Provided by: hp2xx_3.4.4-9_amd64 
NAME
hp2xx - A HPGL converter into some vector- and raster formats
USAGE
hp2xx [-options] [hpgl-file(s)]
OPTION SUMMARY
Option Format Default Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
General options:
-c char * 11111111 Pen color(s). Valid: 1 to 8 digits of 0-7 each.
0=off, 1=black, 2=red, 3=green, 4=blue, 5=cyan,
6=magenta, 7=yellow.
-f char * "" Name of output file. "" = autom., "-" = stdout
-l char * "" Name of optional log file
-m char * pre Mode. Valid (some are compile-time options):
mf,cad,dxf,em,emf,epic,eps,escp2,fig,jpg,gpt,hpgl,
rgip,pcl,pcx,pic,img,pbm,png,pre,svg,tiff,pdf,nc
-p char * 11111111 Pensize(s) [dots] (default), [1/10 mm] (mf, ps).
Valid: 1 to 8 digits of 0-9 (or characters A-Z for
widths beyond 0.9mm) each.
-P int 0:0 Selected page range (m:n) (0 = 0:0 = all pages)
-q off Quiet mode. No diagnostic output.
-r double 0.0 Rotation angle [deg]. -r90 gives landscape
-s char * hp2xx.swp Name of swap file
Size controls:
-a double 1.0 Aspect factor. Valid: > 0.0
-h double 200 Height [mm] of picture
-w double 200 Width [mm] of picture
-x double - Preset xmin value of HPGL coordinate range
-X double - Preset xmax value of HPGL coordinate range
-y double - Preset ymin value of HPGL coordinate range
-Y double - Preset ymax value of HPGL coordinate range
-z double 1.0 Z engagement (working depth) (used in nc output only)
-Z double -1.0 Z retraction depth (used in nc output only)
-t off True size mode. Inhibits effects of -a -h -w
HPGL handling controls:
-n off No filling of polygons; draws outline instead
-N off Ignore PS commands, calculate plot size as needed
-e int 0 Extend IW clipping limits by given amount
-M int 0 Remap pen no.0 commands to given pen
Raster format controls:
-d int 75 DPI value (x or both x&y)
-D int 75 DPI value (y only)
PCL only:
-F off Send a FormFeed after graphics data
-i off Pre-initialize printer
-S int 0 (Deskjet) Special commands: 0=off,1=b/w,3=CMY,4=CMYK
-d (see above) Valid ONLY 300, 150, 100, 75
-D (see above) INVALID for PCL!
EPS, PCL, and some previews:
-o double 0.0 x offset [mm] of picture (left margin)
-O double 0.0 y offset [mm] of picture (upper margin)
-C Modify -o -O to center picture within -w -h frame
TIFF only:
-S int 0 Compression: 0/1=off,2=RLE,3=G3FAX,4=G4FAX,
6=OJPEG,7=JPEG,8=deflate
Preview on PC's (DOS):
-V int 18 VGA mode byte (decimal)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-H Show help.
DESCRIPTION
hp2xx reads HPGL ASCII source files, interprets them, and converts them into either
another vector-oriented format or one of several rasterfile formats. Currently, its HPGL
parser recognizes a large subset of HPGL/2. Some high-level functions related to polygon
filling are missing. Also, only some of the fixed space vector fonts and none of the
variable space arc fonts are supported. Beside these limitations, hp2xx has proven to work
with many HP-GL sources without any trouble.
GENERAL OPTIONS
hp2xx reads from stdin or from a file if any given on the command line. If no output file
name is given (default), the output automatically goes into a file whose name is derived
from the input file name and the current mode. For example, hp2xx -m pcl foo.hpgl writes
the output to a file "foo.pcl". Use option -f outfile to specify your output file name
explicitly, or -I -f- to write to stdout, e.g. when piping into a queue.
