Star LaserPrinter 4 Applications Manual

80821860

APPLICA TIONS MANUAL

Trademark Acknowledgements

LaserPrinter 4: StarMicronicsCo., Ltd.
PageMaker: Aldus Corporation
BitStream, Zapf Humanist: BitstreamInc.
Canon: CanonInc.
HP, LaserJet ffP: Hewlett-PackardCompany
LaaerControl: InsightDcvelcpmentInc.
IBM PC: IntematicmalBusinessMachinesCorp.
Optim~ Century Schoolbook: LinotypeCorporation
Lotus 1-2-3: Lotus DevelopmentCorporation
MS-DOS, Microsoft BASIC, Window%Word: Microsoftcorporation
MultiMate: Multimatcfntematicnal
Epson, FX-8SO:.%&o

f@s’I Corpusaticn

WordPerfect: WordPerfectCorporation
Ventura

Publisher:XeroxCorporation

NOTICE

● All rightsreserved.Reproductionof anypartof this msmsafin anyform whatsoeverwithout

STAR’s expresspermissicitis forbidden.

. ‘firecontentsof this manualarcsubjectto changewithoutnotice.

● Alf effortshave beenmadetoensuretheaccuracyof the contentsof this manualatthetime of

press.However,shouldany errorsbe detected,STAR wouldgrszdyappreciatebeinginformed
of them.

● ‘llteabove notwithstanding,STAR canassumeno responsibilityforany errorsin this manual.

@Ccpyright 1990StarMicrunicsCo., Ltd.

PREFACE

Aboutthismanual

This StarLaserPrinter4 ApplicationsManual givesyoutheinformation
youneedto programthe StarMicronicsLaserPrinter4.

Whywouldyoureadthisbook? Mostpeopleusingalaserprinterjust run
softwarepackageswithbuilt-inprinterdrivers,whichlookaftereverything
theircomputerssendtheirprinters.Butmanyofus- smallbusinesspeople
and home computerusers, not to mentionthe wizards who write those
softwarepackages—wanttobenefitfromall thenewfeaturesofferedbyour
pnntem.

Doyouwantcompletecontrolover thecharacte~and imagesyouprint?Do
youwantto makeyourStarLaserPrinter4 worklikesomeearlierkindof
printer? Thismanualprovidesthesoftwarehelp youneedto getthemost
fromyourLaserPrinter4.

Thoughthis ApplicationsManual is reallyintendedfor intermediateto
advancedcomputerusers,we’vetriedtoaccommodaterelativenovicestoo.
The informationisorganizedso youcan walkthroughthe generaltheory
underlyingprinterprogrammingbeforedancinginto specificdetails. It
makessense,therefore,to readthefirstthreechaptersbeforejumpinginto
themiddle.

There’sagoodreasontoreadeachchapterfromitsstarttoo.Peoplelearning
howto useanew printeroftenfindtheterminologyabarrier. Soinsteadof
buryingwhatmaybenewjargonin a Glossaryat theback,wedefineeach
newtermthefirsttimeitappears. Thewholefirstpartofthechapteronfonts,
forexarnple,definesdifferentaspectsofafont (acollectionofcharactersof
the samesizeandstyle).

What’sin thismanual?

● In “Gettingto KnowYourStarLaserPrinter4“ we providea list of the

featuresthat make this a splendidprinter, to help you choosewhich
feahuesyouwantto exploit. There’sa bit on how laserprinterswork,
insideandout. Thechapterthenexplainssoftwareingeneralterms,in­cluding how to write control and Escape commandsto make those
feahues work.

● “ControllingYour Printer” examines the parameters and “superset”

commandsyougivetheStarLaserPrinter4 to directpreciselyhowyou
wantittobehave.Theseletyoucontroltheprinter,managepageformats,
andspecifywhatyouwantprinted.

● For mostof us, the“Fonts”chapterwillbeuseful: howto usethefonts

built into the LaserPrinter4, plus those that come on cartridgesor
computerdisks.

● Youmayneverlookatchapters4 and5, whichcoverStarLaserPrinter

4 commands. YourLaserPnnter4 emulates otherprinters: it imitates
otherprintersby acceptingthe same commandstheydo. Justthinkof
yourStarLaserPrinter4 astwoprintershidinginsideoneunit.

Ifyouwanttowriteormodifyaprogramthatusesoneofthese printers—
theHewlett-PackardLaserJet11PorEpsonFX-850- chapters4 and5
showhow yourStar LaserPrinter4 can emulateto accordingly. The
chaptersfirstdescribehowtocontroltheprinterandtoformatpages,then
howtqmovetheprintposition,and finallyhow tousefontsandgraphics.

The chapter on the LaserJet IIP is longer and mom detailedthan the
others.That’sbecauseyouaremomlikelytouselaserprintercommands
thancommandsfordotmatnx printers. (If youhavesoftwa~ designed
only for dot matrix printers,you may have manualsfor those printers
anyway.) We recommendyou use LaserJetHP emulationwhenever
possible,withFX-850emulationas yourbackupmode.

c The final“TechnicalSupplement”containingthecommandandcharac-

ter mfextmcetableswillprobablygetthumbed the most.

Conventions

Incidentally,oneofthoseTechnicalSupplementtablessuggestsacoupleof
typographicconventionswe’lluse.Baseten(decimal)numberswillgener­allybe usedhere;if we haveto use basesixteennumbers(hexadecimal)
we’llexpresslysay so.

Andsecond,thelowercaseLispracticallyidenticaltothenumberone(1ver­sus 1). BecauselowercaseL isusedinmanycommanddescriptions,we’ll
usethecharacter/to avoidconfusion.

TheStarLaserPrinter4 OperationsManual

Thismanualis thecompaniontotheStarLaserPrin?er4OperatwnsiWanuaZ
thatcamewithyourprinter.Alaserprinteris a fairlycomplextoolthatre­quirescareanddelicatehandling.SotousethisApplicationsl14anualbest,
makesureyouunderstandthat OperationsManual first.

Your OperationsManual holds essentialinformationabout the Laser­Printer4, such as howto:

●

●

✎

✎

●

●

●

●

unpackandsetup yourlaserprinter,
connecttheStarLaserPrinter4 toyourcomputer’sserialorparallelport,
linkthe LaserPrinter4 intoanetworkof severalcomputers,
configuretheLaserPrinter4 toyour needs(withvariablessuchas paper
sizeand speedof datatransfer),
loadpaperandthetonercartridge,

operatethe panelswitchesanddisplay,
runthe LaserPrinter4 self-test,
lookafteryourprinterto keep it in peakcondition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER1 GETTINGTOKNOWYOURSTAR

LASERPRINTER4

1

1.1StarLaserPrinter4 Hardware...........................................................1

1.2StarLaserPrinter4 Software........................................................-5

CHAPTER2 CONTROLLINGYOURPRINTER

13

2.1PrinterParameters....................................................................O.....13

2.2ControllingthePrinter

....................................................................

16

2.3ControllingthePage.......................................................................20

2.4ControllingthePrinting

..................................................................

25

2.5TheStarLaserPrinter4 SuWmet...................................................26

CHAPTER3 FONTS

31

3.1FontTerminology

...........................................................................31

3.2HowtheStarLaserPrinter4 StoresFonts

......................................34

3.3SymbolSets

....................................................................................

37

3.4ManagingFonts..............................................................................49

CHAPTER4 HP LASERJETIIP COMMANDS

45

4.1HPLaserJetIIPCommands...........................................................45

4.2ControllingthePrinter

....................................................................

47

4.3PageOrientation.............................................................................50

4.4MovingthePrintPosition

..............................................................54

4.5ControllingFonts............................................................................63

4.6UsingYourOwnFonts......:............................................................79

4.7Graphics..........................................................................................83

4.8Macros. ...........................................................................................88

CHAPTER5 EPSONFX-850COMMANDS

93

5.1FX-850Commands........................................................................93

5.2ControllingthePrinter

....................................................................

95

5.3FormattingPages...........................................................................-96

5.4MovingthePrintPosition

..............................................................

99

5.5ControllingFonts..........................................................................104

5.6Graphics

........................................................................................

113

CHAPTER6 TECHNICALSUPPLEMENT

119

6.1Commandsummary. ....................................................................120

6.2SymbolWK......... ..........................................................................125

INDEX

15’7

Gettingto Know Your ‘” “

Star LaserPrinter

4

T& chapterintroducesboththehardwareandsoftwareaspectsoftheStar
LaserPrinter4’s personality,from fonts and print engineto ASCII and
Escapesequences.

1.1STARLASERPRINTER4 HARDWARE

1.1.1Versatility

YourStarMicronicsStarLaserPrinter4workswithpracticallyallcommer­cialsoftwareprogramsandcomputers.WithfeaturesthatgobeyondStar’s
easy,affordable9-pinandfast,quality-printing24-pindotmatrixprinters
the Star Laser Printer is the logicalnext step in the series of fine Star
Micronicsprintem.

YourStarLaserPrinter4 producespagesthatlookclosetotypesetquality,
withupto 90,000dotspersquareinch—nomoreNLQ(nearletterquality)
compromises.The Star LaserPrinter4 producesfour of those pages a
minute.Thesenumberstranslateto aboutfive times more resolutionand

aboutthreetimesmore speedthanthe averagedot-matrixprinter.
Star’snewprinteris~markablyversatile.Youcanprintcomplicatedforms

(widthwiseif youwant)... detailedgraphs... yourown customizedtype­styles... digitized photographs...

otherlanguages(including Arabic and

Japanese).
Youcan even printyourletterhead and logo as youprintyourletter,and

reprintthem directlyonto a businessenvelope.You don’teven need to
removethepaper traytoprinttheenvelope:justslideitintothemanualfeed
slot.

1

TheStarLaserPrinter4isidealfordesktoppublishing.The pagesitproduces
makeperfectphotocopyorinstant-printmasters.Andallthemaindesktop
publishingsystems,includingAldusCorporation’sPageMaker andXerox
VenturaPubisher,worksplendidlywiththe StarLaserPrinter4.With“page
makeup”programsliketheseyouwillbe able—maybeforthefirsttime—
to delivercommunicationswiththe impactof top-notchgraphics.

1.1.2Fontoptions

Youcan print withan amazinglywidevarietyof typefontsandsizes.The
StarLaserPrinter4 comeswith sevenbuilt-infonts,whichcan be printed
from 8.5pointsto 12pointsin size(apointis about1/72of an inch).

Thesefontsare:

Courier

12point Medium
Courier 12point Bold
Courier

12point Italic
Courier 1Opoint

Medium

Courier

1Opoint Bold
Courier

1Opoint Italic
LinePrinter 8.5point Medium

Besidesthese,youmaybe abletouseoptionalcartridgesanddisksto give
yourStar LaserPrinter4 a varietyof extrafonts,suchasthese:

Helvet

linedrawing
LetterGothic presentationfonts
Barcodes

opticalcharacterreaderfontsuniversalproductcode

You can load your Star LaserPrinter4’s memory with fonts stored on
computerdisks.Literallyhundredsof fonts are marketedby font-supply
companies.Somefontsareevenobtainablefromcomputer’’usergroups”or
“electronicbulletinboards”.Fonts yougetthiswayareinthepublic domain,
whichmeansyoudon’tneedto pay a licencefeetousethem.

Ask your Star LaserPrinter4 dealer aboutresourceslike these.Desktop
publishingwith laser printemis fast-changingterritory,and some Star
Micronicsstaffpeoplehavefoundelectronicbulletinboardsandcomputer
usergroupsquitehelpfulinkeepingupwiththechangingpace.Ifyouinvest
a littletimethiswayitmayrepayyou well.

2

1.2.3Howyour Iaserprinter communicates

YourcomputercommunicateswiththeStarLaserPrinter4 througheither

apardef cableoroneoftwokindsofserialcable.Theprinter’sinterjzce,
the link or boundaryit shares with yourcomputer, defines whetherthe

printerwillacceptcharactersandcommandsfromyourcomputeronebyte
or onebit at a time.

