The basic property of a .prn file is that it is a Printer Text File. The main software or program associate with the files of such a type is the DATA Cad Windows Printer File (DATACAD LLC). The main contents of these files include the text and all other material which is to be printed by the user. Also, they contain the rules and instructions to be given to the printer so that printing is done in a suitably required manner. For example, they specify the number of copies of a file to be printed, the printer tray to be used for printing etc.
So, what can you do with this file format?
The PRN format files are similar to the files with the .ps extension. The .prn files come into use when the &qout;print to file&qout; option is accessed. The selection of the printer driver to be used for the printing purpose is done through the instructions provided by the .prn files. The primary use of this file extension is that it saves the file to be printed, so that it can be used at a later stage.
When the &qout;print to file&qout; option is used, the system creates a $$$FF$$$ file to save the contents for a later use. The idea behind such an innovation was that a user may require sending the same file to a similar type of a printer but on a different computer. Then this can be done through the already saved printing details of the .prn file. Although the files with the .prn extension can also be opened with the different text editor programs, but it is seen that after the files opens, the text to be printed is surrounded by a whole bunch of signs, symbols and other codes, popularly called the &qout;junk data&qout;. This data is actually the bunch of codes to be given to the printer for the formatting option settings like text margin and alignment, spacing, graphics etc.
The main program associated with the .prn files is the Auto CAD Printer File program. However, there are other applications also which are associated with this format, for example, Calcomp Raster (Bitmap files), HP Printer Control Language Program and the printer drivers like Signature and XYWrite.
Open PRN File on Windows OS
- Look for an PRN file you need to open in Windows Explorer and double-click on it
- If the file doesn’t open automatically and you see a “Windows can’t open a file” message then you should search for a program which can open PRN file
- If you have a program which can open PRN file installed on your computer then launch that program and select “File” and then “Open” or similar options from its menu to open the PRN file
- If you don’t have the program installed then you need to try searching for “PRN wiki”, “how to open PRN file” in the search engine.
- Once you find the application, install it on your computer
- After the program is installed double-click on the PRN file to open it
File extensions are used by Windows operating system to specify what kind of information is stored in the file. Every file in Windows OS needs to have file extension and file extensions are used by Windows to determine which application it should use to open the file. Every application installed on Windows OS places information about which extensions it could open into the Windows registry and Windows uses this information to determine which application it should launch when user double-clicks on the file. If application which can open PRN file is not installed, then Windows will show ‘Windows can’t open PRN file’ message and buttons to either select an application on the computer which can open the file or to search the web for the application which can open PRN file.