The program scans the current HPGL source, converts all drawing commands into elementary
vectors, saves these in a temporary file, and concurrently determines the maximum
coordinate range used. It then processes the vectors by mapping them into a user-defined
coordinate system, preserving the aspect ratio of the original data.
This coordinate system by default fits into a window of size 200 mm by 200 mm. To change
the size of this bounding window, use -h height and -w width to set the (max.) desired
height and width of your output picture; optionally use -a aspectfactor to alter the
aspect ratio by the given factor (aspectfactor < 1 narrows your picture). The generated
picture will always fit into the window defined by -h height and -w width, padded with
background color at the lower or right margin if needed.
A second way of defining sizes is relying on the size the picture would actually show if
plotted on a sheet of paper by a HP-compatible plotter. By activating flag -I -t (true
size), options -a, -h, and -w are ignored, and the sizes are derived from the HP-GL file
assuming that 1 HP unit = 1/40 mm.
Option -r rotation_angle (in degrees) allows you to rotate the object prior to all scaling
operations. Its main use is to facilitate landscape format: -r90 rotates your whole
picture, e.g. from portait to landscape format. However, any reasonable rotation angle is
valid.
By naming a file with option -l log_file you can redirect the diagnostic outputs into the
given file, even without a redirection mechanism for stderr like in UNIX shells (e. g.,
DOS). Option -q (quiet) gets rid of them completely.
If you need to process a series of similar objects which should be translated into exactly
the same coordinate system, there is a way to override the auto-scaling: First, run all
files separately and note the infos on the used coordinate ranges. Then, pick a range that
will cover ALL your pictures. You can now assign defaults to the internally generated
range limits by specifying -x xmin, -X xmax, -y ymin, and -Y ymax. NOTE: Clipping is only
supported via the IW command ! If any picture coordinate exceeds your limits, they will be
overwritten.
Use option -m mode to select the program mode, i.e. the output format. Currently
supported: mode = "mf" (Metafont), "em" (emTeX \special{} commands), "epic" (line drawing
using TeX macros within epic.sty), "eps" (PostScript), "dxf" (Autocad), "emf/emp" (MS
Enhanced Metafile / Printing - available in Windows-built executables only), "svg"
(Scalable Vector Graphics), "fig" (XFig 3.2), "gpt" (GnuPlot ascii), "hpgl" (simplified
HP-GL, e.g. for import tasks), "pcl" (HP-PCL Level 3 format (suitable for printing on a HP
Laserjet II, DeskJet, or compatible printer), "escp2" (Epson Esc/P2 printer commands,
suitable for printing on Epson Stylus models), "img" (GEMs IMG format), "jpg" (JPEG
image), "pdf" (Adobe Portable Document format), "pbm" (Portable Bit Map / Portable PixMap
for color plots), "pcx" (PC-Paintbrush format, also accepted by MS-Paintbrush / Windows
3.0 and many other PC based pixel renderers), "png" (Portable Network Graphics format),
"nc" (CNC G-code, for engravings), or "rgip" (Uniplex RGIP). There is also a preview
option "pre" which supports VGA cards (DOS), ATARI, AMIGA, X11 servers, and Sunview.
Default mode is "pre". (As some of these modes rely on external libraries, they may not
be builtin by default, and not be available in prebuilt binaries supplied e.g. in Linux
distributions. The usage messsage generated when hp2xx is invoked without parameters will
always list exactly those modes that are actually available.)
If you use a raster format, the picture is rasterized by default into a 75 DPI resolution
image. Use option -d DPI_value to change the resolution, e.g. -d300 will cause a HP LJ-II
compatible 300 dpi rasterization. There is a way of specifying a different resolution for
y direction: -D DPI_y_value
Some programs were found to generate HPGL output with too tight clipping bounds, which
lead, for example, to some parts of text characters clipped off. Use option -e extraclip
to add some extra amount of space to clip areas to workaround such mistakes. For example,
-e 40 will add 40 extra plotter units to every side of clipping box which is 1 mm in true
size.
