Print larger or smaller text on a thermal receipt printer

If you print to a thermal receipt printer which support the ESC/POS protocol, then you can format the receipts to make larger or smaller text.

If this is your first time reading about ESC/POS, have a read of What is ESC/POS, and how do I use it?. Some of these text size examples are borrowed from there, while some are new for this blog post.

Smaller text 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Fonts (many printers do not have a 'Font C') */
$fonts = array(
	Printer:::FONT_A,
	Printer:::FONT_B,
	Printer:::FONT_C);
for($i = 0; $i < count($fonts); $i++) {
	$printer -> setFont($fonts[$i]);
	$printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\n");
}
$printer -> setFont(); // Reset
$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

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00000000  1b 40 1b 4d 00 54 68 65  20 71 75 69 63 6b 20 62  |.@.M.The quick b|
00000010  72 6f 77 6e 20 66 6f 78  20 6a 75 6d 70 73 20 6f  |rown fox jumps o|
00000020  76 65 72 20 74 68 65 20  6c 61 7a 79 20 64 6f 67  |ver the lazy dog|
00000030  0a 1b 4d 01 54 68 65 20  71 75 69 63 6b 20 62 72  |..M.The quick br|
00000040  6f 77 6e 20 66 6f 78 20  6a 75 6d 70 73 20 6f 76  |own fox jumps ov|
00000050  65 72 20 74 68 65 20 6c  61 7a 79 20 64 6f 67 0a  |er the lazy dog.|
00000060  1b 4d 02 54 68 65 20 71  75 69 63 6b 20 62 72 6f  |.M.The quick bro|
00000070  77 6e 20 66 6f 78 20 6a  75 6d 70 73 20 6f 76 65  |wn fox jumps ove|
00000080  72 20 74 68 65 20 6c 61  7a 79 20 64 6f 67 0a 1b  |r the lazy dog..|
00000090  4d 00 1d 56 41 03                                 |M..VA.|
00000096

Change height & width 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Text of various (in-proportion) sizes */
title($printer, "Change height & width\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 68 65 69  |.@.!..Change hei|
00000010  67 68 74 20 26 20 77 69  64 74 68 0a 1b 21 00 1d  |ght & width..!..|
00000020  21 00 31 1d 21 11 32 1d  21 22 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  |!.1.!.2.!"3.!34.|
00000030  21 44 35 1d 21 55 36 1d  21 66 37 1d 21 77 38 0a  |!D5.!U6.!f7.!w8.|
00000040  1d 56 41 03                                       |.VA.|
00000044

Change width only (height=4) 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Width changing only */
title($printer, "Change width only (height=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, 4);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 77 69 64  |.@.!..Change wid|
00000010  74 68 20 6f 6e 6c 79 20  28 68 65 69 67 68 74 3d  |th only (height=|
00000020  34 29 3a 0a 1b 21 00 1d  21 03 31 1d 21 13 32 1d  |4):..!..!.1.!.2.|
00000030  21 23 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  21 43 35 1d 21 53 36 1d  |!#3.!34.!C5.!S6.|
00000040  21 63 37 1d 21 73 38 0a  1d 56 41 03              |!c7.!s8..VA.|
0000004c

Change height only (width=4) 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Height changing only */
title($printer, "Change height only (width=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize(4, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 68 65 69  |.@.!..Change hei|
00000010  67 68 74 20 6f 6e 6c 79  20 28 77 69 64 74 68 3d  |ght only (width=|
00000020  34 29 3a 0a 1b 21 00 1d  21 30 31 1d 21 31 32 1d  |4):..!..!01.!12.|
00000030  21 32 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  21 34 35 1d 21 35 36 1d  |!23.!34.!45.!56.|
00000040  21 36 37 1d 21 37 38 0a  1d 56 41 03              |!67.!78..VA.|
0000004c

Very narrow font 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very narrow text */
title($printer, "Very narrow text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(1, 8);
$printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 56 65  72 79 20 6e 61 72 72 6f  |.@.!..Very narro|
00000010  77 20 74 65 78 74 3a 0a  1b 21 00 1d 21 07 54 68  |w text:..!..!.Th|
00000020  65 20 71 75 69 63 6b 20  62 72 6f 77 6e 20 66 6f  |e quick brown fo|
00000030  78 20 6a 75 6d 70 73 20  6f 76 65 72 20 74 68 65  |x jumps over the|
00000040  20 6c 61 7a 79 20 64 6f  67 2e 0a 1d 56 41 03     | lazy dog...VA.|
0000004f

Very wide font 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very flat text */
title($printer, "Very wide text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(4, 1);
$printer -> text("Hello world!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 56 65  72 79 20 77 69 64 65 20  |.@.!..Very wide |
00000010  74 65 78 74 3a 0a 1b 21  00 1d 21 30 48 65 6c 6c  |text:..!..!0Hell|
00000020  6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64 21  0a 1d 56 41 03           |o world!..VA.|
0000002d

Largest possible font 

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require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very large text */
title($printer, "Largest possible text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(8, 8);
$printer -> text("Hello\nworld!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

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00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 4c 61  72 67 65 73 74 20 70 6f  |.@.!..Largest po|
00000010  73 73 69 62 6c 65 20 74  65 78 74 3a 0a 1b 21 00  |ssible text:..!.|
00000020  1d 21 77 48 65 6c 6c 6f  0a 77 6f 72 6c 64 21 0a  |.!wHello.world!.|
00000030  1d 56 41 03                                       |.VA.|
00000034

Double-height and doule-width

There are also commands which specifically double the width and height. These overlap with the commands covered here, but you can find them in the escpos-php documentation.

Full example

These examples were authored for escpos-php, a PHP printer driver for thermal receipt printers. The full file ships as an example with the driver, and outputs a block of ESC/POS code which can be sent a printer to give the below output.

Receipt

PHP code 

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<?php
/**
 * This print-out shows how large the available font sizes are. It is included
 * separately due to the amount of text it prints.
 */
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;

$connector = new FilePrintConnector("php://stdout");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Initialize */
$printer -> initialize();

/* Text of various (in-proportion) sizes */
title($printer, "Change height & width\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Width changing only */
title($printer, "Change width only (height=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, 4);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Height changing only */
title($printer, "Change height only (width=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize(4, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Very narrow text */
title($printer, "Very narrow text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(1, 8);
$printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\n");

/* Very flat text */
title($printer, "Very wide text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(4, 1);
$printer -> text("Hello world!\n");

/* Very large text */
title($printer, "Largest possible text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(8, 8);
$printer -> text("Hello\nworld!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

Other formatting?

If text size is not what you’re after, then you can find similar examples in other posts I’ve tagged escpos.

© 2007 - 2025 Michael Billington