Output bin from that specified in the original document, use the spin box to set up the original bin number and enter the new bin number in the box alongside. |
In addition, when you have finished setting up the options, you may also choose to create a Shortcut icon that uses all the options you have set by clicking Shortcut... (see Shortcuts - the easy way to construct a command line) or click the Save button to retain these settings after you close the program.
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A PCL file may be rendered as a graphic only or as a graphic with text. The 'graphic only' option will produce an accurate image from the file, including an image of the text, but cannot be used for extracting text for further processing. Exporting the file as 'graphic with text' retains the text features and consumes less memory.
Creating macros using PCL export outputs a totally new PCL file using mainly HP-GL commands. Ticking render as graphic eliminates possible font problems.
On large production printers, it may be more efficient to download all the fonts needed for a complex task at the start of a run, rather than loading them one page at a time. It then does not matter if the output pages are re-ordered e.g. if the pages are sorted by postal address instead of by surname. Ticking Save fonts separately in file creates such a file and assigns each font in it a unique "ID". This reduces the size of the page files while ensuring that each page can access the fonts it needs when the task is sent to the printer. See also Handling fonts, /FONTFILE.
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Links
PCL document file export
Saving pages to a PCL file