While processing large pictures at high resolution on low-memory machines, typically under
DOS, the program may start swapping. Optionally change the swap file by using -s swapfile,
e.g. to speed up processing by swapping to a RAM disk.
Unless the hpgl file specifies its own selection of pen widths and colors (for up to 256
pens), a carousel of 8 pens is simulated. You can specify pen sizes and colors for each of
these pens via options -p string and -c string. "string" must consist of 1..8 digits (0-9
for size, 0-7 for color). Digit number n (counting from left) corresponds to pen number
n. The digit value is this pen's color or size in internal units. The pen width unit
corresponds to 1/10 mm - using pen widths beyond 0.9mm is possible by using the letters of
the latin alphabet, so that A=1mm, B=1.1mm etc. The default size is 1 for all pens.
Colors are assigned according to: 0=off, 1=black, 2=red, 3=green, 4=blue, 5=cyan,
6=magenta, 7=yellow. Examples of use: -p22222222 -c33333333 changes all pensizes to 2
units, all colors to green -p302 -c407 makes pen #1 a blue pen of size 3 , pen #3 a yellow
pen of size 2, suppresses all drawing with pen #2, and keeps all other pen sizes and
colors. Setting either -p or -c will override the equivalent HPGL/2 commands (PC,PW) in
the HP-GL file.
Sometimes, HP-GL files contain several pages of plotter output. hp2xx recognizes the HP-
GL commands for "feed-forward", "pause" or "new page", and by default draws each image as
a separate page (saving to sequentially numbered output files, or opening a new preview
window for each). You can select any particular page range by using option -P
firstpage:lastpage which causes hp2xx to skip all drawing commands except those on the
given pages. Please note that even if only a single page is actually drawn, hp2xx will
nonetheless process the whole HP-GL file. This makes sure that effects of early pages on
internal modes indeed influence later pages, as on a real plotter.
VECTOR FORMATS
Supported vector formats are: TeX/Metafont, emTex-specials, TeX/epic-Macros, Autocad DXF
CNC G-code XFig 3.2, GnuPlot ASCII, Simplified HP_GL, Uniplex RGIP Scalable Vector
Graphics (SVG) Adobe PDF(if libpdf is available) and -I PostScript. Use -m mf to convert
a HPGL drawing into a Metafont character to be included into a TeX document as the
character "Z" of a special font that you may create. Edit the metafont source, e.g., to
change the letter "Z" for another, or to change the line thickness, which is set to 0.4pt
by default. The other TeX-related modes ("cad" for TeXcad compatible code, "em" for
employing \special{em:line} macros, and "epic" for drawing lines with macros from
"epic.sty") address different compromises to cope with TeX's poor line drawing capability
and are generally not recommended nor fully supported. Feel free to experiment with them
-- they generate ASCII output that should be "input" into TeX/LaTeX documents.
Use option -p pensize(s) for control over pensize: The actual Metafont or PostScript
pensize will be "pensize * 0.1 mm", with pensize = 0 - 9 (0 = no drawing). The same
applies to
In PostScript mode (-m eps), you may also need to use options -o and -O (see below) for
proper margins on paper since hp2xx puts your picture "flush" to the left and upper paper
limit by default.
RASTER FORMATS
The following formats are supported: HP-PCL, Esc/P2, PCX, PIC, IMG, JPG, PBM/PPM, PNG,
TIFF, and previews. (PNG and TIFF formats rely on external libpng,zlib and libtiff, JPG
relies on libjpeg. Versions built on MS windows systems - or versions linked against
libEMF on other platforms - may additionally support EMF generation and printing.)
Addition of other formats is made easy for programmers because of hp2xx's modular
structure. The program allocates a bitmap on a line-by-line basis, swapping lines to disk
if needed, and plots into this bitmap. Depending on the selected format, a conversion
module is then activated, which can easily be replaced by other converters. Add more
formats if you like!
