Reset the printer. Discards any output, ejects the existing page,
returns all settings to their default. Always use this before printing
a page.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (G BC=1 ON1
Turn on graphics mode. ON should be `1' (turn on graphics
mode).
ESC/P2 command:ESC (U BC=1 UNIT1
Set basic unit of measurement used by printer. This is expressed in
multiples of 1/3600". At 720 DPI, UNIT is `5'; at 360 DPI,
UNIT is `10'.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (U BC=5 PAGEUNITS1VUNIT1HUNIT1BASEUNIT2
Set basic units of measurement used by the printer. PAGEUNIT is
the unit of page measurement (for commands that set page dimensions and
the like). VUNIT is the unit of vertical measurement (for
vertical movement commands). HUNIT is the unit of horizontal
movement (for horizontal positioning commands). All of these units are
expressed in BASEUNIT, which is in reciprocal inches. Typically,
BASEUNIT is `1440'. In 720 DPI mode, PAGEUNIT,
VUNIT, and HUNIT are all `2'; in 1440x720 DPI mode,
PAGEUNIT and VUNIT are normally set to `2'; HUNIT
is set to `1'.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (K BC=2 ZERO1GRAYMODE1
Set color or grayscale mode, on printers supporting an explicit
grayscale mode. These printers can be identified because they are
advertised as having more black nozzles than nozzles of individual
colors. Setting grayscale mode allows use of these extra nozzles for
faster printing. GRAYMODE should be `0' or `2' for
color, `1' for grayscale. ZERO should always be `0'.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (i BC=1 MICROWEAVE1
If MICROWEAVE is `1', use microweave mode. On older
printers, this is used to turn on microweave; on newer printers, it
prints one row at a time. All printers support this mode. It should
only be used at 720 (or 1440x720) DPI. The Epson Stylus Pro series
indicates additional modes:
`2'
"Full-overlap"
`3'
"Four-pass"
`4'
"Full-overlap 2"
Any of these commands can be used with the high four bits set to either
`3' or `0'.
ESC/P2 command:ESC U DIRECTION1
If DIRECTION is `1', print unidirectionally; if `0',
print bidirectionally.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (s BC=1 SPEED1
On some older printers, this controls the print head speed. SPEED
of `2' is 10 inches/sec; SPEED of `0' or 1 is 20.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (e BC=2 ZERO1DOTSIZE1
Choose print dotsize. DOTSIZE can take on various values,
depending upon the printer. Almost all printers support `0' and
`2'. Variable dot size printers allow a value of 16. Other
than the value of 16, this appears to be ignored at resolutions of
720 DPI and above.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (C BC=2 PAGELENGTH2
ESC/P2 command:ESC (C BC=4 PAGELENGTH4
Set the length of the page in "pageunits" (see `ESC (U' above).
The second form of the command allows setting of longer page lengths on
new printers (these happen to be the printers that support variable dot
size).
ESC/P2 command:ESC (c BC=4 TOP2LENGTH2
ESC/P2 command:ESC (c BC=8 TOP4LENGTH4
Set the vertical page margins of the page in "pageunits" (see `ESC
(U' above). The margins are specified as the top of the page and the
length of the page. The second form of the command allows setting of
longer page lengths on new printers (these happen to be the printers
that support variable dot size).
ESC/P2 command:ESC (S BC=8 WIDTH4LENGTH4
Set the width and length of the printed page region in "pageunits" (see
`ESC (U' above).
ESC/P2 command:ESC (v BC=2 ADVANCE2
ESC/P2 command:ESC (v BC=4 ADVANCE4
Feed vertically ADVANCE "vertical units" (see `ESC (U' above)
from the current print head position.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (V BC=2 ADVANCE2
ESC/P2 command:ESC (V BC=4 ADVANCE4
Feed vertically ADVANCE "vertical units" (see `ESC (U' above)
from the top margin.
ESC/P2 command:ESC ($ BC=4 OFFSET4
Set horizontal position to OFFSET from the left margin. This
command operates on printers of the 740 class and newer (all printers
with variable dot size).
ESC/P2 command:ESC $ OFFSET2
Set horizontal position to OFFSET from the left margin. This
command operates on printers of the 740 class and newer (all printers
with variable dot size).
ESC/P2 command:ESC (\ BC=4 UNITS2OFFSET2
Set horizontal position to OFFSET from the previous print head
position, measured in UNITS. UNITS is measured in inverse
inches, and should be set to 1440 in all cases. This operates on all
1440 dpi printers that do not support variable dot size.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (/ BC=4 OFFSET4
Set horizontal position to OFFSET from the previous print head
position, measured in "horizontal units" (see `ESC (U' above).
This operates on all variable dot size printers.
ESC/P2 command:ESC \ OFFSET2
Set horizontal position to OFFSET from the previous print head
position, measured in basic unit of measurement (see `ESC (U'
above). This is used on all 720 dpi printers, and can also be used on
1440 dpi printers in lower resolutions to save a few bytes. Note that
OFFSET may be negative. The range of values for this command is
between `-16384' and `16383'.
