4.6 Initialization Settings for PCL Printers

The printer driver for HP printers that use PCL uses a number of sections and settings in the WIN.INI file. Users set these settings by using the driver's Printer Setup dialog box or the Printer Font Installer. Normally, the user should have no need to modify these settings directly.

The most important settings for the driver are the softfonts and softfontn settings. These set the number of and define the PFM or PCM files for the soft fonts and cartridges for the printer. The Printer Font Installer sets these settings when the user installs fonts. However, notice that the driver has no control over the order of the settings in the WIN.INI file, and the driver does not currently “delete” settings from the WIN.INI file.

The order of settings in the WIN.INI file is insignificant and has no effect on the operation of the driver. If the driver does not delete an entire entry line from WIN.INI, it removes everything to the right of the equal sign (=). The title text to the left of the equal sign remains there until the user manually removes it.

The Windows Printer Font Installer, used in conjunction with the HP LaserJet driver that uses PCL, also requires these settings that associated permanently downloaded fonts with their corresponding PFM files. The following shows the general form for these settings:

C:\PCLFONTS\HVPB0140.PFM=C:\PCLFONTS\HV140BPN.USP

C:\PCLFONTS\TRPR0120.PFM=C:\PCLFONTS\TR120BPN.USP

The Printer Font Installer in the driver for HP printers that use PCL uses these settings to preserve the filenames of the permanently downloaded fonts. If the fonts are changed to temporary fonts, these settings are removed and the soft font filenames are added with the appropriate softfontn setting.