Option -p pensize(s) controls the size (in pixels) of the virtual plotting pen. The only
implemented shape of the pen tip is a square of the given length. pen sizes of 5...9
units will be acccepted but replaced by 4 units. Specifying -p4 when in 75 DPI mode will
make pretty clumsy pictures, while you may prefer -p2 over -p1 when in 300 DPI.
PCX: The size of a PCX picture is controlled via its specified height and the current DPI
value. To create a high-resolution PCX image, just increase the DPI value as desired. PCX
format does not accept offsets.
IMG: See PCX.
PBM/PPM: See PCX for options. If your hpgl file is not monochrome, hp2xx will
automatically create a PPM (portable pixmap) file instead of a PBM bitmap. (Use -c11111111
to force generation of PBM from a color hpgl file). Depending on the compile-time option
PBM_ASCII, hp2xx will create ascii or binary pbm (ppm) files - usually the more efficient
binary format should be preferred.
(Unsupported options) PIC, PAC: ATARI ST screens (640x400 pixels) can easily be dumped to
files. Programs such as STAD accept graphics by including such screen dump files.
Graphics filling more than one screenful may be split into screen-size blocks and
loaded/mounted blockwise. hp2xx converts to ATARI bitmap format by trying to fit the
resulting picture into a single screen equivalent (max. 400 rows, max. 80 Bytes (640
pixel) per row). If it succeeds, hp2xx produces a single output file. Specify ONLY its
base name (option -f), since hp2xx adds the file extension ".pic" or ".pac" automatically.
Do NOT try to work on more than one HPGL file simultaneously! Do NOT use more than 6
characters for the file name, and avoid digits. If more screen blocks are required
horizontally and/or vertically, hp2xx will automatically split the picture into separate
files, counting them columnwise (top-to-bottom and left-to-right), adding a two-digit
number to the given file name. A maximum of 10 columns is supported. The picture is
padded with background color at its right and lower margins, if needed. PAC features file
compression, PIC does not.
PCL: HP-PCL Level 3 format, most useful for direct printer output. Due to this action,
there have been added some extra flags and options: Use flag -i to send a printer
initialization sequence before the actual image. Among other things, this will instruct
the printer which paper size to use. Flag -F adds a Form Feed (FF, hex 0C) after the image
is completed, which is what you may want most of the time. However, overlay printing of
several files is feasible by omitting -F.
For additional control of the picture's final position on paper, you may add x or y
offsets using -o X_offset or -O Y_offset. E.g., -o 20 -O 30 will give you 30 mm additional
top margin and 20 mm additional left margin. Option -C modifies these offsets to center
the picture within the frame defined by -w -h.
The option -C will attempt to center the drawing on the paper automatically. Note also
that hp2xx now honors any PS (page size) commands in the hpgl file, which can also create
white space around the actual drawing.
The option -N will make hp2xx ignore any PS commands given in the hpgl file, and
recalculate the image size based on the actual geometry instead.
The option -n will make hp2xx ignore any polygon filling commands, rendering only their
outlines. This may serve both as a work-around for hp2xx' limited polyfill support, and
improve clarity of thumbnail images of PCB designs and the like.
The option -M pennumber will remap any color or drawing commands from pen 0 to the
specified pen (which should typically be otherwise unused in the drawing). Historically,
selecting pen 0 instructed a pen plotter to put away the pen and stop drawing, while
modern inkjet plotters can use it like any other color. Due to this ambiguity, hp2xx will
draw the background of raster graphics in the pen 0 color, unless this option is used.
For DeskJet / DeskJet Plus / DeskJet 500 / Deskjet 550 printers, there are some special
printer commands. Activate them with option -S n. n=0 switches them off, n=1 activates
black/white mode, n=3 (DJ500C and DJ550 only) supports CMY color data, n=4 (DJ550C only)
supports CMYK color data. Any n!=0 activates PLC data compression (TIFF mode: 2).
