Print a text file to PDF in IBM 1403 retro style
Examples of what can be done with prt1403 can be found at https://github.com/Pynckels/prt1403/tree/main/tests/testOut
The commands to create the examples can be found at https://github.com/Pynckels/prt1403/blob/main/tests/runtests.sh
This is a work in progress, constructive comments are appreciated.
The easiest way to install prt1403 is as follows.
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
git clone https://github.com/Pynckels/prt1403.git
pip install -r ./prt1403/requirements.txt
mv ./prt1403/prt1403 ~/.local/bin/prt1403
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/prt1403
rm -r prt1403
If running the program does not function, logging out and back in can help to update your $PATH.
Contact me and we'll cook something up together.
To get the command line syntax the -h and the --help option can be used.
prt1403 --help
This results in the following information.
usage: prt1403 [-h] [-c {BLUE,GRAY,GREEN,WHITE}] [-e] [-f FONT] [-i NAME] [-j jobID] [-l] [-n] [-o <Output file>]
[-p POINTS] [-s {SMALL,MEDIUM,WIDE}] [-u userID] [-v] [-y]
<Input file>
Print a text file to PDF in IBM 1403 retro style
positional arguments:
<Input file> File to process or - for stdin.
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-c, --color {BLUE,GRAY,GREEN,WHITE}
Color of form preprint. Text color is black.
-e, --separator Print separator page.
-f, --font FONT Choose between FONT1403, FONTMONO or an installed font.
-i, --filename NAME Override file name/path on separator page.
-j, --jobid jobID Job identifier (1 to 8 alphanumeric characters).
-l, --linenum Print line numbers.
-n, --noheader Disable printing of page headers.
-o, --outfile <Output file>
Output file name.
-p, --points POINTS Size of font in points (e.g. 10). Not used for FONT1403 or FONTMONO.
-s, --size {SMALL,MEDIUM,WIDE}
Paper width 9.5", 12" or 14.5". Paper height is 11"
-u, --userid userID User identifier (1 to 8 alphanumeric characters).
-v, --version Show program version and exit.
-y, --overwrite Overwrite output file.
The default font is FONTMONO (IBMPlexMono-Regular.ttf) which comes with this program.
prt1403 -o example.pdf example.txt
There is also the choice for FONT1403 (IBM140310Pitch-Regular-MRW.ttf) which also comes with this program. The latter has a limited character set, but is a very good representation of the original 1403 printer chain. To use FONT1403 you can use the option -f/--font.
prt1403 -f FONT1403 -o example.pdf example.txt
Note that the option -p/--points is disregarded when using the fonts FONTMONO or FONT1403.
If you want to use fonts that are installed on your pc, that's also possible. To find the installed fonts on Linux, you can use the following commands:
fc-list | grep -ioP '.*\.(otf|ttf)(?=:)'
To use an installed font and resize it you can use the option -f/--font and -p/--points to scale the font.
prt1403 -s SMALL -f '/usr/share/fonts/truetype/Jellyka_Estrya_Handwriting/Jellyka_Estrya_Handwriting.ttf' -p 38 -o example.pdf example.txt
This looks like:
The input of prt1403 can be a file or the standard input (stdin). To send a file to prt1403 through stdin, one can use the command:
prt1403 -o example.pdf - < example.txt
or the command:
cat example.txt | prt1403 -o example.pdf -
To send multiple files to prt1403 and give them each a seperatorpage with file number, the files have to be separated with a file separator (FS) character. One can use the following command to put FS characters in the stdin stream:
(cat example1.txt; echo -ne '\x1C'; cat example2.txt; echo -ne '\x1C'; cat example3.txt) | prt1403 -e -o example.pdf -
To get input from the stdin stream and send output to the stdout stream, one can use the command:
... | prt1403 -o - - | ...
It is possible to print multiple listings, each with their own separator page and number from a single file. In that case, each listing has to be separated from the next listing with a file separator (FS, 0x1C) character. An example can be found at tests/testIn/test5.asc
Copyright (c) 2025 by Filip Pynckels
This file is part of the prt1403 project that can be found at https://github.com/Pynckels/prt1403
prt1403 is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
prt1403 is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with prt1403. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
virtual1403 : This project is inspired by, and uses logic from the virutal1403 project of Matthew R. Wilson that can be found at https://github.com/racingmars/virtual1403
IBM font : This project uses the IBMPlexMono-Regular font. It is licensed under IBMPlexMono-Regular.license
1403 font : This project uses the IBM140310Pitch-Regular-MRW font. It can be found at https://ibm-1401.info/1403Fonts.html#Fonts