Morovia PCL Barcodes & More was conceived to provide a soft font solution that allows customers whose applications are based on the original HP PCL Barcodes & More cartridge to upgrade their printers without interruption of the operation. HP used to sell a cartridge font-based barcode solution called Bar codes & More™. The cartridge contains several PCL bitmap fonts to print barcodes such as Code 3 of 9, UPC and Postnet barcode. New printer models no longer carry this package. This leaves many customers in dilemma: they have to either rewrite their applications at the time of a printer upgrade, or keep the old slow printer.
Considering the demands for a compatible solution so that the original programs can continue to work without interruption or heavy cost involved in rewriting the code, Morovia has developed a soft-font based solution. The fonts have the identical characteristics as the HP package, yet they are independently developed by Morovia. Morovia holds the Intellectual Property rights to the product. After the soft fonts are downloaded to your printer, your application will continue to operate as if the original HP cartridge is still in place. [1].
To enjoy the benefits, you must have a PCL-compatible printer. Most LaserJet printers manufacturered by HP meet the requirements. Many others also have the PCL interpreator built in. If you are not sure about the compatibility of your printer model, check with the manufacturer.
Although early printers have the PCL interpreter built-in the printer hardware, nowadays some inexpensive models place the PCL interpretor on the host side (often called host-based PCL interpretor). You can not send PCL commands to these printers directly via LPR command.
The soft fonts included in version 1.5 are all 600-dpi bitmap fonts.
Consequently the printer must have at least 600 dpi resolution to use
these fonts. They are “bitmapped” fonts, which means each character
is described with an array
of pixel values instead of drawings. Therefore, they can only be printed at the size
designated and can not be scaled.
The Font Kit comprises the following soft fonts:
| Font file name | Font characteristics |
|---|---|
| mrvcode39_8pitch.sfp | Code 3 of 9, 8.11 pitch, 600 dpi |
| mrvcode39_4pitch.sfp | Code 3 of 9, 4.69 pitch, 600 dpi |
| mrvupc_10mil.sfp | UPC, 10 mils in X dimension |
| mrvupc_13mil.sfp | UPC, 13 mils in X dimension |
| mrvpostnet.sfp | US POSTNET address barcode |
| mrvocra.sfp | OCR-A, 12 points, 600 dpi, 10 pitch |
| mrvocrb.sfp | OCR-B, 12 points, 600 dpi, 10 pitch |
Test files and documentation are also included in the package.
A sample print can be obtained by running the test.bat under
the DOS command prompt.
[1] Although we made our best efforts to make the soft
fonts compatible with the original HP package,
we can not guarantee that the package fits every
legacy application. If you find that the fonts do
not work with your legacy applicaton, write
to <support@morovia.com> with the font selection statement used in your application.
We will try our best to resolve the issues discovered.