HP Pcl 5 Manual

							ENUser-Defined Symbol Set Examples 10-15 Symbol Map Data:(continued)
00 cf (character code 5)  Solid Spade, Card Suit
MM
00 e7 (character code 31)  Down Solid Arrowhead
00 00 (character code 32)  Space Code
00 01 (character code 33)  Exclamation Mark
MM
00 22 (character code 65)  Uppercase A
MM
00 43 (character code 97)  Lowercase A
MM
01 4c (character code 252)  Superior Lowercase N
00 c5 (character code 253) Superior Numeral 2
01 31 (character code 254) Small Solid Square Box
00 00 (character code 255) No-Break Space
E
C*c341r5S  PCL Symbol Set #ID: 10U, 
						

							10-16   User-Defined Symbol SetsEN 
						

							ENIntroduction  11-1
11
Soft Font Creation 
Introduction 
A font that is downloaded (transferred) from a computer to 
a printer is called a soft font. A PCL soft font contains a font 
header and a set of character definitions. The font header 
and character definitions contain all the information needed 
to format a font for use in the HP LaserJet printers.
Every PCL font header begins with a font descriptor, which 
identifies the basic characteristics common to all characters of 
a font, such as font type, baseline position, character cell width 
and height, character orientation, symbol set, etc.
Every PCL character definition contains a character descriptor 
and a body of character data. Furthermore, the character 
definition always consists of one or more character data blocks. 
Each character data block begins with its own character data 
block header.
The character descriptor is a block of data that identifies the 
characteristics for a specific character, such as its position, and 
the cursor position after printing. The character data which 
follows defines the shape of the character.
This chapter describes the font header and character definition 
formats for PCL Bitmap fonts, Intellifont scalable and TrueType 
scalable fonts. By formatting a font consistent with the header 
format requirements, a user may download this information 
(the font) to the printer using the Font Header command and 
the Character Descriptor/Data command. One additional 
command, the Character Code command, required to identify 
the ASCII character code assigned to each character, is also 
described in this chapter. 
						

							11-2   Soft Font CreationEN
The definition of a font with a quantity n characters would appear as 
shown below.
Font Classifications      
There are three basic classifications of fonts accepted by the 
HP LaserJet printer: PCL bitmap, Intellifont scalable, and 
TrueType scalable. Several different font header and character 
descriptor formats are available for the different font classifications. 
All are presented in this chapter.
NoteNot all font classifications are supported in all HP LaserJet Family 
printers. Refer to the PCL 5 Comparison Guide or the printer User’s 
Manual for specific information.
With the information provided in the section for bitmap fonts, it is 
possible to format a PCL bitmap character/font for the printer. 
However, to format an Intellifont or TrueType scalable font, 
additional information is required.
Intellifont scalable fonts are formatted to use Agfa Scaling 
Technology. Intellifont scalable fonts are described in detail in the 
document, Intellifont Scalable Typeface Format, available from Agfa 
Division, Miles Inc. (Refer to Related Documents, located in the front 
of this manual, for information on how to obtain this document.) Table 11-1
Font ID Command
Font Header
Character Code
1Character Descriptor1Character Data1
Character Code2Character Descriptor2Character Data2M
Character Code
nCharacter DescriptornCharacter Datan  
						

							ENIntroduction 11-3 TrueType scalable fonts are described in detail in the document, Tr u e  
Ty p e  F o n t  F i l e s. (Refer to Related Documents, located in the front of 
this manual, for information on how to obtain this document.)
NoteThe documents, Intellifont Scalable Typeface Format and True Type 
Font Files do not contain descriptions of scalable PCL fonts. Instead, 
they contain descriptions of files from which PCL fonts can be built. 
						

							11-4   Soft Font CreationEN
Coordinate System 
Both bitmap and scalable characters are designed in an area referred 
to as a cell or window, and each has its own coordinate system and 
set of units.
Bitmap Fonts   
Characters of a bitmap font are designed within a rectangular area 
referred to as a cell. The bitmap character cell is illustrated in Figure 
11-3, Figure 11-6, and Figure 11-7. The physical coordinate system is 
defined in terms of the directions of raster scan (X) and paper motion 
(Y), as illustrated in the following figure.
Figure 11-1 Bitmap Physical Coordinate System   
NoteThe LaserJet IID, IIP, 2000, and all LaserJet PCL 5 printers rotate 
fonts to match the paper’s physical coordinate system.
Intellifont Scalable Fonts     
Characters of an Intellifont scalable font are designed within a 
rectangular area known as the Agfa Design Window (Figure 11-2). 
The units of this coordinate system are .01mm square. 
						

