Printer Escapes
The printer escapes provided by 16-bit Windows allowed access special device features. Most of these escapes are obsolete, but a few are provided to simplify the porting of 16-bit Windows-based applications. GDI supports a complete set of path functions that applications can use instead of the escapes to draw paths on any device. For a list of functions that replace some of the escapes, see the Escape function.
Of the 64 original printer escapes, only QUERYESCSUPPORT and PASSTHROUGH can be used.
There is also an extended escape function called ExtEscape. This function allows applications to access capabilities of a particular device not directly available through GDI.