Extract text from Print spool files (PJL)
To convert PJL Print jobs to another format, you need HP Print Drivers or other System software.
To convert other file formats to the "Printer Command File" file type, you need software like HP Print Drivers or a similar tool.
A .PJL file contains Printer Job Language commands. It is used by network printers to switch between different page description languages, such as PCL or PS, and to report status information back to the computer.
The format was developed by Hewlett-Packard and is heavily used by the HP LaserJet line, though it is now supported by most major printer brands. You can open the raw text headers with text editors like Notepad++.
Users usually need to convert this file when they intercept a print spool file and want to view the actual document content. The main disadvantage of the .PJL format is that it is a hardware-specific instruction file. It is not supported by web browsers, standard office software, or standard image viewers. If you open it, the document payload inside often appears as corrupted, unreadable binary data.
Your best conversion targets are PDF or TXT. To do this, you must extract the embedded payload from the PJL wrapper.
Because this file is a specialized printer command wrapper, standard online converters fail to process it. Only the printer hardware is truly meant to read it. However, just drag and drop your file onto convert.guru to identify the format and inspect the raw text commands. If our analysis detects a supported embedded document format like PostScript or PDF inside the wrapper, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your PJL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted TXT, PS, PRN, PDF, BIN, SFP, NFC and DSCMD files.
If you want to convert PJL file to , you can use HP Print Drivers or similar software from the "Printer Control and Spooling" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert files to PJL, try HP Print Drivers or another comparable tool in the "Printer Control and Spooling" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our PJL converter.