							ENCoordinate System 11-5 The master font design size is 250 points (a CG point=.01383 
inches). There are 8782 units per Em at the Master Font Size.
Figure 11-2 Agfa Design Window
TrueType Scalable Fonts      
TrueType scalable font character coordinates are typically based 
on a system of 2048 units per Em. The baseline is defined by 
y-coordinate=0. The left reference is usually defined by 
x-coordinate=0 (although there is some variation among fonts). 
To determine the left reference line for an individual TrueType 
character, subtract the LSB value found in the hmtx table from 
the xMin value found in the glyf table. See True Type Font Files 
for more information.  
						

							11-6   Soft Font CreationEN
Font Header Command 
The Font Header command is used to download font header data to 
the printer.
E
C ) s # W   [font header data] 
Default =0
Range =0 - 32767
The value field (#) identifies the number of bytes in the font header. 
The font header fields are described under Font Header Format, later 
in this chapter.
NoteTwo examples for downloading a Font Header are provided under 
Font Header Examples, after the Font Header Format section, later in 
this chapter.
Font Header Format 
The font header describes those characteristics of a font which are 
common to all its characters. Five font headers are included here:
zFormat 0 Font Header for PCL Bitmapped Fonts - This font 
header, shown in Table 11-2, is not recommended for LaserJet 4 
and later printers. It is included in this manual to maintain 
backward-compatibility with earlier versions of PCL.
zFormat 20 Font Header for Resolution-Specified Bitmapped 
Fonts - This header replaces the previous bitmap header, and 
has the added capability to specify a font’s resolution. This font 
header is shown in Table 11-3. 
zFormat 10 Font Header for Intellifont Bound Scalable Fonts - 
For creating Intellifont scalable fonts which are restricted (bound) 
to a single symbol set. This font header is shown in .
zFormat 11 Font Header for Intellifont Unbound Scalable 
Fonts - For creating Intellifont scalable fonts which are not bound 
to a single symbol set, but are instead composed of a range of 
compatible symbol collections. This font header is shown in .
zFormat 15 TrueType Scalable Font Header - This new font 
header supports TrueType scalable fonts (bound or unbound). 
This font header is shown in Table 11-6.  
						

							ENFont Header Format 11-7
NoteUse the Font ID command to designate a unique ID number prior to 
the download of a font header. If an existing font is already associated 
with this ID, the existing font is deleted upon the download of the font 
header. Unless otherwise specified, inappropriate values in a font 
header field invalidates the font download process; a font is not 
created and the associated font data is discarded. 
Intellifont scalable font formatting also requires the Intellifont Scalable 
Ty p e f a c e  F o r m a t document, which supplements the information 
provided here. For information on how to obtain this document, refer 
to “Related Documents” in the front of this manual.
The figures that follow illustrate the font header formats for the various 
font classifications. The individual fields for the font headers are 
described following the figures.
NotesAlthough some LaserJet printer models do not use all of the data in 
the font header and thus ignore many of the fields, a font creator 
should use valid values in all of the font header fields. This ensures 
font compatibility across the LaserJet printer family and with future 
printers, which may use these fields.
Those font header fields identified as “reserved” should be set to 
zero.
Table 11-2 Format 0 Font Header (for PCL Bitmapped Fonts)
Byte  15 (MSB)                                    8 7                          (LSB) 0
0 Font Descriptor Size (64)
2  Header Format (0)  Font Type
4 Style MSB  Reserved
6 Baseline Position
8Cell Width
10 Cell Height
12 Orientation  Spacing
14 Symbol Set 
						

							11-8   Soft Font CreationEN
16 Pitch (Default HMI)
18 Height
20 x-Height
22  Width Type  Style LSB
24 Stroke Weight  Typeface LSB
26 Typeface MSB  Serif Style
28 Quality  Placement
30  Underline Position (Distance)  Underline Thickness 
(Height)
32 Text Height
34 Text Width
36 First Code
38 Last Code
40  Pitch Extended  Height Extended
42 Cap Height
44-47 Font Number
      M
48-63 Font Name
      M
64 Copyright (optional)
Table 11-3 Format 20 Font Header (for Resolution-Specified 
Bitmapped)
Byte  15 (MSB)                8 7                                             (LSB) 0
0 Font Descriptor Size (68)
2  Header Format (20)  Font Type
4 Style MSB  Reserved
6 Baseline Position Table 11-2 Format 0 Font Header (for PCL Bitmapped Fonts)