hbpldecode(1)

📦

version 20200505dfsg0 · 11 versions

20200505dfsg0 · ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing (latest)
nixos 26.05
nixpkgs unstable
20200505dfsg0 · ubuntu stonking
20200505dfsg0 · ubuntu jammy
20200505dfsg0 · ubuntu jammy
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20200505dfsg0 · debian bookworm
0.20201003 · fedora 44
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💖 hbpldecode(1) — the HBPL decoder, bestie edition 💖

okay so. this is hbpldecode(1), straight out of the General Commands Manual, and ngl it's lowkey iconic. it's a printer-language decoder and it's giving main character energy 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

hbpldecode — decodes a HBPL stream into human readable form. that's the whole vibe, that's the whole job 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

hbpldecode [options] <hbpl-file

yeah bestie, the <hbpl-file is right there in the synopsis. it's giving "feed me" 🍓

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea ☕ — hbpldecode decodes a HBPL stream into human readable form. and what even IS HBPL? it's Host Based Printer Language. periodt.

there are two versions of HBPL in existence, and this part matters:

Version one is an HBPL stream with JBIG2 (?) data. this data is used by the Dell 1250c, Dell C1660w, Epson AcuLaser C1700, Fuji-Xerox cp105b, and similar printers. these printers are unsupported. 🚫💀 not the vibe.
Version two is an HBPL stream with JBIG encoded data. this data is used by the Xerox WorkCentre 6015, Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205, Dell 1355c, and similar printers. these printers are supported by foo2hbpl2-wrapper et al. 👑

and good news: both versions can be decoded by hbpldecode. we love an inclusive queen. 👑✨

💅 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS 💅

these are the options that can appear on the command line. iykyk, here they are:

-d basename — basename of .pbm file for saving decompressed planes. 💾 (your little plane-dump stash)
-h — print hex file offsets. 🔢 hex girlies rise
-o — print file offsets.
-D level — set Debug level [0]. 🐛 default is literally zero, so crank it if you're snooping

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

🎀 Decode an HBPL stream file, version 1

$ hbpldecode -h 1250c-mono.prn
     0:    \033%-12345X@PJL JOB MODE=PRINTER
    1f:    @PJL SET STRINGCODESET=UTF8
    3b:    @PJL COMMENT DATE=06/01/2011
    58:    @PJL COMMENT TIME=13:28:30
    73:    @PJL COMMENT DNAME=empty - Notepad
    96:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@LUNA=rick"
    b4:    @PJL SET COPIES=1
    c6:    @PJL SET QTY=1
    d5:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TRCH=OFF"
    f2:    @PJL SET DUPLEX=OFF
   106:    @PJL SET BINDING=LONGEDGE
   120:    @PJL SET RENDERMODE=GRAYSCALE
   13e:    @PJL SET ECONOMODE=OFF
   155:    @PJL SET RET=ON
   165:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@IREC=OFF"
   182:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@HOAD=I0A00020F"
   1a5:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@JOAU=rick"
   1c3:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@CNAM=RICK-VB"
   1e4:    @PJL SET IWAMANUALDUP=OFF
   1fe:    @PJL SET IWAJAMRECOVERY=AUTO
   21b:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@MSIP=NORMAL"
   23b:    @PJL SET PAPERDIRECTION=SEF
   257:    @PJL SET RESOLUTION=600
   26f:    @PJL SET BITSPERPIXEL=8
   287:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@DRDM=RASTER"
   2a7:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TCPR=33"
   2c3:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TUCR=33"
   2df:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TTRC=33"
   2fb:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TSCR=33"
   317:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@GCPR=33"
   333:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@GUCR=33"
   34f:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@GTRC=33"
   36b:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@GSCR=33"
   387:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@ICPR=34"
   3a3:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@IUCR=34"
   3bf:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@ITRC=34"
   3db:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@ISCR=34"
   3f7:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@TDFT=0"
   412:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@GDFT=0"
   42d:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="@IDFT=0"
   448:    @PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=HBPL
   461:    RECTYPE 'A' [0x41]:
   462:         81 a1: 0x0
   465:         82 a2: 0x7
   469:         83 a2: 0x1
   46d:    RECTYPE 'C' [0x43]:
   46e:         91 a1: 0x0
   471:         92 a1: 0x1
   474:         93 a1: 0x1
   477:         94 a1: 0x0
   47a:         95 c2: 0x0
   480:         96 a1: 0x0
   483:         97 c3: 0x0
   489:         98 a1: 0x0
   48c:         99 a4: 1 [PAGECNT]
   492:         9a c4: 5104x6600 [WxH]
   49c:         9b a1: 0x0
   49f:         9c a1: 0x1
   4a2:         9d a1: 0x9
   4a5:         9e a1: 0x2
   4a8:         9f a1: 0x5
   4ab:         a0 a1: 0x8
   4ae:         a1 a1: 0x0
   4b1:         a2 c4: 5104x6600 [WxH]
   4bb:    RECTYPE 'Q' [0x51]:
   4bc:    RECTYPE 'R' [0x52]:
   4bd:         a3 a1: 0x0
   4c0:         a4 a2: 6457 (0x1939) bytes of data...
 1dfe:    RECTYPE 'S' [0x53]:
 1dff:    RECTYPE 'D' [0x44]:
 1e00:    RECTYPE 'B' [0x42]:
 1dff:    \033%-12345X@PJL EOJ

