.TH epson "" "" Command
.II printer
.PC "Prepare files for Epson printer"
\fBepson [ \-cdfnrw8 ] [ \-b \fIhead\fB ] [ \-i \fIn\fB ] [ \-o \fIfile\fB ] [ \-s \fIn\fB ] [ \fIfile ...\fB ]\fR
.PP
.HS
.SH Options:
.IC "\fBb\fI head\fR"
Print wide banner \fIhead\fR at top of first page
.IC "\fBc\fR"
Compressed printing
.IC "\fBd\fR"
Print boldface with double strike, not emphasize mode
.IC "\fBf\fR"
Suppress formfeed after each \fIfile\fR
.IC "\fBi\fIn\fR"
Indent output 'n' spaces
.IC "\fBn\fR"
Suppress italics escape sequence in initialization string
.IC "\fBo \fIfile\fR"
Write output into \fIfile\fR, instead of sending it to device \fB/dev/lp\fR
.IC "\fBr\fR"
Use only Roman character set (no italics)
.IC "\fBs\fIn\fR"
Vertical spacing \fIn\fR (default, 1)
.IC "\fBw\fR"
Double-width printing
.IC "\fB8\fR"
Eight lines per inch (default, six)
.HE
.B epson
prepares text for printing an Epson or Epson-compatible dot-matrix printer.
It recognizes the
.B nroff
output sequences for boldface and italics
and converts them into the Epson codes for emphasized print and italics.
.PP
If you do not name a file on its command line,
.B epson
reads the standard input.
By default,
.B epson
writes its output to the standard output.
Thus, you can use
.B epson
as a filter within an MLP backend script.
.PP
By default,
.B epson
outputs the string ``\e033 @ \e033 t \e0'' at the beginning of each job
to initialize the printer.
The sequence ``\e033 @'' clears the printer and prepares it to receive
new data; while the escape sequence ``\e033 t \e0'' makes an Epson printer's
built-in italics font available.
To suppress the italics-font portion of the initialization sequence, use
the command-line option
.BR \-n ,
described below.
.PP
.B epson
recognizes the following command-line options:
.IP "\fB\-b\fI head\fR"
Print the given
.I head
as a double-width banner at the top of the first output page.
.IP \fB\-c\fR
Use compressed printing mode.
.IP \fB\-d\fR
Print boldface as double strikes.
Normally,
.B epson
recognizes the sequence \*(QL\fIc\fB\eb\^\fIc\fR\*(QR as boldface
and prints
.I c
in emphasized printing mode.
.B \-d
is useful in conjunction with
.BR \-c .
.IP \fB\-f\fR
Do not print a formfeed character at the end of each
.IR file .
.IP "\fB\-i\fIn\fR"
Indent
.I n
spaces at the start of each output line.
.IP "\fB\-n\fR"
No italics:
suppress the italics portion of the printer-initialization string.
When you use this switch,
.B epson
outputs the string ``\e033 @'' to initialize the printer.
.IP "\fB\-o\fI file\fR"
Write output into
.IR file ,
instead of sending it to device
.BR /dev/lp .
.IP \fB\-r\fR
Print all characters in Roman;  do not use italics.
Normally,
.B epson
recognizes the sequence \*(QL_\fB\eb\^\fIc\fR\*(QR as italic
and prints
.I c
in its italic character set.
.IP \fB\-s\fIn\fR
Print
.I n
newlines at the end of each line.
.I n
must be 1, 2, or 3;  the default is 1.
.IP \fB\-w\fR
Use double width printing mode.
.IP \fB\-8\fR
Print lines with vertical spacing of eight lines per inch
instead of the default six lines per inch.
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "commands," commands
.Xr "lp," lp
.Xr "nroff," nroff
.Xr "pr," pr
.Xr "printer" printer
.SH Notes
Prior to release 4.2.12 of \*(CO,
.B epson
wrote its output to device
.B /dev/lp
instead of to the standard output.
