Printer-PCL Compatibility

[Kenneth Brody]

On 3/31/2015 11:18 AM, Chris Sellitto wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> FilePro® 5.0.13
> Windows 7/8
[...]
> We used to use the hp-500 printers (many years ago without issue), and
> since the personnel had changed for ordering equipment, they started
> ordering the OfficeJet 100 Mobile printer without our knowledge. This is
> when our issues started.  I notice that on HP's web page, the 100 Mobile
> uses HP PCL 3 GUI.  My question is, is filePro® compatible with the HP
> PCL 3 GUI version of the printer control language?  If not, does anyone
> know of a good, reliable mobile printer, available now that plays nice
> with filePro®?

My understanding is that "PCL 3 GUI" is a "host-based" printer language, 
meaning that the host computer does all the work of creating a picture of 
the page you want to print, and then sending the picture to the printer. 
(In other words, in order to print a page with a single "A" on it, you need 
to draw a picture of that "A", and send that image to the printer.)

There aren't any specs on PCL 3 GUI that I am aware of.  However, 
wikipedia's PCL page states:

     "PCL 3GUI is used in the HP DesignJet and some DeskJet series
      printers. It uses a compressed raster format that is not
      compatible with standard PCL 3."

If you were on 5.7, I would suggest using filePro's PDF output ability. 
Since you're still on 5.0, I would suggest looking into filePro's "FP2RTF" 
output (not sure if that's available on 5.0) or a third-party printer 
support utility, which can take "real" PCL and print it on a "host-based" 
printer.

-- 
Kenneth Brody