Virtual Printer Documentation

Supported ESC/POS Commands

This is not a copy of the ESC/POS specification. For what a command means, Epson's own manuals are the authority. What this page answers is the question they cannot: what happens to that command here.

Every row is generated from the command descriptors the parser registers, so the table cannot claim support that does not exist, and a command added to the parser appears here on the next deploy.

How to read it

  • Renders - the command affects the document you see: text styling, position, barcodes, images, cuts, drawer pulses.
  • Answers on the socket - the printer writes bytes back to your client, and what it answers reflects the fault flags you have set on the printer.
  • Ignored - the command is recognised and consumed so the byte stream stays in sync, but the emulator has nothing to do with it. The reason is in the same cell. An ignored command is not an error and does not mark the document.

A command absent from this table is a different matter: the parser does not know it, the bytes are reported as unrecognised, and the document is marked with an error. If you hit one that a real printer accepts, that is worth an email to support@virtual-printer.online - see Document marked with an error.

The matrix

Command What it does Bytes In the emulator
BEL buzzer/beeper 07 Supported
CAN cancel print data in page mode 18 Ignored in standard mode (page mode is not supported)
Carriage Return (CR) legacy compatibility command, ignored by printer 0D Supported
DC1 device select (legacy software flow control) 11 Ignored: the virtual printer is always selected
DC2 cancel condensed printing 12 Supported. Rendered as Font A.
DC3 device deselect (legacy software flow control) 13 Ignored: the virtual printer is always selected
DC4 cancel the double-width mode selected by SO 14 Supported
DLE DC4 fn ... real-time requests (drawer pulse, power-off, buzzer, buffer clear) 10 14 fn Supported. The drawer pulse drives the emulated cash drawer; the remaining real-time hardware actions are not modeled and are ignored.
DLE ENQ n real-time recovery from a recoverable error 10 05 n Ignored: the virtual printer has no recoverable error state to clear
DLE EOT n real-time printer status 10 04 n Supported
ESC n - enable/disable underline mode 1B 2D n (00=off, 01=on) Supported
ESC ! select print mode 1B 21 n Supported
ESC $ nL nH set absolute print position 1B 24 nL nH (position = nL + nH * 256 dots from the beginning of the line) Supported
ESC % n select or cancel the user-defined character set 1B 25 n Ignored: user-defined glyphs are not rendered
ESC & y c1 c2 [x1 d1...dk] ... define user-defined characters 1B 26 y c1 c2 Supported. (per character: one width byte x followed by y * x data bytes). The payload is parsed only to keep the byte stream in sync; the glyphs are not rendered.
ESC * m nL nH d1...dk select bit image mode 1B 2A m nL nH Supported. (m: 0/1 = 8-dot single/double density, 32/33 = 24-dot).
ESC 0 select 1/8-inch line spacing (legacy preset) 1B 30 Supported
ESC 1 select 7/72-inch line spacing (legacy preset) 1B 31 Supported
ESC 2 set default line spacing (approx. 30 dots) 1B 32 Supported
ESC 3 n set line spacing 1B 33 0xNN Supported
ESC 4 enable italic mode 1B 34 Supported
ESC 5 disable italic mode 1B 35 Supported
ESC = n select peripheral device 1B 3D n Ignored: there is only one (virtual) device on the line
ESC @ reset printer 1B 40 Supported
ESC a select justification 1B 61 n (00=left, 01=center, 02=right) Supported
ESC c 0/1/3/4/5 n paper type, paper sensor and panel button configuration 1B 63 30/31/33/34/35 n Ignored: the virtual printer has one paper station, and
ESC d n print and feed n lines 1B 64 n Supported
ESC D n1 ... nk NUL set horizontal tab positions 1B 44 n1 Supported. nk 00.
ESC E n enable/disable emphasized (bold) mode 1B 45 n (00=off, 01=on) Supported
ESC F cancel emphasized (bold) mode 1B 46 Supported
ESC g select 15 cpi pitch 1B 67 Supported. Rendered as Font B.
ESC G n enable/disable double-strike mode 1B 47 n (00=off, 01=on) Supported
ESC i Partial cut (one point left uncut) 1B 69 Supported
ESC J n print and feed paper by n dots 1B 4A n Supported
ESC m Partial cut (three points left uncut) 1B 6D Supported
ESC M n select character font 1B 4D n (00=Font A, 01=Font B) Supported
ESC P select 10 cpi pica pitch (the dot-matrix default) 1B 50 Supported. Rendered as Font A.
ESC p m t1 t2 cash drawer pulse 1B 70 0xMM 0xT1 0xT2 Supported. m selects the drawer kick-out connector pin - 0 and 48 mean pin 2, 1 and 49 mean pin 5 - and is normalized to the 0/1 drawer index the emulated drawers are addressed by. The ON interval is t1 x 2 ms and the OFF interval is t2 x 2 ms; a printer that is given t2 < t1 stretches the OFF interval to match the ON interval.
