Posted by Tamara on 9/24/04 1:28pm
Msg #8820

Printer

Ok all, I have been looking at Laser printers....Now I have a real stupin question...
What does.... PCL 5e or higher mean???? I am not sure what I need to be looking for....????
See how new I am...I searched too, I see PCL all over the place but no explanation, quess I am the only Printer dummy!!! Thanks again

Reply by PAW Notary Services on 9/24/04 2:18pm
Msg #8827

PCL means "Printer Control Language" (also "Printer Command Language"). This was developed and is "owned" by Hewlett-Packard. It is a language the printer driver understands to be able to tell the printer what to do. HP printers normally include the PCL "engine" with their printers and drivers while non-HP manufacturers emulate the PCL engine. PCL4 and above are strictly for laser printers. Most document warehousing software generates PCL4 compatible files, but some of the newer versions of those software are using PCL5e (which means Printer Control Language version 5 Enhanced) as the base command set. PCL6, the latest version, doesn't have any major enhancements over PCL5e, except that the language itself is completely different. Functionally, it's the same.

So, when looking for printers, check the specifications, particularly, the languages supported. Most laser printers support PCL, but some use "host based" engines which do not support PCL.

Hope this helps.

Reply by Tamara on 9/24/04 4:01pm
Msg #8835

It helps a bunch!! Thanks you two for the info....off I go---- shopping!!!

Reply by Jon on 9/24/04 2:19pm
Msg #8828

I have heard that PCL refers to Printer Command Language, that is the specific language that some programs use. Using PCL allows for faster printing as the rendering is done by the printer and not the computer.

OK Paul, correct where needed.

Reply by Dennis/TN on 9/25/04 6:32am
Msg #8870

http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html

Try the link above for the history.

Reply by Jan Kohake on 9/25/04 9:24am
Msg #8873

I've had a problem lately with docs that have been sent by one specific signing company. They are converted to the Adobe PDF and print out "extremely" slow. This has only happened with their last two set of docs, but what should be printing in five minutes turns out to be twenty-five minutes. I have the Norton anti-virus so if this is a virus, wouldn't this clean it up???

Reply by Gerry Ashton on 9/25/04 12:38pm
Msg #8878

If you have a "slow" PDF and a "normal" pdf stored in the same folder on your PC, use My Computer to navigate to the folder. Once there, choose View from the menu bar, then click Details. There will now be a Size column on the screen. See if the slow PDF has a much greater size than the normal PDF. If this is true, this means there is something about the way the signing company created the PDF that makes it needlessly large.

Reply by Jan Kohake on 9/25/04 2:27pm
Msg #8881

Thanks, Gerry, I really appreciate the input. I've contacted the SS to let them know what is happening but haven't heard back yet.