07/13/1998

This list has been compiled from a variety of sources by Colin Bryant (bryant@interchg.ubc.ca). Thanks to those who have added to the list or told Colin where to find codes.

Colin is always interested in how people apply the list. Please let him know what software you use the codes with. If you learn any more codes, please let him know what they are so that he can continue to pass them on. It is all North American market information, unless otherwise stated. While the codes are all ESC/P2, many will also work with the older ESC/P printers.

Link to Epson's on line ESC/P2 manual in PDF format from Epson's UK site.

Link to an online ESC/P2 manual in PDF format from what appears to be a personal site in Korea.

(Colin's words below)

My experience with sending printer command codes is with Paradox for DOS (a relational database). When designing a report, I create a calculated field and enter the Esc sequence within quotes. The quotes indicate that it's a string to be passed on, rather than a command for Paradox. "Esc" tells the printer that all characters before the next space are part of a printer command. It seems to be necessary to convert the "Esc" to ASCII but optional to convert the rest of the command. The "\027" is simply the ASCII equivalent of "Esc".
 

I've picked some examples from a report;

"\027x0\015" puts my ESC600 into compressed mode (17 char. per inch)

"\027w\001" turns expanded mode on (large characters)

"\027w\000" turns expanded mode off (back to 10 char per inch)

blue = from the Paradox for DOS manual for LQ-1500 (dot matrix)

navy = from the Epson's escp2.txt file

fuchsia = from ESCODE.TXT, was pulled from the Epson bbs.

purple = from Peter Curran's MX-100 (dot matrix) manual
 
 
 