ESC r n select print color on two-color paper 1B 72 n (0/48 black, 1/49 red) Supported
ESC R n select international character set 1B 52 n (0=USA, 1=France, 2=Germany, ...) Supported
ESC SP n set right-side character spacing 1B 20 n Supported
ESC t select character code table 1B 74 n Supported
ESC u n transmit peripheral device (drawer) status 1B 75 n Supported. Legacy counterpart of GS r 2.
ESC v transmit paper sensor status 1B 76 Supported. Legacy counterpart of GS r 1.
ESC V n turn 90-degree clockwise character rotation on/off 1B 56 n (0/48 off; 1/49 and 2/50 on) Supported. Distinct from GS V (1D 56), which cuts paper.
ESC \ nL nH set relative print position 1B 5C nL nH (offset = signed 16-bit nL + nH * 256 dots from the current position) Supported
ESC { n enable/disable upside-down mode 1B 7B n Supported
FS & select Chinese (GB2312) character set 1C 26 Supported
FS . cancel Kanji character mode 1C 2E Ignored: single-byte code pages are always active
FS p n m print NV logo n with scale mode m 1C 70 n m Supported
FS q n [xL xH yL yH d1...dk] x n define NV bit images 1C 71 n Supported. (per image: width = (xL + xH256) * 8 dots, height = (yL + yH256) * 8 dots, k = x * y * 8 bytes of column-format data). Replaces all previously stored NV logos.
GS ! n select character size 1D 21 n Supported
GS ( A pL pH fn m execute a test print 1D 28 41 pL pH Ignored: the virtual printer has no self-test page
GS ( J pL pH fn m absent from the public ESC/POS reference 1D 28 4A pL pH Ignored: only its length is known, and it has no visible effect on
GS ( k 2D symbology configuration and workflow (model, module size, EC level, 1D 28 6B pL pH cn fn [data] (cn: 0x30 PDF417, 0x31 QR, 0x35 Aztec, 0x36 DataMatrix) Supported
GS ( K pL pH fn m select print control method(s) 1D 28 4B pL pH Supported. Function 49 selects the print density and is honoured, because it decides how dark the paper actually comes out. The remaining functions - print control mode (48), print speed (50) and the number of thermal head energizing parts (97) - describe how the head is driven and leave no trace in a rendered document, so they stay ignored.
GS ( L pL pH ... graphics data store/print workflow 1D 28 4C pL pH Supported
GS ( M pL pH fn m customize printer control values 1D 28 4D pL pH Ignored: the virtual printer keeps no persistent setting areas
GS ( N pL pH fn m two-color print configuration 1D 28 4E pL pH fn m (fn=48 selects the character color: m=48 black, m=49 red) Supported
GS ( P pL pH fn ... page mode control 1D 28 50 pL pH Ignored: page mode is not supported
GS ( Q pL pH fn ... draw a line (fn = 48) or a rectangle (fn = 49) into the 1D 28 51 pL pH Ignored: the command is only valid while page mode is selected
GS ( V pL pH fn m [n] paper cut functions 1D 28 56 pL pH Supported. Function 48 cuts, function 49 feeds n motion units and then cuts; both map onto the same cut element GS V produces. Other functions (cut reservation) only arrange for a cut to happen later, so they are consumed but not turned into a cut here.
GS * x y d1...dk define download bit image 1D 2A x y Supported. (width = x * 8 dots, height = y * 8 dots, k = x * y * 8 bytes).
GS / m print download bit image 1D 2F m (0/48 normal, 1/49 double width, 2/50 double height, 3/51 quadruple) Supported
GS 8 L p1 p2 p3 p4 ... long graphics data store workflow 1D 38 4C p1 p2 p3 p4 Supported
GS a n enable/disable Automatic Status Back 1D 61 n (bit mask of the enabled status types; 0 disables ASB) Supported
GS B n enable/disable reverse (white-on-black) mode 1D 42 n (00=off, 01=on) Supported
GS b n turn smoothing mode on/off 1D 62 n Ignored: the virtual printer does not model glyph smoothing
GS h n set the height of the next barcode in dots 1D 68 n Supported
GS H n choose where the human-readable digits are printed, relative to the barcode 1D 48 n Supported
GS I n transmit printer ID 1D 49 n (1-3 single byte model/type/version, 65-69 information strings) Supported
GS k print a barcode of type m from the data that follows 1D 6B m d1...dk 00, or 1D 6B m n d1...dn Supported
GS L nL nH set left margin 1D 4C nL nH (margin = nL + nH * 256 dots) Supported
GS r n transmit status 1D 72 n (1/49 paper sensor, 2/50 drawer kick-out connector) Supported
GS v 0 m xL xH yL yH [data] raster bit image print 1D 76 30 m xL xH yL yH Supported
GS V m [n] paper cut with mode 1D 56 0xMM [0xNN] Supported
GS w n set the module width (the width of the narrowest bar) of the next barcode 1D 77 n Supported
GS W nL nH set print area width 1D 57 nL nH (width = nL + nH * 256 dots) Supported
HT move to next horizontal tab stop 09 Supported
Line Feed print buffer and feed one line 0A Supported
SI select condensed printing 0F Supported. Rendered as Font B.
SO select double-width printing for one line 0E Supported. Canceled by LF or DC4.
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