ESC/P2 command:ESC r COLOR1
ESC/P2 command:ESC (r BC=2 DENSITY1COLOR1
Set the ink color. The first form is used on four-color printers; the
second on six-color printers. DENSITY is `0' for dark inks,
`1' for light. COLOR is
`0'
black
`1'
magenta
`2'
cyan
`4'
yellow
This command is not used on variable dot size printers in softweave
mode.
Print data. COMPRESS signifies the compression mode:
`0'
no compression
`1'
TIFF compression (incorrectly documented as "run length encoded")
`2'
TIFF compression with a special command set.
VSEP depends upon resolution and printer type. At 360 DPI, it is
always `10'. At 720 DPI, it is normally `5'5. On the ESC
600, it is `40' (8 * 5). On some other printers, it varies.
HSEP1 is `10' at 360 DPI and `5' at 720 or 1440 DPI
(1440 DPI cannot be printed in one pass; it is printed in two passes,
with the dots separated in each pass by 1/720").
LINES is the number of lines to be printed. It should be `1'
in microweave and 360 DPI. At 720 DPI softweave, it should be the
number of lines to be actually printed.
WIDTH is the number of pixels to be printed in each row.
Following this command, a carriage return (`13' decimal, `0A'
hex) should be output to return the print head position to the left
margin.
The basic data format is a string of bytes, with data from left to right
on the page. Within each byte, the highest bit is first.
The TIFF compression is implemented as one count byte followed by one or
more data bytes. There are two cases:
If the count byte is `128' or less, it is followed by [count]
+ 1 data bytes. So if the count byte is `0', it is followed by 1
data byte; if it is `128', it is followed by 129 data bytes.
If the count byte is greater than 128, it is followed by one byte. This
byte is repeated (257 - [count]) times. So if [count] is 129, the next
byte is treated as though it were repeated 128 times; if [count] is 255,
it is treated as though it were repeated twice.
ESC/P2 command:ESC i COLOR1COMPRESS1BITS1BYTES2LINES2data...
Print data in the newer printers (that support variable dot size), and
Stylus Pro models.
COLOR is the color:
`0'
black
`1'
magenta
`2'
cyan
`4'
yellow
`17'
light magenta
`18'
light cyan
COMPRESS signifies the
compression mode:
`0'
no compression
`1'
TIFF compression (incorrectly documented as "run length encoded")
`2'
TIFF compression with a special command set.
BITS is the number of bits per pixel.
BYTES is the number of bytes wide for each row (ceiling(BITS
* width_of_row, 8)). Note that this is different from the `ESC .'
command above.
LINES is the number of lines to be printed. This command is the
only way to get variable dot size printing. In variable dot mode, the
size of the dots increases as the value (`1', `2', or
`3') increases.
Set printer horizontal and vertical spacing. It only applies to
variable dot size printers in softweave mode (and possibly other high
end printers).
BASE is the base unit for this command; it must be `14400'.
VERTICAL is the distance in these units between printed rows; it
should be (separation_in_nozzles * BASE / 720).
HORIZONTAL is the horizontal separation between dots in a row.
Depending upon the printer, this should be either (14400 / 720)
or (14400 / 360). The Stylus Pro 9000 manual suggests that the
settings should match the chosen resolution, but that is apparently not
the case (or not always the case) on other printers.
ESC/P2 command:ESC (R BC=8 00 R E M O T E 1
Enters "remote mode". This is a special, undocumented command set that
is used to set up various printer options, such as paper feed tray, and
perform utility functions such as head cleaning and alignment. It does
not appear that anything here is actually required to make the printer
print. Our best understanding of what is in a remote command sequence
is described in a separate section below.
ESC/P2 command:ESC 01 @EJL [sp] ID\r\n
Return the printer ID. This is considered a remote mode command,
although the syntax is that of a conventional command. This returns the
following information:
After all data has been sent, a form feed byte should be sent.
All newer Epson printers (STC 440, STP 750) require the following
command to be sent at least once to enable printing at all. This
command specifically takes the printer out of the Epson packet mode
communication protocol (whatever that is) and enables normal data
transfer. Sending it multiple times is is not harmful, so it is
normally sent at the beginning of each job:
The proper sequence of initialization commands is:
magic command
ESC remote mode if needed
ESC (G
ESC (U
ESC (K (if appropriate)
ESC (i
ESC U (if needed)
ESC (s (if appropriate)
ESC (e
ESC (C
ESC (c
ESC (S
ESC (D (if needed)
ESC (V (optional -- this can be accomplished with ESC (v)
For printing, the proper sequence is:
ESC (v
and repeat for each color:
ESC ($ or ESC (\ or ESC \
ESC (r or ESC r (if needed---not used with `ESC i' and not needed if the color
has not changed from the previous printed line)
ESC . or ESC i ...data... [return] (0A hex)