Esc/P2: This is the control language used in the Epson Stylus family of inkjets. hp2xx
currently does not address more than one line of nozzles in the print head, so printing,
while exact, is extremely slow. Users might prefer piping the output of the PostScript
module through ghostscript until this issue is resolved.
PNG: Support for the Portable Network Graphics format relies on libpng which is available
from www.libpng.org.
PRE: Preview on all machines. Use options -h -w -o -O -C to define the screen size and
position of your output (-o -O -C may not always apply). Under X11, you can pan around an
image that is larger than the screen size by 'dragging' it with the mouse (pressing button
1 while moving the mouse in the desired direction). Any other mouse button or keyboard key
will terminate the preview. For VGA cards (DOS), option -V VGAmode gives you a simple way
to utilize SVGA modes. Please take care not to define larger windows than your graphics
device can handle, as the results are unpredictable. As hp2xx uses standard BIOS calls to
set pixels on VGA cards (slow but portable), you can select any hi-res mode supported by
your system by simply specifying the mode byte with this option.
TIFF: The tagged image file format is supported by most graphics and image manipulation
programs. Support for TIFF in hp2xx relies on the TIFF library available from
www.libtiff.org, which offers several means of image compression. The -S commandline
option selects between them as follows: -S 0 or -S 1: no compression -S 2: RLE (run length
encoding) -S 3: Group 3 FAX (monochrome) -S 4: Group 4 FAX (monochrome) -S 5: GIF (not
available by default, because of the UNISYS patent) -S 6: JPEG ('old' TIFF 6.0 style) -S
7: JPEG -S 8: deflate
EXAMPLES
% hp2xx -m pcx -f my_output.pcx -d300 -p2222 -h50 -a 1.2 my_input.hp
creates a PCX file at 300 DPI of height 50 mm, using an aspect factor
of 1.2 and a pen size of 2 pixels for pens 1-4.
% my_hpgl_generator | hp2xx -f- -o20 -O30 -F -q | lpr -P my_PCL_printer
HPGL output is piped through hp2xx; the resulting PCL code is piped to
the printer queue, giving an image of height 100 mm at 75 DPI.
An additional left margin of 20mm and upper margin of 30mm is created.
A formfeed will be added (handy if your printer queue does not).
% hp2xx my_input.hp
Preview on screen or into window.
ORIGINAL AUTHOR
Heinz W. Werntges, Physikal. Biologie, Geb. 26.12,
Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet,
D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany.
MAINTAINER SINCE V 3.30
Martin Kroeker, daVeg GmbH,
Schottener Weg 2
D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany.
mk@daveg.com or martin@ruby.chemie.uni-freiburg.de
ATARI features & PIC, PAC, IMG modes are due to Norbert Meyer, Duesseldorf.
AMIGA version & PBM mode are due to Claus Langhans, Kelkheim (Ts.)
X11 previewer is due to Michael Schoene, Duesseldorf.
Thanks for VAX support and a lot of testing to
Michael Schmitz & Gerhard Steger, Duesseldorf
Many OS/2 helps were due to Host Szillat, Berlin.
(Later contributors: See TEXINFO file).
DIAGNOSTICS
The number of ignored and/or unknown HPGL commands is given. You will be informed if
swapping starts. Progress is indicated by a logarithmic count of internal vectors during
scanning and plotting, or by dots during (raster mode) output, where each dot corresponds
to 10 scan lines.
BUGS
There still are many non-implemented HPGL commands.
The color assignment of some X11 servers leaves something to be desired.
Color is only partially supported (not all possible formats).
VGA preview: Color "magenta" shows as brown on some VGA cards.
To match the specified sizes on your display during preview, you may have to calibrate it
using -d -D, e.g. by overwriting the 75 DPI default.
Only little testing has been done on TeX-related and ATARI formats, so be prepared for
bugs there, and PLEASE report them -- thank you!
SEE ALSO
bm2font(1), F. Sowa's raster-to-TeXfont converter.
6 May 2001 hp2xx(1)