man > pbmtoppa(1)

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⚡ TLDR: pbmtoppa (tldr-pages)

Convert a PBM image to HP Printer Performance Architecture format.

Convert a PBM image into a PPA file
pbmtoppa {{path/to/image.pbm}} > {{path/to/output.ppa}}
Specify the desired dots-per-inch and paper size
pbmtoppa -d {{300}} -s {{a4}} {{path/to/image.pbm}} > {{path/to/output.ppa}}

Pbmtoppa User Manual(1) General Commands Manual Pbmtoppa User Manual(1)

NAME
pbmtoppa - convert PBM image to HP Printer Performance Architecture (PPA)

SYNOPSIS
pbmtoppa [pbm_file [ppa_file]]

DESCRIPTION
This program is part of Netpbm(1).

pbmtoppa converts page images in PBM format to Hewlett Packard's PPA (Printer Performance Ar‐
chitecture) format, which is the data stream format expected by some HP "Windows-only" print‐
ers including the HP Deskjet 820C series, the HP DeskJet 720 series, and the HP DeskJet 1000
series.

pbm_file is the file specification of the input file or - for Standard Input. The default is
Standard Input.

The input file contains one or more PBM images, with each one being a single page. Each im‐
age must have the exact dimensions of a page (at 600 pixels per inch in both directions).
Significantly, this is the format that Ghostscript produces.

ppa_file is the file specification of the output file or - for Standard Output. The default
is Standard Output.

To print Postscript on an HP PPA printer, just use Ghostscript with the pbmraw (or pbm) de‐
vice driver.

You can generate a test page for use with this program with pbmpage.

You can also set up a printer filter so you can submit PBM input directly to your print
queue. See the documentation for your print spooler for information on how to do that, or
look in hp820install.doc for an example lpd print filter for Postscript and text files.

Sometimes, pbmtoppa generates a file which the printer will not print (because pbmtoppa's in‐
put is unprintable). When this happens, all three lights blink to signal the error. This is
usually because there is material outside of the printer's printable area. To make the file
print, increase the margins via pbmtoppa options or a configuration file. See ]8;;#calibration\the section on
calibration]8;;\ below.

About PPA
The PPA printer language is a far lower level language than most. When you use a PPA
printer, most of the processing that a conventional printer does is done instead on the com‐
puter end of the wire. In particular, pbmtoppa has to do "swath cutting," and "sweep format‐
ting," which other printers do themselves. There is very little intelligence inside a PPA
printer; pbmtoppa generates direct controls for the printer's hardware.

The design goal of PPA was to reduce the cost of a printer by exploiting computing resources
already present in the computer that requests the printing. CPU power, ROM, and RAM require‐
ments inside the printer are all reduced compared to a conventional printer.

PPA was new in 1997. It was preceded by Hewlett Packard's PCL (Printer Control Language)
language. HP manufactured PPA printers for only a few years, and no one else ever did.

OPTIONS
In addition to the options common to all programs based on libnetpbm (most notably -quiet,
see ]8;;index.html#commonoptions\ Common Options]8;;\ ), pbmtoppa recognizes the following command line options:

-v version
printer version (720, 820, or 1000)

-x xoff
horizontal offset adjustment in 1/600 inches.

-y yoff
vertical offset adjustment in 1/600 inches.

-t topmarg
top margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)

-l leftmarg
left margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)

-r rightmarg
right margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)

-b botmarg
bottom margin in 1/600 inches (default: 150 = 0.25 inch)

-s paper
paper size: us or a4. Default is us.

-d dpi Print resolution in dots per inch.

-f cfgfile
Read parameters from the configuration file named cfgfile. See ]8;;#configfile\CONFIGURATION FILES]8;;\

The offset adjustments you specify with -x and -y accumulate. I.e. if you specify them mul‐
tiple times, the total offset adjustment is the sum of the adjustments you specify. -x 60 -x
120 is the same as -x 180.

The -v option undoes any preceding -x and -y options, leaving the horizontal and vertical ad‐
justments their default values.

CONFIGURATION FILES
You can use a configuration file to specify parameters rather than use invocation options.
pbmtoppa processes the file /etc/pbmtoppa.conf, if it exists, before processing any options.
It then processes each configuration file named by a -f option in order, applying the parame‐
ters from the configuration file as if they were invocation options used in the place of the
-f option.

Configuration files have the following format:

#Comment
key1 value1
key2 value2
[etc.]

Valid keys are version, xoffset, yoffset, topmargin, leftmargin, rightmargin, bottommargin,
papersize, or any non-null prefix of these words. Valid values are the same as with the cor‐
responding invocation parameters.

EXAMPLES
Print a test pattern:
pbmpage | pbmppa >/dev/lp1

Print three pages:
cat page1.pbm page2.pbm page3.pbm | pbmppa >/dev/lp1

Print the Postscript file myfile.ps:
gs -sDEVICE=rawpbm -q -dNOPAUSE -r600 \
-sOutputFile=- myfile.ps ;\
| pbmtoppa | lpr

CALIBRATION
To be able to print successfully and properly, you need to tell pbmtoppa an X and a Y offset
appropriate for your printer to use when generating the page. You can specify these offsets
with the -x and -y invocation options or with the xoff and yoff parameters in a pbmtoppa con‐
figuration file.

To determine the correct offsets, use the pbmpage program.

If while trying to do this calibration, the printer refuses to print a page, but just blinks
all three lights, specify large margins (e.g. 600 pixels -- one inch) via pbmpage invocation
options while doing the calibration.

For example:
pbmpage | pbmtoppa >/dev/lp1

or
pbmpage | pbmtoppa | lpr -l

(if your printer filter recognizes the '-l' (direct output) parameter).

In the test pattern, the grid is marked off in pixel coordinate numbers. Unfortunately,
these coordinates are probably cut off before the edge of the paper. You'll have to use a
ruler to estimate the pixel coordinate of the left and top edges of the actual sheet of paper
(should be within +/- 300, may be negative; there are 600 pixels per inch).

Add these coordinates to the X and Y offsets by either editing the configuration file or us‐
ing the -x and -y command-line parameters.

When pbmtoppa is properly calibrated, the center mark should be in the center of the paper.
Also, the margins should be able to be as small as 1/4 inch without causing the printer to
choke with 'blinking lights syndrome'.

RED HAT LINUX INSTALLATION
RedHat users may find the following tip from Panayotis Vryonis <vrypan AT hol.gr> helpful. The
same should work for the 820 and 1000, but it hasn't been tested. Also, use the pbmraw GS‐
Driver if you have it; it's faster.

Here is a tip to integrate HP720C capability in RedHat's printtool:

Install pbmtoppa. Copy pbmtoppa to /usr/bin.

Edit "printerdb" (in my system it is found in /usr/lib/rhs/rhs-printfilters ) and append the
following lines:

----------------------Cut here-----------------------

StartEntry: DeskJet720C
GSDriver: pbm
Description: {HP DeskJet 720C}
About: { \
This driver drives the HP DeskJet 720C \
inkjet printer. \
It cannot do color printing. \
IMPORTANT! Insert \
"- | pbm2ppa -" \
in the "Extra GS Options " field.\
}

Resolution: {600} {600} {}

EndEntry
----------------------------------------------------

Now you can add an HP720C printer just like any other, using printtool.