Code	Purpose	Details
General Operation
ESC @	reset
ESC U	unidirectional on/off
ESC EM n	cut sheet feeder operation	n = 0 Disable CSF   n = 1 Select Bin 1  n = 2 Select Bin 2  n = 4 Enable CSF  n = R Eject Sheet
ESC s	half speed on/off
Paper feeding
CR	Prints buffer contents and resets buffer count to 0
FF	Advances paper to next logical TOF (top of form)
LF	Printer empties its buffer and does line feed at current line spacing and resets buffer pointer to zero.
ESC 0	8 lines per inch	reset perforation skip to 0 lines
ESC 2	single-space text (6 lines per inch)
ESC 3 n	line spacing	n/180-inch   n/216-inch
ESC A n	line spacing	n/60-inch   n/72-inch
ESC + n	line spacing	n/360-inch
ESC \065\020	double-space text (3 lines per inch)
Page format
ESC i n	Immediate mode on/off
ESC ( C m1 m2 n1 n2	Set Page Length in Defined Units	ESC ( C m1 m2 n1 n2 is the command for setting the page length in units where m1, m2, n1 and n2 are variables. The "unit" is usually 1/360 of an inch unless defined otherwise by the "ESC ( U" command. Currently, the values for m1 and m2 MUST be m1=2 and m2=0.   To determine the values for n1 and n2 perform the following steps.  1. Determine the desired page length in inches.  2. Multiply the page length by 360.  3. Divide the result by 256 using long division.  4. The remainder in the quotient from step 3 is the value for n1.  5. The whole number in the quotient from step 3 is the value for n2.  EXAMPLE  1. The page length is 8.5 inches.  2. 8.5 x 360 = 3060  3. 3060 divided by 256 = 11 with a remainder of 244.  4. n1=244  5. n2=11
ESC C n	page length in lines
ESC C NUL n	page length in inches
ESC Q n	set right margin
ESC 1 n	set left margin
ESC ( c	tell me if you know
ESC N n	skip over perforation
ESC O	tell me if you know
ESC SP n	intercharacter spacing
Print position
ESC V n data	repeat data
ESC $ n1 n2	set absolute print position
ESC \ n1 n2	set relative print position
ESC ( V m1 m2 n1 n2	Set Absolute Vertical Position	ESC ( V m1 m2 n1 n2 is the command for changing the print position vertically (with respect to the Top of Form position) in units where m1, m2, n1 and n2 are variables. The "unit" is usually 1/360 of an inch unless defined otherwise by the "ESC ( U" command. Currently, the values for m1 and m2 MUST be m1=2 and m2=0.   To determine the values for n1 and n2 perform the following steps.  1. Determine the desired vertical distance from the Top of Form in inches.  2. Multiply the distance by 360.  3. Divide the result by 256 using long division.  4. The remainder in the quotient from step 3 is the value for n1.  5. The whole number in the quotient from step 3 is the value for n2.  EXAMPLE  1. The desired distance from the Top of Form is 1 inch.  2. 1 x 360 = 360  3. 360 divided by 256 = 1 with a remainder of 104.  4. n1=104  5. n2=1
ESC D n1 n2..NUL	horizontal tab stops
HT	horizontal tab
ESC e NUL n	horizontal set tab increment
ESC f NUL n	set horizontal tabs in spaces
ESC B n1 n2..NUL	vertical tab stops
ESC b c n1 n2..NUL	set VTabs in channel
ESC e 1 n	set vertical tab increment
ESC f 1 n	vertical skip
VT	vertical tab
ESC b x n1 n2..NUL	set VFU tab channel
ESC / x	select VFU tab channel
ESC / n	set VTab channel
ESC J n	immediate feed	immediate n/216 feed   immediate n/180 feed
ESC j n	reverse feed	reverse feed n/216   reverse feed n/180
FONT SELECTION
`ESC k n	select font	n = 1 Roman   n = 1 San Serif  n = 2 Courier  n = 3 Prestige  n = 4 Script  n = 5 Ocr-B  n = 6 Ocr-A  n = 7 Orator (only with mult-font module)  n = 8 Orator (only with mult-font module)
ESC x0\015	compressed mode	SC600 default is 10cpi...x0\015 results in 17cpi
		CPI  10  12  15  17  20	COLUMNS   80  96  120  137 use 10 condensed  160 use 12 condensed
ESC x1	letter quality mode
ESC X m n1 n2	Select Pitch and Point Size	The variable "m" is used to select the pitch, which is the character spacing. The variable "n1" selects the point size and the variable "n2", at this time, will always be 0 (zero).  The variables "m" and "n1" are explained below.    The values used for "m" are 0, 1, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 60, and 72. If "0" is used as the value for "m", there will be no change in pitch. If "1" is used as the value for "m", the character pitch will be proportional spacing. To determine the character pitch for all other values of "m", divide 360 by "m". For example, if m=60 then 360 divided by 60 equals 6 and the character pitch is 6 characters per inch. If m=30, the character pitch is 12 characters per inch.  For the Roman and Sans Serif fonts, the values used for "n1" are 0, 16, 20, 21, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60 and 64. For all other fonts, the values used for "n1" are 0, 21, and 42. The actual point size that will print is n1 divided by 2. For example, if n1=20, the point size is 10. If n1=48, the point size is 24.  NOTE: When selecting a point size larger than 24 (the value for n1 is greater than 48), select proportional spacing (m=1) for the character pitch.
ESC P	pica pitch (10cpi)
ESC M	elite pitch (12cpi)	20cpi on Stylus Color 600
ESC g	tiny font in SC600
ESC p	proportional on/off
ESC 4	italic character set on
ESC 5	italic character set off
ESC E	emphasized mode (bold)	works with Stylus Color 600 but how to turn offf?
ESC F	emphasized mode on
ESC ! n	master select	n = 0 Pica    n = 1 Elite  n = 2 Proportional  n = 4 Condensed  n = 8 Emphasized  n = 16 Double Strike  n = 32 Double Wide  n = 64 Italic  n = 128 Underline
FONT ENHANCEMENT
ESC W	expanded print on/off
DC4	Turns off double width mode (shift out only)
SO	Turns off double width mode to end of line unless cancelled by DC4
DC2	Turns off compressed characters and empties buffer
SI	Turns on compressed character mode.	Does not work with emphasized mode. Stays on until cancelled by DC2.
ESC w	double on/off
ESC w\000	expanded mode off
ESC w\001	expanded mode on
ESC G	double strike on
ESC H	double strike, superscript and subscript off
ESC T	Resets superscript, subscript, and unidirectional printing	Does not turn off double strike from script modes
ESC S	super/subscript
ESC -	underlining on/off