Abitisthesmallestunitofcomputerorprintermemory.Ithaseitheralow
orhighelectriccharge,whichwerepresentwiththedigitsOand 1.Usually
eight adjacentbits are grouped to form a byte. Since a byte normally
representsonecharacter,thisstringofbits- O1OOOOO1—mightrepresent
theletterA.

The serialinterfaceacceptsjust onebit at a time fromyourcomputer.A
parallelinterfacecanhandleawholebyteatonce,bymovingdatabitsside­by-sidealongseparatewires.Youchoosewhichinterfacemethodyouwant
touseby selectingitonthecontrolpanel,asexplainedin yourStarLuser-

Printer4 OperationsManual.

1.2.4TheStarLaserPrinter4 is a computer

TheStarLaserPrinter4 firstmapsthecharactemtobeprintedintoitsown
randomaccessmemory(RAM).That is,theprinterbuildsa“picture”inits

memorycorrespondingtothepageyouwanttoprint.Whenthat’sdonethe
printercanreproducethe pageontopaperonitsown,lettingyourcomputer
geton withotherwork.

YourStarLaserPrinter4 comes withonemegabyteofRAM— theequiva­lentof aboutonemillioncharacters.A StarLaserPrinter4 option lets you
addasecondmegabyteofRAMif,say,youneedto mapfull-pagegraphics
orstemmorefonts. AccompanyingallthatRAMis another512kilobytes
ofreadonlymemory(ROM),containingalibraryofinternalfontsandthe
programsthatlet the StarLaserPrinter4 emulateotherprinters.

An Intel 80960KAcomputerchip controlsboth the memory and the
printingmechanisminthepnnter,calledtheprintengine.Theprinterstores
a whole page in RAM before printingit. (If a page is so dense that it
overflowsmemory-a mostunlikelyevent—theStarLaserPrinter4prints
thepageontwo sheets.)

3

I

1.2.5ThePrintengine

It’s the print enginethat-formsthe actualcharactersand graphics.The
enginedirectsits laser,apinpointstreamoflightpulses,throughmirrorsand
lensesontothe surfaceof a positively-chargedrotating drum.

+

Mirror

Lens
Laserbeam

~%a~nirr~ mirror

nductor laser diode

Photosensitive drum

Asthelaserscans,it“draws”thepage-mapstoredinyourprinter’smemory.
Whereveralightpulsestrikes,thattinypartof thedrumdropsto aneutral
electricalcharge.That spot then attractsfine toner powder as the drum
rotatespast thepowdercompartment.

Asthedrumrotatesfurtheritmeetsthepaper.Thepaperitselfisnegatively
chargedbypassingbyafinecoronawire.Sinceoppositechargesattract,the
negativepaperclingsto the positivedrum.Thenheatandpressurefroma
rollermelt or~usethedotsoftonerontothepaper,preciselyreproducingthe
image.

Finallythepaperslidesintotheoutputbin.Thepaperusuallycomesoutface
downso it stacksin the correctsequence.

4

1.2STARLASERPRINTER4 SOFTWARE

1.2.1Binaryandhexadecimalarithmetic

1fyou alreadyknow what hexadecimalnumbers are, you can skip this
sectionandgo aheadto readaboutASCII.

The decimalnumbersystemwith which we’reall familiaris a positional
counting system. There’s the “ones” position,the “tens” position,the
“hundreds”positionandsoon.Eachhigherpositionisworthtentimesmore
thanthepositiontotherightofit,sincethedecimalsystemusesthebaseof
ten.Moreover,weneedtensymbolstoshowtheactualvaluesthatmaybe
in eachposition.

Thebinarysystemispositionaltoo.There’sthe“ones”position,the“twos”
position,the“fours”position,the“eights”positionandsoon.Inbinaryeach
positionisworthonlytwicethatofthepositiontoitsright.Andweonlyneed
twosymbols- O(zero)and 1(one)- toshowthevaluesthatmaybeinany
position.So inbinarywe getnumbersthatlooklike 1O1Oor 10001100.

Thehexadecimalsystemismadeofbase-sixteennumbers.Hexadecimalis
positionallikethe othercountingsystems.Andeachhigherpositionisworth
sixteentimesas muchasthepositionto its right.

We need sixteendifferentsymbolsto show all the possiblevalues one
hexadecimaldigit could have. We can use our decimal system’s ten
symbols,butwe’vehadto borrowa fewmorefromour alphabettogetall
thesymbolsweneed.Inhexadecimal,therefore,youcanhaveanumberthat
lookslike2C7C,or evenFACE.

Here’showthedecimal,binaryandhexadecimalnumbersystemscompare:

Decimal

o

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Binary

Ooo1
0010

0011

0100
0101
0110
0111

Hexadecimal

o

1

2
3
4
5
6
7

Decimal

8

9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Binary

1000
1001
1010
1o11
11(X)
1101
1110
1111

Hexadecimal

8
9

A
B
c
D
E
F

5

Theimportantthingto realizeisthatthere’smorethanonewayto showthe
samenumericvalue.Computerprogrammers,forexample,occasionallyuse
thehexadecimalsystembecause it’s so compact.(Programmersoftenjust
say“hex”.)Thisbinarynumber:

10100101111111010011011111101101OO1O11O1OOOO1OO1

looksquiteabit tidierwhenitiswrittenasA5FD37ED2D09,whichmeans
thesamething.

1.2.2TheASCIItable

Wheredoes the Star LaserPrinter4 get the characters and instructionsit

needsto print in the first place’?It getsthemfmm yourcomputer,which

sendsa streamof textandcommandsto yourprinter.

Theprogramin yourcomputerthatcontrols everythingsentto the printer

(calledthe printer driver) will usuallybe includedwith your computer
programs;suchasyourwordprocessor.Butthecommandscouldalsocome
fromaprogramyou’vewritten,perhapsinBASIC,aprogramminglanguage
thatuses commonEnglishwords.

Internally,computemand printersuse onlythe binarynumbersystemto
representboth commandsand all the alphabetic,numericand otherkey­boardsymbols.Nearlyallof thosemachinesusethe sameschemeto code
thosesymbols,the AmericanStandardsCodefor InformationInterchange
(ASCII).

Anexample:inourfamiliardecimalsystem,binary01001010addsuptothe

number 74. Dependingon which program your printer is using, it can
interpretthatbinarystring01001010aseitherthenumber74orthesymbol
J. The printerstoresthesymbolJ atposition74in a tablein itsmemory.

Thateight-bitbinarystring, or byte,canbebrokenintotwohalves.Theleft
orhigh-orderpartcontaining0100is called thezoneportion;theright part
holdingthe 1010iscalledthe digitsportion.Andinthehexadecimalnumber
system,the zone and digitparts of that byte are representedas 4 and A
respectively(lookthemup in the list above).

Sothelaserprinterunderstandsthe symbolJ as 01001010,whichwecan
also representas the decimalnumber74 or the hexadecimalnumber4A.
We’veprintedthisbyteverticallyandhorizontallybelow,showinghowit
addsup to decimal74 andhex4A.

6

o x 27 = o

1x 26 = 64

0x25= o
0

x24 = o

1X 23 = 8

0x2’ = o

1x 21 = 2

0x 2° = Q

74 Decimal

zone digits

0100 1010 Binary
4 A Hexadecimal

The ASCIItable in the TechnicalSupplementshowsall theseequivalent

~presentationsfor the symbolsyourlaser printerunderstands.The table

organizesthemin ascendingorder.Infact,ASCIIisorganizedinawaythat

actuallymakessense.

Flipbackthereforaquicklookrightnow.Seehowyoucan slicethetable
into clumpsof 16or 32, basedon what’sin the zone portionunderthe
hexadecimalcolumn?Theseclumpsmakesubgroupsof similarsymbols:

● hex 00 to IF arethecommandsymbolscalledcontrolcodes,

● hex 20 to 40 arethe commonkeyboardsymbolsandnumerals,

● hex41 to 60 arecapitallettersandthelesscommonkeyboardsymbols,

● hex 61 to 7F arelowercaselettersanda fewfinalsymbols.

That takes care of the first 128ASCII symbols.However,nearly every
cofnputerand printer manufacturertreats the second half of the table
differently. Hewlett-Packard,for example,puts a variety of accented
foreignlanguagecharactemintopositions128-255(oftenreferredtoashigh

ASCIZ).Epson gives you a choice of either italics characters or IBM

charactergraphics.

1.2.3Controlcodes

TheASCIItableshowssymbolslikeJor2 thewaytheyactuallyprintonthe
laserprinter.ButASCIIincludesmore thanjust printablecharacters:none

of the controlcodecommandsatthebeginningof thetable actuallyprint.
Instead,when your computersends a controlcodeto the laser printerit

makesyourprinterdo otherthings,suchas sounditsbeeper.

7

Controlcodesmostly handlecommunicationsbetweenyourcomputerand
theprinteratthelowestlevel,at cablelevel.Forexample,acoupleofcontrol
codesmakesuretheprinterbuffer(yourprinter’sstoragememory)doesn’t
overflow.In this book we’ll indicate control codes enclosed by angle
bracketsto their abbreviationsin the table:=&I%-meansthe Form Feed
controlcode,whichadvancestheprinter to thenextpagejustasthePRINT

button.does.

1.2.4Escapesequences

Controlcode 27, cESG or Escape,is a particularlyimportantone for
printers.Totellyourprinterallthethingsyoumightneed- settingmargins,
sayingwhereto print,choosinga particularfont, startinggraphicsand so
on- requiresmanymorethanjusttwoorthreedozencontrolcodes.Sothe
<ESC> control code has a specialmeaning:<ESC> means “the next
characterspecifiesa command,notsomethingto beprinted”.

Thereforeif yousendjust the character4 to theprinterit willprinta 4 and
that’sall. Butif yousendthecESC>codejustbeforethe4 then theprinter
(in FX-850 mode)will switchoverto italicstext.Extendingthe control
codesthisway givesyoumanymorecommandsto controlyourprinter.In
fact,these“Escapesequences”makeupmostoftheStarLaserPrinter’skm­guage.

In thisbookwe’llleavespacesbetweencharacterswhenweshowescape
sequences.You’llfind

<ESC>

(S@ IOh12vos 3T

abit morereadablethan

<ESC>(sOp10h12vOs3T

Butrememberthatyou arenotto sendthosespacesif yousendcommands
to the printer.

To sumup,printercommandsareof twotypes.A controlcodeis asingle­charactercommandthattellsyourprintertodo something,likemovedown
oneline.AnEscapesequencecontrolsaprinteroperationtoo,butis more
thanonecharacterlong.Sincetheyarecommands,neithercontrolcodesnor
escapesequencesareusuallyprintablecharacter.

8

1.2.5Printerdrivers

Mostsoftwarepackagesahvadyincludethe printercommandstheyneed.
Theprogramsthatsendcommandstotheprintersoyoudon’thavetoenter
themyourselfa~ calledprinter drivers.

Manyprogramsaskyouto installor configureyourprinter,whichusually
meanskeyingintoamenutheparticularsetupinformationdescribingyour

StarLaserPrinter4.You entersuchthingsas howyouwant to underline,
alterlinespacing,ormoveto a newprintposition.

Someprograms,suchas WordPerfectandthesystemsfromLotusDevel­opmentCorporation,let youput printerEscapesequencesbeforeor right
insidethedocumentyouwanttoprint.Toturnonboldface,forexample,you
mightholddownspecialkeysonyourkeyboard,oftenlabelledCONTROL
orALT,asyoupressanotherkey.Oryoumightusea specialFunctionkey,
suchas F6.

In fact,to takerealadvantageof yourStarLaserPrinter4’sspecialabilities,
youmightoptforawordpmcessorthatletsyouspecifyfontchangeseasily.
WordPerfectandMicrosoftWorda~ strongatthis,butarebynomeansthe
onlygoodfontmanipulator.

If youhavetroubleusinga particularprogramwithyourStarLaserPrinter
4, you’ll probablyget answers most quickly by asking your software
supplierhowthe programinteractswithyourprinter.

Inthismanualwerefertoprograms,fontsandotherproductssoldbyseveral
companies.PleasemalizethatmentioningtheseproductsdoesnotmeanStar
Micronicsendomesthemin anyway.

1.2.6Sendingyourownprintercommands

Withouta printerdriver,sendingcontrolcodesand Escapesequencesto
yourprinterproperlyrequiressomeknowledgeofaprogramminglanguage
likeBASIC!orPascal,or atleastof howtoputsuchcodesintoaprogram.
Withprogramminglanguages,thecomputerdoesn’tacton thecommands
youputintoaprogramuntilyoutell it to runthatprogram.

Whenyou givea commandto the printerfrom a computerprogram,you

normallyentereachpartof thecommandasaseparatecharacter.Thisway

. youdon’taffectanythingelsehappeningon thecomputer.Youoftensend

eachcodeor characterinthecommandbygivingitspositionin theASCII

table,as adecimalor hexnumber.

9

1.2.7A BASICexample

Here’sanexampleyoucantypein rightnow,toclarifywhatwe’resaying.
It’s written in MicrosoftBASIC for a computerthat uses the MS-DOS
operatingsystem,so if youhavea differentcomputeror BASICyoumay
havetotranslateabit.We’llshow commandsthewaythey’rewrittenforan
Epsondot-matrixprinterbecauseyourStarLaserPrinter4understandsthose
commands.

TheLPRINTcommandsallsend datatotheprinter.Ifthedataissomething
youwantprintedyoujust putit in quotationmarks.If thedatais a control
codeyoujustsaywhexeitisintheASCIItable,givingitspositionasaregular
decimalnumber.

BASICusuallysendsacarriagereturnafterevery80character, tokeepthe
print positionmovingwhenit hitstheendof a line.Unasked-forcarriage

returnscan messup yourprinting,however,so it’sa goodhabitto putin a

WIDTHstatementas shown.Thatletsus printoverthewhole pagearea.
The<BEL>controlcode—ASCIIcode7—is sentinBASICasCHR$(7).

ThecESG codeitselfisCHR$(27).Andbecausewe’reusingthecharacter
4 as partof an cESC>command,wetypeCHR$(52)insteadof“4”.

So if youstartBASICandtypethesecommands:

NEW

10 ‘ EXAMPLE
20 WIDTH “LPT1:“,255

30 LPRINTCHR$(7)

40 LPRINTCHR$(27);CHR$(52)

50 LPRINT“ITALICS!“
60 END

RUN

youmaketheprinter(inFX-850mode)firstsounditsbell-most peoplecall

it a beeper—andthenprinttheline:

ITALICS!

Generally,whenyousendacontrolorEscapecodeit staysactiveuntilyou

deactivateit. That’swhat happensin line 40 of our programabove.All

subsequenttextwillbe italicizeduntilyouchangeitbacktoupright again.

10

1

Mostprogramminglanguages,andsomeversionsof BASIC,let you treat
theprinteras a fileto whichyoucansenddata.Whenyouwritea program
withoneoftheselanguagesyou“open”theprinterfile,print intoit,andthen
“close”thefilewhenyou’redone.Thisprogrammingjargonsoundsfunny
if you’renotusedto it—but it works.

Afewprogramminglanguagesletyousendcommandstotheprinterathird
way. Applesoft BASICis one. Withit, you can switchbetweenprinter
outputandscreenoutput.

1.2.8Printeremulations

You noticedthat we said“in FX-850mode”up there? Your StarLaser­Printer4respondstothesameescapesequencecommandsthatseveraloiher
printemuse.Being ableto emulateprintersliketheEpsonFX-850letsyou
useyourStarLaserPrinter4witholderprogramsthathaven’tbeenupdated
to take advantageof laserprinters.In fact,becauseit emulatestwo of the
mostpopularprinters,you canusethe StarLaserPrinter4withjustaboutany

microcomputerprogramaround.

Unfortunatelythose printers often use different escape sequencesfor
exactlythe same function.Thoseprinters,moreover,provideescapese-

quencesfor functionsthe Star LaserPrinter4 doesn’tneed, such as the
Epson’s Half-SpeedCommand.When your printer gets a command it
doesn’tsupport, itjust ignoresthe command.

Macrosaresinglecontrolcodesyoucandefineyourself,whichdothework
ofawholelongseriesofprintercommands.Ifyouareaprogrammeryou will
behappyto hearthe StarLaserPrinter4 supportsup to 99 macrosatonce.

11

MEMO

12

Controlling

YourPrinter

YoucancontrolyourStarLaserPrinter4intwoways,eitherthmughcontrol
panelparameters or throughsoftwarecomrnana!s.Inthischapterwe will
considerprinter controlsmostlyfromtheperspectiveof the control panel.
However,we’llalso meetfour specialcommands,the StarLaserPrinter4

superset.

Throughoutthismanualwe approachparametersandcommandsthesame
way:overallprinter-levelcontrolsficst,thenpage-levelcontrols(layoutand
printpositionmovements),andfinallycharacter-levelcontrols(fontsand
graphics).We’lldiscusstheseingeneraltermsin thischapter.

Thespecificcommandsyoucansendto yourprintertomakeit emulate,or
work like, other printers are describedin chapters 4 and 5. The most
importantfact aboutprintercommands,though,is thatyoumay not even
needto knowhowto use them.If yoursoftwaresystemsincludetheirown
printer drivers, you may want to read only this chapter and skip all of
chaptem4 and 5.

2.1 PRINTERPARAMETERS

2.1.1 Thecontrolpanel

The easiestway to controlyourStarLaserPrinter4 is throughits control
panel,as explainedin moredetailin yourStarLzserl%nter4 Operations

Manual.

Whenyourprinteris online(connectedto and underthe controlof your
computer),its controlpanel displayshows you the printer’sstatus.For
example,the READYlight blinks when the printeris warmingup. The
DATAlightcomesonwhenevertheprinterisholdingdataithasn’tprinted
yet.

Whenyoupress the [ONLINE]button,theprinterchangesfmmnormalto
ofline modeandcannotacceptdatafromyourcomputer.Whentheprinter
isofflineyoucanusetheotherpanelbuttons.Forinstance,if youpressthe

13

[TEST/>]buttonforthrecsecondhandreleaseitjustafterSTATUSSHEET

isdisplayedwhenthelaserprinterisoffline,itfinishesprintingthecurrent

pageandthenfeedsin andprintsa statussheet.

Somebuttonson thepanellet youperformtwo functions.Holdingoneof

those buttons down, rather than quickly pressing it, selects a different
operation.For example,holdingdown the [TEST/>]buttonfor over six
secondsafterSTATUSSHEETisdisplayedmakes the StarLaserPrinter4
printitstestpattern.

2.1.2 Parametersettings

Fromthe panel youcan alsochangethe pararnetemthatdefinehow your
printerworks.Parameterjust means“variable”. If you’refamiliarwith
earlier kinds of pnntem, you’llunderstandthat laser printerparameters
controlpn%y muchthesamethingsDIPswitchesdo.(ADIPswitchor’’dual
in-linepackageswitch”isasetofsmallswitchesthat controlvariousprinter
functions.)

Theprinterstorestheseparametemaseasy-to-useprogrammenuitemsthat
youcan selectfromthecontrolpanel.Theseparametemspecify:

8

●

●

●

●

9

●

●

emulation(what printerthe StarLaserPrinteremulates)
numberof copies(thenumberof copiesof eachpageto beprinted)
character(whatcharacterfonttoprint)

job size(whatsizeof papertheprinterwilluse)

layout(howpageswillbe formatted)
paperfeed(howpaperwillbe fed)
page,mode(partialor full)
interface(howtheprintercommunicateswithyourcomputer)

Ad@auZtisthesettingtheStarLaserPrinter4willuseifnoneisspecifically
selectedbyaprogram.Whenyoufirsttumon orlaterresetyourprinterthese

defaultsettingswilltakeeffect.
Yourmainuseforthecontrolpanelwilllikelybeto setthedefaultsettings

youwantfor theseparameters.However,youwillprobablyfmdthepanel
convenienttoo when you wantto switchbetweenmanualand automatic
paperfeed.

2.1.3 Four versionsofparameters

TheStarLaserPrinter4 actuallystoresfourversionsof theseparametem:

s its “ultimatedefault”factorysettings,

14

● thepower-onsettingsineffectwhenyoufirstturnon theprinter,

● yourinitialsettingsforoneparticularsession,

● andthecurrentsettingsthattheprinteris usingnow.

Theseare in priorityorder.Thecurrentsettingsalwaysoverridetheinitial

sessionsettings,whichinturnoverridethepower-onsettings,whichinturn
overridethe factorysettings.

FactorysettingsareprogrammedintotheStarLaserPrinter4whenitisbuilt

atthe factory.Yourprinterkeepsthe factorysettingsfor its parametersin
ROM;theyneverchange.Youcancopythemintothe currentsettingsorany
other settingsas needed.But the only way you can returnto the factory
defaultsis fromthecontrolpanel;nocommandsdothis.

A few factorydefaultsettingsareas follows:

Item Factorydefaultsetting
Emulat;o.1 HPLaserJetIIP
Feeder

Multi-purposetray
Numberof Copies 1
Orientation

Portrait

Font

10-pitch12-pointCourier(internal)
Lines/inch

6 linesper inch

The power-onsettingsare the normaldefaultsettings.The printer keeps
themevenwhenyouturnoffthepower.Whenyouturnontheprinter,these
power-onsettingsgetcopiedintotheinitial andcurrentparametersettings.

YouprobablywillnotoftenchangetheStarLaserPrinter4’sinitialsettings
(sometimescalled“sessionsettings”).You’lllikelyonlychangethemwhen
you want to use a differentprinteremulation than normal.These initial
settingsstaythe sameasthepower-onsettingsuntilyouchangethem.

Ontheotherhand,yoursoftwarewillprobablychangethecurrentsettings

manytimeswithinthe samedocument,witheverychangeof fontor print

style.

2.1.4Howto changeparameters

Withthe printeroffline,if youpressthe [PROGRAM]buttontheprinter

goesinto“program’’mode. Youcanthenstepthroughthelaserprinter’sfour
levelsof programmenuto configureyourprinter(seepage46-48,opera-
tionsManual).That’stheprocessofchangingcertainprintersettingssoyour
computerandprintercan communicateproperly.

15

I

It’sactuallyprettyeasy.Flippingthroughandsettingparametersfromthe
panelis describedin detailin the StarL.userPrinter4 OperationsManual.

Basically,allyoudo ispressthe [ < ] or [> ] buttonsto scrollthroughthe
sequenceof possibleparametersandvalues,whichisclearlyshownonthe
paneldisplay.Youpress[v ]whenyouwanttogodownandscrollthrough

a lower menulevel. And you also press [

v ] when you want to save a

particularmenuitemas thevaluefor acurrentparametersetting.
SETPOWER-UPenablesyoutosavenewsettingsina permanentmemory

calledEEPROM.Thenewsettingscan be storedeven whenthe poweris
turnedoff.Thefinalmenu(LOADFACTORYSET)isusedwhenyouwant
to startfromthebeginning,withtheoriginalfactorysettings.

2.2CONTROLLINGTHE PRINTER

In this sectionyou’ll meettwo separatecontrolsoverhow the Star Laser­Printer4 itself works.TheINTERFACEparametercontrolscommunica­tions between the printer and your computer.And the EMULATION
parameterdetermines,among other things,which set of commandsthe
printerwilluse.Youcan settheseINTERFACEandEMULATIONpara­meterson the control panel.

2.2.1 TheINTERFACEparameter

The INTERFACEparameter,the mostbasicof the StarLaserPrinter4’s

configurationsettings,defineshowyourcomputerconnectsto theprinter.
You can set the INTERFACEto eitherSerialor Parallel.In mostsingle­computetenvironrnentsyou’lloptforthefasterParallelinterface;inamulti-

usernetworkyoumaybebetteroff with Serial.
Theparticularprinterinterfacesettingsdon’tmatterasmuchasmakingsure

theymatchthoseonyourcomputer.If youuseanMS-DOScomputer,you
can set yourcomputer’sparameterswiththe MODEcommand.See your
MS-DOSmanual.

MostMS-DOSandAT-compatiblecompute~supportupto three parallel

andtwo serialports,whichcomeon expansionboardsyouplugintoyour
computer.Whenyouinstallsuchboardsyoumustsetswitchesto indicate
thenumberandaddressesoftheseports.Ifyouspecifythewrongaddresses,
youwon’tbe ableto print.

16

Serialinterface:rate

IfyouaskfortheSerialinterfaceyou’llhavetotellyourprintermoreabout
howthedatawillbecomingin-in particularitsrateandunitsizeandthe
meaningsof any specialbits.

TheRateparameter specifieshow fastdatawillbe arriving, measuredin
baud(namedaftertheFrenchcommunicationsengineerJeanBaudot).Pick
anyof the followingdatatransferrates:

300baud
600baud

1200baud
2400baud
4800baud
9600baud(thedefault)

19200baud.

Roughly,onecharacter secondworksout to 11baud.Ifyou’renotsurehow

fast your computerwill transmit,the generalrule is to experiment.Try
sendingapageto printatthehighestspeed,andworkyourwaydownuntil

theprinter’soutputlooksOK.

Serialinterface:specialbits
InSerialmodeyou’llalsohaveto specify if yourcomputersends databits

in groupsof seven(mostcomputerssendeight,thedefault for a byte).
Sometimesanextrabit getsappendedtomakethe sum of all bits in each

characteralwaysoddoreven;that’scalledparity. Aparitybitcanhelp spot
transmissionerrors.Ifyourcomputersendsthat extraparitybit,you’llhave
to say whetherit producesan even or odd numberof “on” bits in the
character.

You’llalsohave toindicateif yourcomputersendstwostopbitstoindicate
theendofabyte,insteadofone,thedefault.Theseserialinterfacesettings
aredescribedinmoredetailinyourStarfuserPrinter4 @erationsMan~l.

Serialinterface:protocol

Finally,in Serialmodeyourcomputerwill use one of threeprofocoZsto
ensuredata is sent properly. Protocol(sometimesalso called“handshak­ing”)means“whosayswhatwhen”,andis the wayyourprintertellsyour
computerit’sreadytonxeivedata. Yourcomputerandprintercommunicate
by sendingprotocolcontrolcodes(they’reatthefrontoftheASCIItable).

17

SomepmgrammemcalltheXONand XOFFcontrolcodes“kissonandkiss

off’ otherscallthesameprotocolDC1andDC3(fordevicecontrol).Either

way,thesecodesletyourprinterruntheshow,tellingthecomputerwhento
startandstopsendingdata.Yourprinteraskstohavedataheldbackwhen

itsmemoryis nearlyfullor whenit sensesanERRORcondition.
DTR(DataTerminalReady)protocoldoesthe samethingslightlydiffer-

ently.Theprintersendsa continuoushigh-voltagesignaloverthecableas
long as it can acceptdata, but drops the voltage to say “whoa” to the
computer.

Look in your computer’soperationsmanual,in the sectiondealingwith

communicationsprotocols,to seewhichis bestfor yoursystem.You can
sticktotheprinter’sdefaultsifyourcomputerdoesnotusetheDTR,butdoes

use

XON/XOFF.

2.2.2 Checkingyourconnections

Yourcomputerandpnntermayhavetroublecommunicatingwhenyoufirst
introducethem to eachother.Thequickwayto findoutifyoursettingsand
printercable areworkingistosendyourprinteraprintoutfromyourscreen
(CTRL-PwithMS-DOS).

Whenthat’sdone youwillalsohaveto presstheprintbuttonontheprinter,
whichmakestheprinteradvancetoanewsheet.Nolaserprinterprintsand
ejectsapageuntilit’stoldto feeda form,oruntilithasreceivedallthelines

thepagecanhold.

If your Star LaserPrinter4 doesn’tprintwhat’son the computerscreen,
recheck your connectionsand interface settings. With an applications
programlikeLotus1–2–3orMicrosoftWord,youuseaprintersetuproutine
to match your computerwith yourprinter’soperatingcharacteristics.So
double-checkyoursoftwaresettings;your computer’soutput,forexample,
mightnotbegoingto theproperport.

2.2.3Printeremulations

OK, you’vegot yourprinterand computerconnectedproperly.Nowlet’s
focuson howyourprinterworks.

Your Star LaserPrinter 4 understands and uses the same commandsas
severalearlierkindsof printers.Yourprinterworksby emulatingone of

these:

18

● Hewlett-PackardLaserJet11P

● EpsonFX-850

Otherlaserprintersmayoffersuchemulationstoo,butoftenrequireinstal­lationof a new circuitboardfor eachemulation.StarMicmnicshas built
thesetwo emulationsintothe StarLaserPrinter4.

Youselectwhichemulationyouwanteitherby selectingit fromtheprint
programmenuontheStarLaserPrinter4’scontrolpanel,orby sendingthe
printeroneof thesupersetcommandsat theendof thischapter.

2.2.4 Whatare theemulatedprinterslike?

MostofthetimeyouwillprobablychooseHPLaserJet11Pemulation,which
is thedefaultwhenyouturnontheStarLaserPrinter4.That’sbecausethe
LaserJetIIP, liketheStarLaserPrinter4, is a laserprinter.Thisemulation
modegivesyouthebest controloveryourprinter’sfeatures,andworkswith
mostpopularapplicationsprograms.

TheFX-850emulationisquitepowerfultoo.It includesallthedot-matrix

printer commands(includinggraphics)used by hundredsof programs.

Mostly,you’llchoosethisoptionwhenyourunaprogramthatcannotsend

laserprintercommands.

2,2.5 TheEmulationparameter

The Star LaserPrinter4’s Emulationsetting defines which printer it is

imitating:Hewlett-PackardLaserJet11Por EpsonFX–850.

MostoftheotherEMULATIONvaluesbelowcanbechangedwithEscape

codesas wellas fromthe panel.

AfewcomputerschangecertaincontrolorEscapecodeswhensendingthem

totheprinter,whichnaturallycausesconfision.Moreover,manyprogram-

mersprefertoseehexadecimalprintoutwhentheyaredebuggingprograms.

To helpwiththesesituations,youcanmakeyourStarLaserPrinter4 print

inhexadecimalratherthanthe usualASCIImodebyswitchingONtheHEX

DUMPparametersetting.

19

I

2.2.6Hints:Thehexdump

.

●

●

●

To makeyourStarLaserPrinter4 ‘printin hexadecimalratherthanthe
usualASCIIsymbols,pressthecontrolpanelbuttonsthat puttheprinter
offlineand in PROGRAMmode.Moveto the EMULATIONparame­ter’sHEXDUMPsettingandselectON.

SomecontrolorEscapecodescanbeproblemsonafewcomputers;those
computemchangecertaincodeswhensendingthemtotheprinter.If you
thinkyouhavethisproblemyouneedto seeexactlywhatyourprinteris
receiving.Werecommendyourunashortprogramthatloopsthroughand
printstheASCIItable.PrintinhexadecimalratherthantheusualASCII
symbols.

If youspota problemcodeyoucantrytobypasstheproblem,eitherby
sendingeachcodedirectlyto the printer,or by changingyoursystem’s
printerdriver.Suchcomputer-specificsolutions,though,arebeyondthe
scopeof thismanual.We suggestthatif necessaryyouconsultanother
progranimermorefamiliarwithyourcomputer.

Actually,ifyouaredebugginganyprogramyou mayfindthishex-dump
modehelpfid. It canbe agreattrouble-shooter.

2.3CONTROLLINGTHE PAGE
In

this section we look at two controls you have over how the Star
LaserPrinter4 handlesand formatsits pages:You can set valuesfor the
PAPERFEEDand LAYOUTparametersonthe controlpanel.Attheendof
thissectionwe’llalsopreviewdifferentwaysto movetheprintposition.

2.3.1 ThePAPERFEEDparameter

ThePAPERFEEDparameterletsyouspecifybothwhatkindofpaperyou
wantandhowthepaperis fed.

Oneconvenientthingaboutalaserprinteristhatitdoesn’tneedcontinuous

forms, sometimescalledfanfohi paper. Otherprintersfeed in a stackof

forms—withpagesalljoinedbyperforations-by havingsprocketsengage
andpullalongpinfeedholespunchedalongeachsideofthepaper.Afterit’s
printedyouhave to tear off the pinfeed-holestripsand then separatethe
pages.

WiththeStarLaserPrinter4 youcanprintona varietyofordinarycutsheet
pages.

20

FortheFeedervalueofthisPAPERFEEDparameter,youfirstentereither
multi-purposetray,manualfeedor cassette(option)toindicatewhereyou
wantpaperfedfrom.Themulti-purposetrayhandlesvarioustypesand sizes
ofpaper(htter, Legal,A4,B5,Executive,OHPsheets,Labels,Envelopes).
Manualfeedmeansyoufeedeachsheetbyhandfromthemulti-purposetray.
Thecassettetrayautomaticallyfeedssinglesheets,much likesheet feeders
on othertypesof printers.

Thedefaultpapersize is A4,youcanspecifyothersizesgivenbelowtoo.A
different-sizedtrayautomaticallyselectsthatdifferentpapersize.

.
.

.

●

8.5 by 11inchletter-sizepaper

8.5by 14 inchlegal-sizepaper
B5 international(usedin everycountryexceptNorth America)
(182by 257mm)
thenarrower“executive”size(7.25by 10.5inches)

Oneothernicethingyoucan do is printdirectlyon envelopes.Withthis
PaperSizeparameteryoucanspecifyenvelopesin sizes,Monarch,COM-

10,InternationalC5 andDL.Thenjust workoutwhereto puttheaddress,

settheorientationtolandscape(seebelow),andslideyour envelopeintothe

multi-purposetray!
Inanyemulationmodeyoucansendyourprintercommandstochangepaper

sizeorfeedinpapermanually;youcanalsoselectthoseparametersfromthe
panel.Eitherway, a messagein theprinterdisplaytellsthe operatorwhat
papersizeto use.

2.3.2 Hints:Paper,labelsandtransparencies

.

.

ThebestpaperfortheStarLaserPrinter4 has a smoothfinishandisof

60to 105g/m2weight.Anypaperdesignedforphotocopiersshoulddothe
trickthough;Xemx4024andCanonNP printnicely.Highqualitycotton
bondpaper,whichcontainsupto25percentcottonfibres,workspassably
wellwithevenheavierweights.

Beawarethatanypuckeredor wovenfinishmaynotprintassharplyas
you’dlike.Avoid shinycoated paperormultipartforms.Anddon’teven
thinkaboutputtingin stapledor rippedpages.

21

I

● If youfrequentlychangepaperweights, you willprobablyget skewing

problems—linesthat print at an anglebecauseof misfeeding.For best
results,whenyourStarLaserPrinter4isfirstsetuphave thepaperfeeder
“squared”forpaperof atleast60 grams.Lighterpaper,thoughcheaper,
isn’treallythe way to economize.

● Wantto printonyourownpreprintedletterhead?Fine—solongasyour

logo’isn’tthermographed.Thickcoloredinkmaylookluxurious,butit
canalsowindupstuckalloveryourprinter’sroller.Stayawayfromany
inksthatsoftenatrelativelylowtemperatures;yourprinterfusespagesat
200°

c.

Thiswarning appliestocoloredpapertoo,ifithasbeentintedwithalow­temperaturedye.

● Whenprintingstartsfadingbecausethetonerislow, removethecartridge

andgentlymckitbackandforthhalfadozentimes.Don’ttipituporthe
tonermayspillout. Redistributingthetonerpowderthiswaycankeepthe
cartridgegoingforanothertrayof paper.

● No question,workingwithsinglelabelsheetsis more convenientthan

withcontinuouslabel stock.Laserprintersarefasterandproducebetter­lookinglabels than other printers.But laser printers,which work by
electrostaticphotographyrather than impact pressure, put different
stressesonlabelpaper.Eachsheethas tobendoverandthroughtheguide
rollers; moreover, fusing toner to the paper involvesheat. You can
eliminatetroubleby always feedinglabelsheetsmanually.

BothAvery’s“Lasergraphic”labelsand Canon’slabelsseem to work
fine.Yourmainconcernis thatthelabelscompletelycoverthebacking
sheetso it shows onlyattheoutsidemargins.Thatwayindividuallabels
can’teasilypeeloff.

Thesafestapproachistolaser-printsharpmastercopiesonpaperandthen
photocopythoselistsontolabels.Thiswillavoidputtingyourprinter’s
adjustmentfor paperthicknessoutof adjustment.

● If you wantto print transparenciesfor youroverheadprojector,some

films will actuallymelt in yourlaserprinter. Stick to 3M’smedium­weighttransparencyfilm(type501)or to Hewlett-Packard’s#92285J.

22

I

2.3.3 TheLAYOUTparameter

Thelayoutor@mat or setupof a pagerefersto howtextispositionedon
the page. Layout includespage orientation,marginsand the spacingof
charactersacrossandlinesdownthepage.Youcan controlthesewiththe
LAYOUTparameter.

You probablywon’t use the LAYOUT parameter on the front panel’s
piograrnmenuverymuchthough. Mostof thetimeyou’lleitherleavethe

StarLaserPrinter4 with its defaultsettings,or look afterpage formatting

withcommandsyousendfmm yourcomputer.

Pageorientation

Apage’sorientationtellsyouinwhichdirectiontheprintgoesonthepage.
Whenyouuseportraitorientationthelines areprintedastheyareinanormal

businessletter,acrossthewidth of thepage.Aportraitpaintingof a person

is usuallyvertical-hence the name.

LandsCap

Portrait

Whenyouuselandscapeorientationthewordsareprinted“ontheirsides,”

verticallyupthelengthofthepage.Textwrittenwithlandscapeorientation

onlylookscorrectwhenyouturnthe pagesoitslengthrunsside-to-side,just

likethepaintingof a landscape.
Envelopesmustbe printedwith landscapeorientation.You also will use

landscaperegularlyto printchafisor banners,andspreadsheetsor reports

withsomanycolumnstheywouldn’totherwisefiton the page.
AUinternalfonts, andalmostallcartridgeanddownloadedfonts,arestored

in the StarLaserPrinter4 withportraitorientation.

23

Margins,columnsandlines

Youcanchangemarginsettingsforall fouredgesofapage.Theleftandright

sidemarginscanhavevaluesfmm Oto 132,definingthemargincolumns
betweenwhichwordsandimagescanbe printed.Andthetop andbottom
marginscan be setat anywherefromOto 112lines.

Text

Length

{

Portrait

, Top Margin ,

\

Bottom Margin

/

Landscape

Orientation Orientation

Themeaningofaline(sometimescalleda“row”)isdefinedbythevertical
motionindex (VMI).Theprintermovestheprintpositiondownalinewhen

itgetsa LineFeedcode,usuallywhenit bumpsintotherightmargin.

You’llprobablyletyourcomputerprogramsetthelinedepth. Butfromthe

panelyou can set theVMIvaluein incrementsfrom 1/48to 255/48of an

inch.

2.3.4 Movingtheprintposition:a preview

Wh.hdot-matrixanddaisywheelprinters,youpickwheretoprintonthe page

eitherbymovingtheprintheadbackandforthorbymovingthepaperitself.

Laserpnntemdon’thaveprintheads,buttheprincipleremainsthesame:you

havetosayexactlywhereonthepageeachpictureandstringoftextistogo,

so eachpagecanbe constructedintheprinter’smemory.

Insteadoftalkingaboutpnntheadswetalkaboutmovingtheprintposition

(some people call it moving the “cursor,” using the computer-screen

analogy).Horizontally,youcanmovetheprint positionwithbackspaceand

carriagereturncommands.Vertically,youcanmovetheprintpositiondown

thepagebyprintingsomanylinesperinch,orbysendingline-feedandhalf

24

line-feedcommands.You can alsomoveto tab settingsbothhorizontally
andvertically(handyfortablesandblankforms,or makingroomforyour
diagrams).

Butthosearen’tall.Dependingon whichprinteremulationyouareusing,
youcantellthe StarLaserPrinter4 to movetheprintpositionverticallyor

horizontallyin incrementsof:

1/10,1/12or similarfractionsof an inch(pitchsettings),
1/48,1/60,1/72,1/120or 1/216inch(lineor columndefinitions),
1/300inch(dots),or
1/720inch(tenthsof apoint).

These incrementsreflectthe history of twentiethcenturyprinting.Pitch,
referringtothenumberofcharactemprintedineachhorizontalinch,derives
fromhowtypewritersspacetheircharactem.Linesandcolumnswerefirst
usedbyearliercomputerprintem(onwhichtheyarecalledhorizontaland
verticalmotionindexes).You alreadyknowaboutthe StarLaserPrinter4
beingableto print 300dotsto the inch.Andtheunitby whichtypesetters
havemeasuredtextfor centuriesis thepoint, aboutl/72nd of an inch.

Onehint aboutmoving the printposition:youcanconfuseyourselfif you
usemomthanoneor twodifferentunitsduringthesamesession.Sodecide
beforehandhow accuratelyyou need to move the print position (not

forgettinganygraphicsyouwantto include).Thenstickto the unit(s)you
choose.

Thecommandsthatmovetheprintpositionin allthesewaysaredescribed
in chapters4 and 5, withthe specificprinteremulationyouwantto use.

2.4 CONTROLLINGTHEPRINTING

2.4.1 TheEMULATEATTRIBUTESparameter

TheEMULATEATI’RIBUTESparameterdefinesf&t attributesandsetup
values(if any) foreachof theStarLaserPrinter4’s two emulationmodes.

Afont’sattributesorcharacteristicsdeterminewhatthatfontwilllooklike
whenitisprinted.Thenextchapter,“Fonts,”exploresthe detailsof allfont
attributesin more detail.But let’s have a quick overviewnow, because
you’llmeetthesetermson the control panel’sprogrammenu.

25

Fontattributes:a preview

Orientation(portraitorlandscapeasdescribedearlier)isusuallythoughtof
as one attributeof a font; it’s not reallya pageformattingissue.Besides
orientation,thefontswithwhichyouprinthavetheseattributes:

Symbolset is sometimescalled “characterset”- whichcanbeconfusing,
sincesomepeople say“characterset”whentheymeana font.Symbolsets
are subgroupsof a font’ssymbolsthataremost appropriatefor particular
countries,suchas the UK (f), France(h),LatinAmerica(fl)orJapan@).

Spacingandpitch arelinked.Characterscanbe spacedonthelinepropor-

tionally,soa narrowlettersuchasi takeslessroomthana wideletterlike
W. Orcharactm canbespacedallthesamewidth:twelvecharacterstothe

inchis themonospacedspacingcalled12pitch.
Pointsizedefineshow bigcharacterswillprint,suchasIOor 12pointshigh.
Sryledefineswhethercharactersprintin uprightor italic style.
Strokeweightdefineshow bolda typefaceprints.

Finally,typt$aceitselfmeansthe artistic designof a font. Yourprinter’s

internaltypefaces include,LinePrinterand Courier.Withthe StarLaser­Printer 4 you can also use Helvet,Gothic, Script, Caslon, Orator and
hundredsmomtypefaces,whichyouloadintotheprinterfromcartridgeor
computerdisk.

Whenyouenablefontsetupparametersonthecontrolpanel,it meansyou

startoff withparticularfontattributesasdefaultswhenyoufirstchoosean
emulatioq.Withthe FX-850emulationyoucanenableproportionalspacing

andboldprintassetupparameters.FX-850modealsoletsyoustartup with
halfof yoursymbolsetas graphicscharactersinsteadof italics.

2.5THESTARLASERPRINTER4 SUPERSET

2.5.1Doyou needtosendcommands?

Here’s an importantfact: you can set nearly every one of the above

parametemby sending your printer a correspondingEscape sequence

command.ThoseEscapesequencecommandswilloverrideanysettingyou

makefromthe controlpanel.

Themainthingtorealizeaboutmost printercommands,though,isthatyou

probablydon’t need to use them.Nearly all popularsoftwarepackages

26

I

includeprinterdrivers,whichsendcommandsto the printerso you don’t
haveto typethemyourself.Someof thoseprogramsaskyouto keyin set­up paramettm about your printer. Other programs let you put printer
commandsbeforeor insidethedocumentyouwantto print.

Butmaybethesoftwareyouusedoesn’thaveprinter driversforanyprinter
yourStarLaserPrinter4 emulates:Youstillmight nothaveto writeprinter

cdmmandsyourself.
Severalcompaniessellprograms thatlookafterlaser-printingcommands

for such software.Ask your dealer aboutf.userControl,Printworksfor

Lusers,PCLPakandRAMResidentPrintmerge.There’snotmuchpoint in

reinventingthe wheel.

2.5.2 TheStarLaserPrinter4 superset

Besides the commands that emulate other printers, your laser printer
understandsfourothercommandscalledthe StarLaserPrinter4 superset.
The Star LaserPrinterahvaysunderstandssupersetcommands;it doesn’t
matterwhichemulationmode yourprinterisusingatthemoment.Superset
Escapesequencecommandsstart with~Sb [ so youcan quicklyspot
themin a listof commands.

Onesupersetcommandgivesyou anotherwaytoswitchfromone emulation
to another:you sendthe ChangeEmulationsupersetcommandinsteadof
usingthecontrolpanel.Thesecondsupersetcommandletsyouchangethe
printingorientation,so youcan print sidewaysup the lengthof the page,
insteadofacrossitswidthintheusualway.Thethirdsupersetcommandlets
yotichangethepaper size.Thefourthsupersetcommandletsyouchangethe
papercassette.

2.5.3 TheChangeEmulationcommand

YoucanthinkofthesupersetChangeEmulationcommandasthekeytoyour
Star LaserPrinter4. The ChangeEmulationsupersetcommandlets you
switchfmm one setof printercommandsto another “on the fly,”through
software.

Thisisthecommandthatdefineswhatothercommandsthe StarLaserPrinter
4will accept.WithChangeEmulationyouindicatewhichprinteremulation
programyou wanttheprinterto use.

27

I

Whenyoustarta newemulationyoualwaysstarta newpage.

Note:alwayssendCarriageReturnandFormFeed(controlcodes<CR>and

-@F>)just befo~ yougivethisChangeEmulationcommand.Theseforce

theprintertoprintanypartialpagein itsmemoryandstartanewpagewith

thenewemulation.If youforgetto issuethesecontrolcodesfirstthe Star
LaserPrinter4willdothemforyou-but yourChangeEmulationcommand
willjust resetthe printer’sparameterstotheirinitialdefaults,andnot give
youtheemulationyouaskfor.

You issue the ChangeEmulationcommandwith the followingEscape
sequence:

<ESC>[ E n

For thevalueof n youentera numberfromthistable:

n

EMULATION
O(zero)HPLaserJetUP
2

EpsonFX-850

2.5.4 TheSelectOrientationcommand

TheSelectOrientationsupersetcommandletsyouchangethe“attitude”in
whichthe StarLaserPrinter4 prints.

TochangefmmoneorientationtotheotheryousendthisSelectOrientation
Escapesequence:

<ESC>[ O n

Forthevalue n youput O(zero)forportraitorientation,

or 1 (one)forlandscapeorientation.

When you send this commandto print in landscapemode, the printer
automaticallyrotatesitscurrentfontso thatit printsaslandscape.

The spotor line whereprintingstartson thepageis sometimescalledthe

origin orfop offonn. The originchangeswhenyouswitchorientations.

Thatstartingprintpositionisintheupperleftcomerforapcmraitpage,but

in thelowerleft comerfor a landscapepage.
Youprobablywon’twanttochangeorientationallthatoften.Everytimeyou

do,theStarLaserPrinter4alsoresetsthepagemarginstoitslimits,andalso
howit defineslinesandcolumns.So wheneveryougivetheSelectOrien-

28

tationcommandyoumaywanttofollowitwithEscapesequencestochange
thesideandtopmarginsandpaperlengthsettings.(Alternatively,youcould
putthe printerofflineandresetthesefmm the controlpanel,as described
underLAYOUTearlier.)

2.5.5 ThePaperSizecommand

ThePaperSizesupersetcommandletsyouchangethepapersizein which
the StarLaserPrinter4 prints.

This is the commandthat defineswhat size the Star LaserPrinter4 will
accept. You issue the Paper Size commandwith the followingEscape
sequence:

<ESC>[ S n

For thevalueof n youenteranumberfromthistable:

n

1

2
3
4
5

11
12
13
14

SIZE
Lettersizepaper
Legalsizepaper
A4 Internationalsizepaper
Executivesizepaper

B5 Internationalsize paper
Monarchsizeenvelope
Com-10sizeenvelope
InternationalDL sizeenvelope
InternationalC5sizeenvelope

This commandcontrolsthe size that the printer should use when next

feedingfrom the selectedpaper feeder.If the printerdoes not have the
requestedsize,thecontrolpanelwilldisplaya messageinstructingyouto
insertthe requestedpaper/envelope.If theoperatoroverridesthatrequest,
therequestedsizeis ignoredandthecurrentsizeisused.

2.5.6 ThePaperFeedercommand

ThePaperFeeder supersetcommandletsyouchangethepaperfeederfrom

whichtheprinterfeedspaper.
TochangethepaperfeederyousendthePaperFeederEscapesequence:

<ESC>[ C n

29

I

Forthevalueof n youentera numberfromthistable:

for one sheet, then switches to the

n

PAPERFEEDER

1 Multi-purposetray

2 Multi-purposetray

optionalcassette

4

Optionalcassette

5 Optionalcassetteforonesheet,thenswitchestotheMuM-

purposetray

Thiscommand,ifgivenatthebeginningofapage,controlsthefeederofthe
sheeton whichto printthatpage.

Ifthecommandisnotatthebeginningofthepage,itwillforceaFormFeed
and controlthe feederof the sheeton whichto printthenewpagewhich
follows.

This command is ignonxlwhentheoptionalcassetteis not installed.

30

tie fontsyouusedeterminewhat yourpageswilllooklike.Inthischapter
we’llfirst clari~ the meaningsof wordspeopleuse whenthey talk about
fonts.

Nextwe’llexaminethethreekindsoffonts(internal,cartridgeanddown­loaded)that you can use on your Star LaserPrinter4. We’ll cover the
particularsetsof symbolsyoucanchoosefor thosefontstoo.
Finally,we’llfindouthowto loadtheprinterwithyourselectionof fonts.

3.1 FONTTERMINOLOGY

3.1.1 Typefacesandfonts

First,a fewdefinitions.A typ~aceis a familyof charactemwiththesame
basicdesign.Theartisticcharacterdesignyouchooseestablishesthe“tone
ofvoice”for allyourdocuments.

Several variables can characterizetypefaces, including weight (light,

medium,bold),width(condensedorextended),andstyle(uprightoritalic).
Courier,forexample,isatypefacefamilythatincludesthecharactersinboth

Co’uriermedium italicandCourier bold uprighti

Let’s considerthesevariables.Boklprintissometimescalled“emphasized”

or’’double-strike”.Onearlierprintersboldfaceisgeneratedbyprintingeach
charactertwice;dot-matrixmachinesprintthesecondimpressionjustahair
belowor to therightofthefirstone.

Withthe StarLaserPrinter4 youcan havedifferentstrokeweightsin two
ways, dependingon which emulationyou are using. You can have two
differentfonts,storingandswitchingbetweenaboldandamediumversion
ofthefont.OryoucanusejustonefontandsetboldonandoffwithEscape
sequences.Thelatterwayusesjust halfas muchfontmemory.

31

Narrowcondensedfacesusedtobecalled“compnxsed”.Theycramabout
fivecharacteminthespacewherethreeusuallygo--ideal forspreadsheets.
An extendedface, particularlyon a dot-matrixprinter,goes by several
names:“expanded,

““enlarged”or’’double-width’’printing.Nomatterwhat
it’scalled,extendedprintiswiderthanitis high,andcanbefairlyeffective
in pageheadings.

Italiccharacters(sometimescalled“oblique”)areslanted.Ordinaryupright
charactemm oftencalled“reman”.YourStarLaserPrinter4 comeswitha

built-inuprightCouriertypeface.Moreover,from any of the Star Laser­Printer4’s built-intypefacesyou can selecta subsetof uprightsymbols

calledRoman-8.
Afont isacompletesetofcharactersinaparticularsizeandtypeface.Inthe

worldoflaserprintm, thethreevariablesmentionedabove—weight,width
and style—are a few~ontattributes(sometimescalled“fontcharacteris-

tics”).Let’sconsiderthreemoreattributes:fontheight,spacingandpitch.

3.1.2Fontheight

Thebizselineistheinvisiblelineuponwhichcharactemoftypesit.Sincethe
firstletterblocksweremadeofleadalloy,thedistancefromonebaselineto
thenextis calledZeuding(pronounced“ledding”).Typeitselfis measured
fromthetopofanuscender(thepartextendingupinthebork, forexample)
to thebottom of a descender(thedown-strokeofthey or q ).
Themeasurementsusedtodescribefontsarepoint,sandpicus(derivedfrom
themarksandlettersinmedievalchurchalmanacs).Thereare 12pointsto
thepica,,and almostexactly6 picas(72points)to theinch.

Laserprintersforcomputemmeasure~ontheightinpoints.Onlaserprinte~
the“whitespace”aboveascendersandbelowdescendemdependsonhow
the line is defined,so the line eonespondsto leading.This type you’re
readinghasafontheightof 12points, andisspacedalittlelessthan5 lines
perinch.

32

Theo has beenkerned

Thefont height(24 points)is measured

closerto th-

f.

from ●scenderto descender.

I

4

A font is a complete set of

Ascender

-

characters in a particular

Descender

1

size and type[ ace.

Baseline

Uu

Proportional

Swif

spacing

L;adingis tho
baselineto baseline
m~asuremcnt.

3.1.3Fontspacingandpitch

Youprobablyfirst heard the wordpitch in connection with typewriters.
Typewntersnonnallyusemonospacedspacing:theygiveeachcharacterthe
sameamountof spaceontheline.

Abouthalfthefontsavailableforlaserprintersusemonospacedspacingtoo.
Pitch is alwaysexpressedas so manycharactersper inch.Ten-pitch,for
example,meansa fontwithtencharactersin eachinchof the line.

Typesetter for centurieshave usedtwo specialsizesoftypeformosttext.
EZitecharactersareIOpointshighand print12charactemperinch.Andpica
chararacters are 12pointshigh and pitchedat 10charactersto the inch.
You’lloften run acrossthesemonospacedfontsizesin the laser printing
world.

Ideallyeachcharacterinawordshouldnestleagainstitsneighbors sothey
appearevenlyspaced.Butadjacentroundcharactersareaptto looktoo far
apafi,whileflat-sidedcharactersmayappeartoo close.

Proportionalspacingtakesinto accountthedifferencesin widthsamong
letters(compareiiwithWW).Proportionallyspacedprintingiseasiertoread
than typewriter-styleprintingin whichall characters,includingpunctua­tion,havethesamewidth.

Realtypesettersequipcertaincharactemwithkerns,letterpansthatextend
out to overlapadjoiningletters.In this word Typethey is kernedclosely

againstthe T. Kerningseparatesgreat typefromgoodtype.

33

3.2HOWTHESTAR
LASERPRINTER4 STORESFONTS

3.2.1Bit-mappedfonts

StarMicronicshasearnedareputationforattractive,well-designedfontson

itsprinters,andthislaserprintercontinuesthetradition.
TheStarLaserPrinter4 usesbit-mappedfonts.Eachcharacters madeup

of a patternor “map”ofdots,justlikecharactersonadot-matrixprinteror
on yourcomputerscreen.Resolutionmakesthe difference:to makeeach
charactertheStarLaserPrinter4 usesten ortwentytimesas manydotsas
a dot-matrixprinteror computerscreendoes.

Everysizeofprintyouwant,pluseveryitalicorboldfacevecsion,hasitsown
bitmapand is normallyconsideredaseparatefont.It takesa gooddealof
printermemorytoholdallthefontsyoumightwantatanygivenmoment.

Star Las&Pnnter4 fonts can be groupedinto three categories:internal,
cartridge,anddownloadablefonts.

3.2.2Internalfonts

TheStarLaserPrinter4 hassevenbuilt-ininternulfontsthatresideperma­nentlyin its read-onlymemory(ROM).That’swhy these are sometimes
called“residentfonts”:

Courier 12point Medium
Courier

12point Bold
Courier 12point Italic
Courier 1Opoint

Medium
Courier 1Opoint Bold
Courier 1Opoint Italic
LinePrinter

8.5point

Medium

Courieristhefaceusedonthemostcommonelectrictypewriters.Courier

is not printed with proportionalspacing.The LinePrinterfont, designed
originallyfor mainframecomputem,is smallanddesignedto packalotof
charactersintoeveryinchof print(greatfor spreadsheets).

Withthesemost frequentlyusedfontsin ROM,a pagecan be assembled
muchfasterthanifthefontshadtobeloadedintothe printerforeachprinting

job.

34

3.2.3Cartridgeanddownloadedfonts

YourStarLaserPrinter4 canusetwootherkindsof fonts,alongwiththose

builtintotheprinter.

Curtridgefonts,like the internalones, are permanentlystoredon ROM

chips.ThedifferenceisthatthoseROMsareinremovablecartridges.Your
StarLaserPrinter4 has a slotforone fontcartridge.

A cartridgemayholdanywherefromhalf a dozento two dozenfonts,all
differingfmmtheinternalfontsin size,style,strokeweightor symbolset.
You’llfindthatcartridgefontsopen up awiderrangeoftypefacestoo,such

as TmsRomn,PrestigeElite,Helvetand LetterGothic.Generally,cartridge
andinternalfonttypefacesm suitableforbothtextandheadlines.

The third kind of font is neitherbuilt into your Star LaserPrinter4 nor

availablejust by slippingin a cartridge.You dowrdoudthis kind of font,

which means you use a computerprogram to send charactemfrom a
computerdiskto yourprinter’smemory.Anydownloadedfont(sometimes
called a “soft” or “installed”font) that you put into the printer’s RAM
disappearswhenyouturnofftheprinter,soyouhavetodownloadthatfont
againnexttime youwantit.

Downloadablefontsrun the gamutfromEgyptianhieroglyphicsto those
eye-catchingdecorativefontsknownasdispkzyfonts.Theyalsoincludethe
more exoticforeign-languagecharacters,such as Arabicor Cynllic, and
symbolandmathematicalfonts(sometimeswithfractions).

Howcan you comparecartridgeand downloadablefonts?Whenyouuse
cartridgefontsyou don’thaveto taketimeto downloadthem.Theydon’t
takeanyof yourStarLaserPrinter4’sRAMmemoryeither.But download­ablefontsoffermanymorechoices.Downloadablefontsusuallycostless
too.

Theprinteralwaysknowswhereits internalfontsare.For eachemulation
program,it alsokeepstrackof cartridgeanddownloadedfontsin apartof
its memorycalledthefont tuble.

SowiththeStarLaserPrinter4youcanhavemanyfontsavailableatanyone

time—theinternalfonts,thefontsonanycassettesyou’vepluggedin,and

any fonts you have downloaded.You can change fonts in mid-lineto

emphasizea word or two wheneveryou want. You can mix internal,

cartridgeanddownloadedfontsin thesamedocument.

35

3.2.4Hints:Wheretoget fonts

● Youcanprint anydowrdoadablefontthatworksonthe HPLaserJetIIP.

Severalothercompaniesselldownloadablefontswhicharecompatible
withyourStarLaserPrinter4.The BitstreamCorporationinBostonisone
ofthemorepopulm,Conographicisanother.Xeroxincludesasetoffonts
withits VenturaPublisherdesktoppublishingsoftware,whichyoucan

usew’ithyourprinter’sLaserJetIIP emulation.

● The SoftCraft companynow markets a Bitstream-developedproduct

called“Fontwa&’.WithFontwareyoucangeneratebit-mappedfontsof

anysizefromalibraryof outZinefonts.In outlinefontseachcharacter’s
profileisdefinedjust onceandtheprintergeneratesanyfontheightfrom
thatprofile,whichsavesprintermemory.

Outlinefontsdemand awesomecomputingpowerof theprinterthough,

so they’ve been availableonly on laser printers considerablymore
expensive than the Star LaserPrinter4. Now, with programs like
Fontware,yourStarLaserPrinter4 canturnoutelegantprintin anysize
withoutthathighprice.

● Don’thesitateto ask your Stardealerwhereyoucanbuycartridgeand

downloadablefonts.If youEally can’tfmd the oneyouneed,you can
designanddownloadyourowncustomizedfonts.Thisisnoeasyjob,but
if you’recuriousit’s describedin chapter 4.

36

3.3SYMBOLSETS

Let’s summarizebriefly,to put the subjectof symbolsetsincontext.

The attributesof a fontdeterminewhatthatfontwill looklike when it is

printed. We covered all but orientationat the start of this chapter, and
orientationin the lastchapter.A font’sattributesinclude:

orientation(portraitorlandscape)
symbol

set(whichwe’lllookatnext)

spacing(monospacedorproportional)
pitch(10or16.66charactersperinch,forexample)
fontheight(measuredin points)
style(uprightor italics)
strokeweight(light,mediumorbold)
typeface(LinePrinter,Courierandso on)

Thoughthey are not font attributes,such printingfeaturesas subscripts,
superscriptsandunderliningaretreatedalongwith fontsin the following
chaptm. Eachemulationhasitsownwayofprovidingthesefeatures.

Incidentally,thebestwayto underlineisto usetheunderlinecommandin
theemulationyouareusing,insteadofbackspacingandoverprintingwith
theseparateunderlinecharacter(-). If youdo thelatterwithproportionally
spacedtext,you’llusuallyfindtheunderliningis too longforthetext.

3.3.1 Whatare symbolsets?

Keyboardsdifferfromcountrytocountry,TheBritishneedtheirf symbol,

thqFrenchneedtheirq and6,theSpanishneedtheir~andfietc.Scientists
needparticularmathematicalsigns too.ThereeasilycouIdbefourhundred
or morepossiblesymbolsfor anygivenfont.

However,thenumberof symbolsprintersstorefor a fontislimitedto 256

slots,asinASCII.Sosomesymbols,ortheorderofsomesymbols,candiffer

in anyfont.Eachuniqueselectionandarrangementof symbolsisa symbol
set (sometimescalleda “graphicset”or “characterset”).

The symbolat position91 for exampleis anopenbracket,[ , in theusual
ASCIIsymbolset.ButthesamepositionhoIdsA(capitalAwithanumlaut)
in the Germansymbolset.

37

Youprobablywon’tchangesymbolsetsveryoften,unlessyouneedspecial
symbolsforyourtradeor regularlywrite in a languageotherthanEnglish.
Whenyoudoneedthem,though,inoneoranotheremulationmodeyourStar

LaserPrinter4 supportssymbolsetsforallthesecountries:

U.S.(ASCII) UnitedKingdom

France

Germany

Sweden

Finland

Italy

Denmark Norway

Spain

Besidestheseyourprintersupportssetscontainingjustsymbols,suchasthe
Greekalphabet(13),logicsymbols(S),arrows(t), theqjistered trademark

symbol(@)andso on.

3.3.2Eachemulationhassymbolsets

Yourlaserprinterworksby emulatingor followingcommandsdeveloped
originallyfor otherprinters. Oneof the StarLaserPrinter8’sadvantagesis
thatitoffefiyouachoiceofseveralbuilt-insymbolsetsforeachfontineach
emulation.

TheactualFX-850,printerdoesnot usesymbolsetstoproduceinternational

accentedcharactemandspecialsymbols.Instead,theFX-8501etsyoudefine
whichcharactersyouwantwithparametersettings.

WhenyourStarLaserPnnter4isemulatingtheHPLaserJetIIP,thenormal
default symbolset is the Roman-8set. Roman-8includesall the usual
keyboardcharacters,numbersand symbolsinASCII,plusaccentedfo~ign­languageCharactersandspecialsymbols(butnothing for linedrawing).

TheEpsonFX-850emulationismllyvematile. Itlets youhavebothofthose

IBMsymbolsetsplusEpson’sownstandardsymbolset.This Epsonsymbol
setisunusual:itcontainsbothuprightanditaliccharactersinthe sameset.
You may also choosefrom symbolsets for all the countriesmentioned
above,plusa seconduniquesetforeachof Denmarkand Spain.

3.3.3Defaultfontattributes

Whenyoupoweronyourprinterandchooseanemulation,theinternalfonts
startoffwithdefaultattributeswhichyoucanchangeasneeded.Thedefault
symbolsets dependon theemulation:in LaserJetIIP modethe defaultis

Roman-8,andin EpsonEX-800modeit’sEpsonStd USA.

38

Besidesthese,allinternalfonts defaultto portraitorientation,uprightstyle
(notitalics)andmediumboldness.Thetablebelowshowstheirotherdefault
attributes:

Typeface

Spacing Pitch Font height

Courier

monospaced 10 12point

LinePrinter

monospaced

16.6 8.5point

Technically,youcanuseanyoftheStarLaserPrinter4’sresidentfontswhen

yousendcommandsemulatingaparticularprinter.But eachemulationonly
printsproperlywiththefontsdesignedforit.Furthermore,you canonlyuse
symbolsets, or arrangementsof those fonts, which that emulationcan
handle.So be awarethat, if youtry usingfontsother than those recom­mended for a particularemulation,you will usuallyget printing in the
emulation’sdefaultfont.

If youwanta characterthat’snotin thefontyou’reusing,don’thesitateto
grabit. JustsendtheEscapesequencesthatselectyourdesiredsymbolset,
printwithit, thengobackto youroriginalfont.

3.4 MANAGINGFONTS

Youcan seewhichfontsarecurrentlyselectedonyourStarLaserPrinter4

byprintinga statussheetin offlinemode,asmentionedatthebeginningof
thischapter.AnotherTESTmodemenuitem,describedin the StarLuser-
Printer4 OperationsManual,alsolets youprintout alist of all the fonts

availableon theprinterat anygivenmoment.

3.4.1Fonts

Most popular software packages,particularlyword processors,let you

choosefonts fromwithintheprogram.They sendtheappropriatecommands
to the printerandyoudon’tneedto understandhowtheydo it.MultiMate

usespitchto identifydifferentfonts,forexample,whileWordPe&ectuses

printformats.Thepointis, you maynotevenhaveto worryabout selecting

whichfontto use.

Butnotallpackagesdothejob foryou.If youareinthissituation,youcan

selectanyfont attributementionedabove,eitherfromthecontrolpanelor

by sendinganEscapesequencecommandin oneoftheemulationmodes.

If youuse thecontrolpanelin programmode,selectCHARACTER.Just

pressthe [ > ] buttonto getto thefontattributeyouwantto set,press [ v ]

39

I

togettoitspossiblevalues,press[> ]toscanthroughthem,andfinallypress

[v ] to slapinthevalueyouwant.

Theproceduresforselectinga fontfroma computerprogram is a bitmom

complicated,anddependson whichemulationmodeyouareusing.These
fontselectionmethods are detailedin the nexttwo chaptem.

3.4.2’Hints:Desktoppublishingandpage design

● Desktoppublishingsystemshelp youautomateyourspecificationsfor

margins,coverdesign,typefaces,fontsizes,placementofgraphicsand

regularfeatures.You build the specificationsyou want in templates,
standardpage designsyoulatersimplycallupon yourscreenandfillin
withtext.

● Somedesktoppublishingsystems,suchasAldus’sPageMaker, arepage-

oriented:you put each page togetherindividually.These are greatfor
shorteFdocuments,such as newsletters,brochuresand letters. Other
systems,such as Xerox’s VenturaPubZisher,a~ document-oriented.

Thatmakes thembettersuitedtotechnicalmanualsandlongproposalsor

reportsthat go throughmanydrafts.
Otherwaysinwhichsuchsystemsdifferincludewhethertheyshowon

yourscreenwhatyouwillgetonpaper(code-basedprogramsdon’t),how
welltheyhandlepictures,andhowhardtheyaretolearn.Thinkabout
yourneedsbeforechoosingadesktoppublishingsystem.

● A few of today’scomputerprogramslet yousee severaldifferentfont

sizesandtypefacesonyourcomputerscreen.That capabilityisnecessary
if youwantto seeon-screenexactlywhatwillprint onyourStarLaser­Printer4. DesktoppublishemcallthiscapabilityWYSIWYG—“what
youseeis whatyouget”.

● Whenyoudesign yourpages,don’tvaryfontsizejustto fittextintothe

spaceavailable.Gowitha sizethat’seasyto readandbe consistent.

Neverbetemptedtousealluppercaseletters.Whenyouwanttohighlight
text,switchto a boldfontor drawaboxaroundit.

● Don’tbe afraidto usewhite space.Whitespacerelieveseyefatigueand

looksmoreattractive.

40

3.Optjonalfonts

M o f a f y S L 4 c i
i f T c g y m v i s s s f
h s a s w T y C f f e y
m a i a b l o m s s a s r f
7 t 1 p

o f o d t t A y S M d

a c o d f t f

H

l d f
L G p f
B c

o c r f

u p c

3.4.4 Usjngcartrjdgefonts

T g a t a f o a c

1 s t c y w i t s o t f o t p

2 u e t c p m o ac f y c

t s t f y w ( f e e i f
c

N D n i o p c o o t t D l

i O

3.4.5Howto downloadfonts

T d f f c d y n m t a s 6
miW r a l a5 c w ac o
d d ( h d i b

M c fop a n o t m
i I DeL B S H

L SoL a t P p d i M

W T u p h y d f t l y

a t f auf y w p o
M f f o d t y b t d i y p h

E s r i t f w s t p U a
y h t d i c t f f y c i y p (
L H m y m a af I n f I y d
f w t M C u m s t u t C o

4

T w k y c f “ t d y s w

s p b s c
O l l a a c o e

3.4.6Downloadinga font:exampleone

E o i f ac r j M
S y b HeC S f a w

t d t r ( i a b c T H
d l f e f a C C a
CNI c y i t H c f C

1 deR ( I o B P R s

s P
O o t d y g a c a b f n

DOT l t r u f y m s t
p i o t a y c A p y t

D C

W t p a f t f I n y k i an b
Oa 3 T w t p a w y w t f s
peo

te

y t e P o T ( t f
dii y p t p R b F t p
a i y w t p a s o t f a y r Y o N f y
o n
Y t d t s f t i a b f f e t
f t i f

D C

T p w b t s b y h t r t u d f
I n f t u i a b f

3.4.7Downloadinga font:exampletwo

E t i f a c r A C P
d

pu

p w M W

P p a p d c H a a p
c PCw c t d i n t p a g f
T c f d f y C S f a t A p y
t

42

P C

T a a“ c i t P i t c a
d f f a t f r i a b T p a i

y w t c af c A t a i t W
f m f t Y f y

A P h m t f d f w y w p o
t W f c W a k i t f d y w t
a A t s r t t H p d i t
APf y c e

