existence of "pcl2text"??

[cbbrowne-HInyCGIudOg at public.gmane.org]

> Max Blanco wrote:
> > Hi All,
> > 
> > Does anyone know whether a "pcl2text" utility exists?  (PCL is a printer 
> > language developed by HP for their LaserJet product line, similar to 
> > postscript.)
> > 
> > I have printer files from a windows/pcl combo that I would like to 
> > decipher into text, sort of like the pstotext or pdftotext utilities, but 
> > cannot find reference on (the net "linux pcl2text" google search) or 
> > (sourceforge "PCL" search) or (cpan.org search on "PCL")
> > 
> > I'd appreciate any ideas...
> 
> I wouldn't think so.  Given that PCL is essentially a picture, you'd 
> need something along the lines of OCR.

This one's ambiguous...

You may be right; you may be wrong.

PCL can render bitmaps into pictures, and it is typical for (for
instance) Postscript to be rendered into bitmaps, with the result that,
as you say, OCR is the only way to interpret it.

But PCL printers do include sets of fonts, and it has historically been
quite common for Windows printer drivers to support the on-printer fonts
that would allow you to submit output as lines of largely plain text.

Strings _might_, if you're lucky, get you some useful results.
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