ESC -\001	underlining
ESC ( - n1 n2 m d1 d2	select score	n1 Must be 3    n2 Must be 0  m Must be 1  d1 = 1 Underscore  d1 = 2 Strike-Through  d1 = 3 Overscore  d2 = 0 Cancel selected score  d2 = 1 Single line continuous  d2 = 2 Double Line continuous  d2 = 5 Single Line broken  d2 = 6 Double Line broken
ESC q n	character style	n = 0 Normal    n = 1 Outline  n = 2 Shadow  n = 3 Outline & Shadow
ESC +(s1 S	italic
SPACING
ESC Space	Sets character spacing by adding n columns of blank dots between characters.	ESC space n n = 0-127  ESC space 40 would put 40 dot spaces between chars l     i    k     e     t    h    i    s     .
ESC c	tell me if you know
ESC ( U	tell me if you know
CHARACTER HANDLING
ESC a n	justification	n = 0 flush left    n = 1 centering  n = 2 flush right  n = 3 justified
ESC t n	Select Character Table	ESC t n is the command for selecting a character table to be used for printing where n is a variable. The following table lists the values for n and the character table associated with the value.    0 Italic  1 Graphic set/PC437 (US)  2 User-defined Characters (remap to 80h-FFh)  3 PC437 (US)
ESC ( t n1 n2 d1 d2 d3	Assign Character Table	ESC ( t n1 n2 d1 d2 d3 is the command for assigning character tables where n1,n2, d1, d2, and d3 are variables. Currently, variables n1, n2 and d3 MUST be n1=3, n2=0, and d3=0. Variable d1 is a number corresponding to one of the four tables selectable with the ESC t n command. This is the table that will be replaced. Valid values for d1 are 0, 1, 2, and 3 (see Table 1 below). Variable d2 is a number corresponding to a registered table. This is the table that will replace the table indicated by variable d1. Valid values for d2 are 0, 1, 3, 7, 8, and 9 (see Table 2 below).
		Table 1 (d1 Selectable Table)   0 Italic  1 PC437 (US)  2 User-defined Characters  3 PC437 (US)	Table 2 (d2 Registered Table)  0 Italic  1 PC437 (US)  3 PC850 (International)  7 PC860 (Portugal)  8 PC863 (Canada - French)  9 PC865 (Norway)
		After using the ESC ( t command, the ESC t n command MUST be sent to select the table before printing from the new table. For example, the command ESC ( t 3 0 1 3 0 is sent (assign Registered Table 3 (PC850) to Selectable Table 1 (PC437). In order to print the character (ASCII 245), the command ESC t 1 must be sent.   Some ESC/P2 documentation may illustrate as many as 22 different Registered Tables. The Registered Tables are a part of the character set, therefore, they are contained in the Character Generator ROM. The CG ROM differs based upon the destination country. For this reason, only the above Registered Tables are available on LQ-570, LQ-1070, LQ-870 and LQ-1170 printers sold for the U.S. market. Foreign Character Generator ROMs ARE NOT available in the United States. The following page contains a print sample of the Registered Tables available in printers sold in the U.S. In order to print the first 31 characters in Tables 1 through 9, the ESC ( ^ command must be sent.
ESC R n	select international character set	n = 0 USA   n = 1 France  n = 2 Germany  n = 3 United Kingdom  n = 4 Denmark I  n = 5 Sweden  n = 6 Italy  n = 7 Spain  n = 8 Japan  n = 9 Norway  n = 10 Denmark II  n = 11 Spain II  n = 12 Latin America  n = 13 Korea  n = 64 Legal
ESC %	select character set
ESC & NUL n1 n2 a1 data	define user defined character
ESC :	Copy resident ROM character set to downloadable-character-set RAM. This allows you to be able to redefine a few characters and select the downloadable characters without having to define all 256 characters.  Must be done before redefining any characters.	ESC :  \000  n  \000 n=  0 = Roman font >        1 = Sans Serif font >        2 = Courier
ESC 6	sets characters 128 to 159 as printable characters, expanding the printable character set.
ESC 7	sets characters 128 to 159 to act as control characters identical to characters 0 to 31.
ESC ( ^ n1 n2 d1 . . . dk	Print Data as Characters	ESC ( ^ n1 n2 d1 . . . dk is the command for printing control codes as data where n1 and n2 are variables and d1 . . . dk represent the data that is to be printed as characters. The variables n1 and n2 tell the printer "the next xx ASCII codes are to be interpreted as characters instead of control codes". This command is used primarily to print displayable characters such as ASCII values 0 through 31 in Registered Tables 1 through 9 which are normally used as control codes (LF, FF, ESC, etc.)   To determine the values for n1 and n2 perform the following steps.  1. Determine how many ASCII codes will be sent sequentially immediately following n1 and n2.  2. Using long division, divide the quantity of ASCII codes that will be sent sequentially immediately following n1 and n2 by 255.  3. The remainder in the quotient is the value for n1.  4. The whole number in the quotient is the value for n2.  EXAMPLE  1. The symbols for the different suits of a card deck (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) are to be printed. These are each separate ASCII codes (ASCII codes 2, 3, 4, and 5 when using the PC437 Character table).  2. 4 divided by 255 = 0 with a remainder of 4.  3. n1 = 4  4. n2 = 0
BIT IMAGE
ESC * m n1 n2 data	select graphic mode	8-Pin Graphics:   m = 0 = 60 DPI  m = 1 = 120 DPI  m = 2 = 120 DPI Hi Spd  m = 3 = 240 DPI  m = 4 = 80 DPI  m = 5 = 72 DPI  m = 6 = 90 DPI  m = 7 = 144 DPI  24-Pin Graphics:  m = 32 = 60 DPI  m = 33 = 120 DPI  m = 38 = 90 DPI  m = 39 = 180 DPI  m = 40 = 360 DPI
GRAPHICS
ESC K n1 n2 data	single-density 60DPI
ESC L n1 n2 data	double-density 120DPI
ESC Y n1 n2 data	hi-speed double 120 DPI
ESC Z n1 n2 data	quad density 240DPI
ESC ^ 0 n1 n2 data	9-pin 60DPI
ESC ^ 1 n1 n2 data	9-pin 120DPI
ESC ? n	reassign graphics mode
ESC ( G	tell me if you know
ESC .	tell me if you know
ESC ( i	tell me if you know
ESC ( e	tell me if you know
ESC ( \	tell me if you know
ESC ( s	tell me if you know
COLOR	tell me if you know
ESC r n	color selection	n = 0 Black   n = 1 Red (Magenta)  n = 2 Blue (Cyan)  n = 3 Violet  n = 4 Yellow  n = 5 Orange  n = 6 Green
ESC ( r	tell me if you know
PRINTING MODE
ESC ( K	tell me if you know