Converting Multipage PCL Files

Multipage PCL

PCL (Printer Control Language) is currently considered a standard format for documents that are prepared for printing. Although it was initially designed only for Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers at its release in the 1980s, the PCL format was gradually adopted by other brands as well and nowadays it is compatible with most laser-jet printers.

PCL is a great alternative to PostScript, not only because it is more widely adopted in the industry, but also because it is simpler, faster to operate and cheaper. The PCL format is based on an open language and it is “printer-ready” — it can be operated even from DOS or UNIX. This gives more advantages to PCL than to other similar formats such as PDF or TIFF, making it a reliable and convenient extension for archiving printable documents.

reaConverter’s latest edition supports conversion of multipage PCL files to lots of other formats, offering a number of additional features during the process. For example, you can choose to convert all pages of a file or only a selection of them, you can opt for converting multipage PCLs to another multipage format — such as PDF or TIFF, and you can also decide if you want to convert each page into a separate document or not.

How to use reaConverter

Start reaConverter and load one or more multipage PCL files into reaConverter’s main window. Drag-and-drop them or select them manually.

Load multipage PCL files

You can also add entire folders or use the Advanced file select tool and add a choice of PCL files from a folder that contains other extensions too.

Multipage loading settings

Go to the Menu button and click Loading settings → Multipage loading settings

Multipage loadings settings menu

Here you can decide to convert all pages from each input file, or only a selection.

Multipage PCL loading settings

In the Loading settings menu, you will also find Multipage editing actions settings

Multipage editing settings menu

Where you can opt for applying editing actions to all pages or only to some of them.

Multipage PCL editing settings

Multipage saving settings

To select how you want your output files to look like, go to Menu → Saving settings → Multipage files… and tick one of the available options.

Saving settings menu

You can save each multipage to another or every page to a separate file, among others.

Multipage saving settings

Edit images

Optionally go to the Edit images tab and choose to crop, rotate or add any other feature from the wide list available here.

PCL editing actions

When you tick the Preview button in the upper right corner, the results of your selection will be available to see in real time.

Save the result

In the Saving options tab, pick the location and format of the output files. You can save them offline, in the source folder or in another folder of your choice. Saving online is also an option, if you use one of the cloud storage services. Finally, pick the format of the output files from the buttons placed in the lower part of the screen. If you want to convert from multipage to multipage, don’t forget to pick an appropriate format, such as PDF or TIFF.

Start conversion

Then simply press Start and enjoy your newly converted files!

Video Tutorial

Advanced users can convert convert multi-page PCL file using command line interface or DLL in manual, automated or scheduled mode. You are welcome to contact our technical support when you have any questions about reaConverter.