🦋 Decode an HBPL stream file, version 2

$ hbpldecode -h 6015c-color.prn
     0:     33%-12345X@PJL JOB NAME=PRINTER
    20:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="HOST:dual.rkkda.org"
    48:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="USER:rick"
    66:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="DOCU:(stdin)"
    87:    @PJL SET JOBATTR="OWNR:rick"
    a5:    @PJL SET DUPLEX=OFF
    ba:    @PJL SET MEDIASOURCE=0
    d2:    @PJL SET RENDERMODE=COLOR
    ed:    @PJL SET RESOLUTION=600
   106:    @PJL SET BITSPERPIXEL=2
   11f:    @PJL SET COPIES=1
   132:    @PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=HBPL
   14c:    RECTYPE JP [Job Parameters]
00000000: 1b 4a 50 04 01 00 00 01  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  .JP..... ........
00000010: b0 bd ac 43 00 f0 cf 08  f4 9f ac 43 59 ba a0 43  ...C.... ...CY..C
00000020: f4 9f ac 43 00 e0 cd 08  9c ba a0 43 00 f0 cf 08  ...C.... ...C....
00000030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ........ ........
   18c:    RECTYPE PS [Page Start]
00000000: 1b 50 53 3c 00 14 00 00  06 19 00 00 00 78 f4 01  .PS<.... .....x..
00000010: 90 03 00 00 04 01 01 00  58 02 e0 00 00 00 e0 00  ........ X.......
00000020: 00 00 e0 00 00 00 f0 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ........ ........
00000030: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ........ ........
               w,h=5120x6406 res=600 color=1
               mediatype=Plain(1) papersize=Letter(4)
   1cc:    Cyan BIH:
               DL = 0, D = 0, P = 1, - = 0, XY = 10240 x 6406
               L0 = 128, MX = 0, MY = 0
               Order   = 0
               Options = 64  LRLTWO
               51 stripes, 0 layers, 1 planes
               ...cyan data skipped...
   2ac:    Magenta BIH:
               DL = 0, D = 0, P = 1, - = 0, XY = 10240 x 6406
               L0 = 128, MX = 0, MY = 0
               Order   = 0
               Options = 64  LRLTWO
               51 stripes, 0 layers, 1 planes
               ...magenta data skipped...
   38c:    Yellow BIH:
               DL = 0, D = 0, P = 1, - = 0, XY = 10240 x 6406
               L0 = 128, MX = 0, MY = 0
               Order   = 0
               Options = 64  LRLTWO
               51 stripes, 0 layers, 1 planes
               ...yellow data skipped...
   46c:    Black BIH:
               DL = 0, D = 0, P = 1, - = 0, XY = 10240 x 6406
               L0 = 128, MX = 0, MY = 0
               Order   = 0
               Options = 64  LRLTWO
               51 stripes, 0 layers, 1 planes
               ...black data skipped...
   55c:    RECTYPE PE [Page End]
00000000: 1b 50 45 3c 00 00 00 00  77 00 00 00 7c 00 00 00  .PE<.... w...|...
00000010: 08 e0 cd 08 00 00 00 00  9c 55 ac bf f4 9f ac 43  ........ .U.....C
00000020: e0 a3 ac 43 00 00 00 00  19 00 00 00 75 9e 99 43  ...C.... ....u..C
00000030: 00 21 99 43 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 9a 0e 99 43  .!.C.... .......C
   59c:    \033%-12345X@PJL EOJ

🎀 FILES 🎀

/usr/bin/hbpldecode — she lives here, bestie 👑

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

foo2hbpl2-wrapper(1)
foo2hbpl2(1)

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Rick Richardson <rick.richardson@comcast.net>
Peter Korf <peter@niendo.de>
http://foo2hbpl.rkkda.com/

and that's a wrap, bestie 🫶 hbpldecode(1) from the General Commands Manual — home base is the foo2hbpl crew over at http://foo2hbpl.rkkda.com/, dated whenever the maintainers last hit save 💅 mwah 💋✨

📦 where this page comes from

ubuntu noble: printer-driver-foo2zjs-common 20200505dfsg0-2ubuntu6 · GPL-2.0-or-later
ubuntu questing: printer-driver-foo2zjs-common 20200505dfsg0-2ubuntu6
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-13: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms