---
name: "grolbp"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "groff"
version: "1.24.2-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/grolbp"
---

# grolbp(1)

groff output driver for Canon CaPSL printers

## Name

grolbp - *groff* output driver for Canon CaPSL printers

## Synopsis

**grolbp** \[**-l**\] \[**-c**  *num-copies*\] \[**-F**  *font-directory*\] \[**-o**  *orientation*\] \[**-p**  *paper-format*\] \[**-w**  *width*\] \[*file* ...\]

**grolbp** \[**--copies=***num-copies* \] \[**--fontdir=***font-directory* \] \[**--landscape** \] \[**--linewidth=***width* \] \[**--orientation=***orientation* \] \[**--papersize=***paper-format* \] \[*file* ...\]

**grolbp** **-h**

**grolbp** **--help**

**grolbp** **-v**

**grolbp** **--version**

## Description

This GNU *roff* output driver translates the output of [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) into a CaPSL and VDM format suitable for Canon LBP-4 and LBP-8 printers. Normally, *grolbp* is invoked by [*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md) when the latter is given the “**-T lbp**” option. (In this installation, **ps** is the default output device.) Use *groff*'s **-P** option to pass any options shown above to *grolbp*. If no *file* arguments are given, or if *file* is “-”, *grolbp* reads the standard input stream. It writes to the standard output stream.

### Typefaces

The driver supports the Dutch, Swiss, and Swiss-Narrow scalable typefaces, each in the regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic styles. Additionally, the bitmapped, monospaced Courier and Elite typefaces are available in regular, bold, and italic styles; Courier at 8 and 12 points, Elite at 8 and 10 points. The following chart summarizes the *groff* font names used to access them.

| | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Typeface** | **Roman** | **Bold** | **Italic** | **Bold-Italic** |
| Dutch | TR | TB | TI | TBI |
| Swiss | HR | HB | HI | HBI |
| Swiss Narrow | HNR | HNB | HNI | HNBI |
| Courier | CR | CB | CI |  |
| Elite | ER | EB | EI |  |

### Paper format, orientation, and device description file

*grolbp* supports paper formats “**A4**”, “**letter**”, “**legal**”, and “**executive**”. These are matched case-insensitively. The **-p**, **--papersize** option overrides any setting in the device description file *DESC*. If neither specifies a paper format, A4 is assumed.

In its *DESC* file, *grolbp* (case-insensitively) recognizes an **orientation** directive accepting one mandatory argument, **portrait** or **landscape**. The first valid orientation directive encountered controls. The **-l**, **-o**, and **--orientation** command-line options override any setting in *DESC*. If none of the foregoing specify the orientation, portrait is assumed.

### Font description files

In addition to the font description file directives documented in [*groff\_font*(5)](/groff_font/5.md), *grolbp* recognizes **lbpname**, which maps the *groff* font name to the font name used internally by the printer. Its syntax is as follows.

```
lbpname printer-font-name
```

**lbpname**'s argument is case-sensitive. The printer's font names are encoded as follows.

For bitmapped fonts, *printer-font\_name* has the form **N** ⟨*base-font-name*⟩⟨*font-style*⟩. *base-font-name* is the font name as it appears in the printer's font listings without the first letter, up to (but not including) the font size. *font-style* can be one of the letters **R**, **I**, or **B**, indicating the roman, italic, and bold styles, respectively. For instance, if the printer's “font listing A” shows “Nelite12I.ISO\_USA”, the corresponding entry in the *groff* font description file is “**lbpname NeliteI**”. You may need to modify *grolbp* to add support for new bitmapped fonts, since the available font names and font sizes of bitmapped fonts (as documented above) are hard-coded into the program.\

For scalable fonts, *printer-font-name* is identical to the font name as it appears in the printer's “font listing A”. For instance, to select the “Swiss” font in bold-italic style, which appears in the font listing as “Swiss-BoldOblique”, “**lbpname Swiss-BoldOblique**” is the required directive, and this is what we find in the *groff* font description file *HBI* for the **lbp** device.

### Drawing commands

For compatibility with [*grolj4*(1)](/grolj4/1.md), an additional drawing command is available.

- **\\D'R** *dh dv***'**

  Draw a rule (solid black rectangle) with one corner at the drawing position, and the diagonally opposite corner at the drawing position +(*dh*,*dv*).

## Options

**-h** and **--help** display a usage message, while **-v** and **--version** show version information; all exit afterward.

- **-c** *num-copies* **--copies=***num-copies*

  Produce *num-copies* copies of each page.

- **-F** *font-directory* **--fontdir=***font-directory*

  Prepend directory font-directory*/dev*name to the search path for font and device description files; *name* is the name of the device, usually **lbp**.

- **-l** **--landscape**

  Format the document in landscape orientation.

- **-o** *orientation* **--orientation=***orientation*

  Format the document in the given *orientation*, which must be “**portrait**” or “**landscape**”.

- **-p** *paper-format* **--papersize=***paper-format*

  Set the paper format to *paper-format*, which must be a valid paper format as described above.

- **-w** *width* **--linewidth=***width*

  Set the default line thickness to *width* thousandths of an em; the default is **40** (0.04 em).

## Exit status

*grolbp* exits with status **0** on successful operation, status **2** if the program cannot interpret its command-line arguments, and status **1** if it encounters an error during operation.

## Environment

- *GROFF\_FONT\_PATH*

  lists directories in which to seek the selected output device's directory of device and font description files. See [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md) and [*groff\_font*(5)](/groff_font/5.md).

## Files

- */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/font/devlbp/DESC*

  describes the **lbp** output device.

- */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/font/devlbp/*F

  describes the font known as *F* on device **lbp**.

- */usr/share/groff/1.24.2/tmac/lbp.tmac*

  defines macros for use with the **lbp** output device. It is automatically loaded by *troffrc* when the **lbp** output device is selected.

## See also

[*groff*(1)](/groff/1.md), [*troff*(1)](/troff/1.md), [*groff\_out*(5)](/groff_out/5.md), [*groff\_font*(5)](/groff_font/5.md), [*groff\_char*(7)](/groff_char/7.md)