T i F n o y C S f w a o t

p m o a y W a
W b e h y u t f d o y a

s A y k s c t c f w p
r s exb p T c a d i
t f t c

T p o d a f y d y i n s
stA y c o d t i H L 1 m c
a dof i d f i c 4

3.4.8Hints:Managingmemory

● P f s c b q c f y Y t

o f a s i y o f f f y g y
p b r i m A t r y w f
o A o t f w s d y l p

- t o 2 p

- l o l o p

- g

- m

-j t

● Y c t a a R b t y S

4 i y n t d m f

43

● Alc e a s o h p s i

pnu y c m t y As
a s t m s t h t d t b
p a i pah i am s

● S p m p a d e f a

n t f t f f p m t m r f t
n f T a c m g s i y s y
p w o p i a c n I k t p
R f b o H t d t c
sis d y p t

● Moyoaf( w

M C c b y p y f d a
t f w t s i t p m I y u a s
dof ( m t t d y w f i m
e t k i i t l p m Y d s
d f t w i y u ap s I y i an
h m s y d d d f

c Howf cad T

s e t a M o y l p m i n a
f s f b i h t s e p b p i a
w a a m o o y a u

T s h m m i a f e f p t p
o a p t [ b t p a s s Y p
w b a s a f m i y t t o i
m b d t m f I t w c p
w t c a f t t r

A a g r y c i a l ad d f i
ad A t t i f t s b p d
m g d s t m m t A t s o
aml p i t m f i o d

T k a w v o e f i m h m S
La4 u ( t s t p o a n
p t a t o b w t s m o R

44

HP LaserJetIIP ‘” “

Commands

‘ HeL 1 i a e k o y

S La4 Y s h n t r m p
s p i H L 1 m a t p l c
s L I c

B t L 1 i a l p t i c c g
y m c o y Stt i p w t o
b c s Y w p u t e c

m t t o R t r w p m e
i t c

W f t s s i t c a w d i C 2 f
s p m a p s c t w c
c t p t l “ o t p n w p af
a f w l d o w a p

A t e o t c w d h t c a u y o f
a a h t s t b w c m

4.1 L C

4.1.1 Whatdo LaserJetIIP commands/ooklike?

T L I e m i a d c c c
( a c f c r a s E s
( a c E f r t p B a t o L 1
e c y c s y S L 4 l l t

<

C n C

i w t c p i a s o t s t g c o
c t w t o b n i s v y w t u i
t c a C i t s c y w p

45

T i d m L H d f t o

p emF a E s e w a c l I

y d m t l c u y p w k w

t E s e a w t f c a p o t

s c

S i L H c e n o c y p a
t < c i a a A s W t o e
u a n y p a a < c i a c i
t p i t A t

F e t L I c t s t r m t c

6 i

< & 6 M

w y w c i B a

1-0

L C ( 2 ) ; “ &

T c s y p t s “ a “ w i
L I p i a t c n

H i y w u E F e t c t s
t r m l l t

* Q 6

w i B y w w t w

1 L C ( ; “ ; C (

T c s t p w c h t b i A
p 6 Y p E P t i i o a a
d n m c 6

4.1.2 CombiningEscapesequences

L i t c w d o w t s af b j s
w f a y w s a b o p s I y
s a f b s e o i a y c b c t
y s suB i c m af b o r t
e t y c a f T a t o c t n j
f se

46

H a w y c s y a f k t i t
c t h t s cop a j o l
E s T c c t w t t - a

cop j o a c o t l c

ch

F e t d t s w a c f f t p

f y m s t c

<

(S 1

<

(S 7

<

(S 3

w w s i

botiface Cowzkr. B t s c d

t s t a w o b

<

(S 1s 7 3

4.2 C T P

4.2.1Selftest

Y c c h y L 4 i p a h a l a i

p s b s t S T c

<

Z

N t t zi l t i t o L I e
w as l A y s aS T c t p f
p a p l i i m T o a p i p i c
p ( i i s a n o c a f i u
T p f o t p w a c d o a t
chi i d f

T p a q c i i A i f n t
t p i t r f y n p I t p d ap
i s a f p m w y c l u i y S

Lu4 O M

4

4.2.2Setnumberof copies

Y c p u t 9 c o e o t p y s t t p
Y m s t c a w t t o ap i w s
i e f t a a s p u y s a s
c

< & X

A y h t d i c t n s i t c t t n o

p y w ( t a t a l L

4.2.3Setfeedselection

O t y c d i p d o e a w a r p
Y u t F S c t t y p t s e ap
f t muo t c (

< & H

F ne o o t n f t t

n

F S

O( t p o e t c p

1( t p t i n p f t m t
2 t p t a r p m
3

t p a a e y f i m

4 t p t i n p f t p c

S a u p b i t p m w y g t
c t p f t p w f f w y i
T y c m t t l c o a p T n f
s s i o u y c i

4.2.4Reset

M s p aur t p t t i d
b s ap j I ag i f y t f t s p

j t m s y g t s y w

W y w t s a y l p p b t t i
d v ( p c t “ t p s t
c

< E

48

1

T p w f p a p l i i m b r

t paR c u t f f y
p m A p f o m y h d
h w s b t a y s ar c P a
t f a d a t e o t c “
F s

4.2.5Example:Printercontrols

L s whw w p t c t S y h

j t o y l p a s L I e o t

c p W h w y s t f c t

y p

<

Z

< E
< & 2X

A aB p t w l l t

N

1 W “ : “ ,
2 L C ( 2 ; “

Z “

3 L C ( 2 ) ; “

4 L C ( ; “
R

F i i i w p t p p a t p w a t
c i i d f f t e (

N t p s a i p v i f s a
n o c t i s

T l c d t t i t t a p w
f i y a t p e p t t T i h w y
w t c o al o p l

Youcann s y l f y w p p t t
p a f i t p W y d y m w t s t
c E c o m t

49

4.3 P O

Y m r t o p o a ap f i

T p w w o ap h e l i e h t l

o i b S ori a a f a a i t a s

l o i t c

4.3.1PageLength

T p t y h i s t d p s f y l
p W y w a s a w y c t t y
n t r t p s Y s a c t p l
b y s t f p T P L c s t
n o l t c p o ap ( p i t t n o
i

T P L c f i

< & P

w n i t n o t l o t p i c b a n b
5 a 1

T d n o l i t l o t p t t 6l p
i F 1 l l p t w o t 6 l ( a t
d w y h p i at

I y d w t d l y s s t P L
c b y s t f p T t b s h y
p t r n o l D w o a p s y
w t u t n u y p l

I y h s t p f f t c p t “ S

T a“ p l c ( P w a

s t c w c t p s b t c I n
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L
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a s t c - & a t c t o t
l

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p i T f c c m f w t p

l

< & 1

I y c s ap l d t t p i t t

t p w g o a d am a f t p t

A y c t t p t O L b t r t p
I d h t p s p onl p I y i p
a

le

p o e o l p t p w s

t p a t s

A t P L c p a m b t t d S
a yous i c w y h t s a o t f

“mc

4.3.2Sidemargins

M s d t p o t p o w t p c p

Y s s m t p c T w o a c d

f e f d o i p T C f e p
c 3 t i f t l e o t p ( O B 1
p P E p c 3

j t a a h i i

5

Y c s t l m f o t t r m U t
f c t s t l m s nt b t c n
w y w t l m t s

< & a n L

Sit s t r m y s t c w y d
c .

< & n M

I y w t p b l a r m b t t p p
l i o w t “ t s m s t c

<

9

4.3.3 Topmargin

Vet Lac i p t i “ l w

s a b l t i p l B a m i l Y
c c t m o a “ w l c d
l i t c

W y s t t m t i d n c e w y
c t d o a l Y c u t c t s t t
m a J b a t i t c p p i b y
m y h t m t p p b u N y h
t k y t m i t p l

U t c t s t t m s n t b t n o l
d f t t o t p t y w l b b y s
p ‘

< & E

N t t c f t “ i a l “

4.3.4 Textlengthand thebottommargin

B d t La4 a g y t a b

m o t s s S y o n t s t T L
c w y w d t a b m

I y w ad b m f d h m t l w
p t m y w C t t w p a b
m l t t p l T s t f T L
c e f n y d n o l

5

< & F

T P L T M a T L c t w
t t s t b m

b m = p l – ( m t l
T b m i c t “ r w p t u

cof Y n w t s t p b t
cop b s y d ( e w y p
l

T y l w o w t d i t S L 4 w l

y c i t b m t I y c t p b
t b m r t y m l w o g i t
unr a t e o t p T c l l t

< & L

I y w t a p b t b m f ne O(

B i y w t f p b t m w i t d

e 1 (

4.3.5Example:Pageformatting

O l h a a f ap T p o t p w w i
j b T a w o t t o t p d o w f

w u L p o u o 1 L P f a e l
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column 10 column 70

top margin=8 Iirme {

len length.

100 lines

bottom margin

4 lines

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paga !ength. 112 lines

\ occasional footnotes

53

A i p w a w t p t o o f b
t n b m A w w f p l r t
s m s w c s t o u f w

H a t c t w p t f f u

< & 1

. & 1

c & I O
( s o p h
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4.4 M T P P

4.4.1Manywaystomove

T La4 p e c o t p p
w y p yoH y c s b a
c r c V y c m t p d
t p b p s m l p i o b s l a h

l c Y c m h o v t t s

a w

T a a Y c a t t S L 4 t m i p
p e v o h i i o

1 1 o 3 i ( s
V o V

i ( o c d

1 i (

1 i ( o a p
A t c a d b
O h a m t p p y c c y t

t u m t t d u d t s s S d
beh p y n t b i m t p p n
foa g y w t i T s t t u y
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4.4.2Linesper inch

T v lic g y m o t j t s
o e l p i o e p U t c t s h m

l y w i e v i o y p

< & D

F n y e t n o l p i y w a o 1

6,o 4 I y e an o t t t p w
i t c

4.4.3Definingthespaceandcolumn

B y u p p c y f m w t c

t deo t l o s ( c “ a h
m i V a H T d d a m t
p p I t d t b u y c u i p

p c

W i a t s i t i d h f t p p
t f e c y p ( f s t
T s c a b o a t w o av p c One
c w i t w o t s c i t c f n m
w i i m o p s

Ocy m w t c s w t o t c
p s L l a a e T s w c i u o

l a i a t C f c p I p i E
c c a t 1 o a i s t f d
s w i 1 u I w c i s w t 6 e c
w hat o b i

I y a u < a < t s b ap a s
f i a g i t c t s w a e s

T c t s w y s t c

< & n H

i w f y c e an f O( t 8 Aw o O w
p c o t o e o a w o 8 w p t s

i a

5

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4.4.5Defininglinedepth

T l d ( c t “ m i s h

f d ap t p p w m f e l f Y p
w u t l d a m a liL d c b m
p b i i a e t c T l d c i m o

l o a i

T i f a t l d i t w y c i y a

c t a m o a “ W y i t l d
y efd t n o l p i a i t p
l

T c y s t s t l d l l t

<

&/n C

( t t c a t “ i al “ i w f n y
c e an f Ot 3 I ni z l w b p o t o
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4.4.6MovingthePRINTpositionhorizontally

Y c u t d u t m t p p h
c (sd ( l o a i o t o ap
(dB c a d c b f t t d
p s a 4 d w p a g d o
a f g ap

M f e o t y c m t p p h i
t w Y c m a f t l e o t p O y
c m rea f t c p p T s y w
t m a f t c p p y p ap ( o m (
s b t n o u y w t m

I y s ac t w p t p p o e s
m t Law l y d j t H y c s
t p p f t i p l a t e o t p

5

4.4.7Horizontalmoves:by columns,decipoints
anddots

T m t p p h a n o c s t

c

c & n C

i w f n y e t n o c y w t m t p
p S t m t c 4 y s t c

c & 4

B t m 4 c t t r o t c p p y s

< & +

T m t p p h a c n o d s

t c

< & n H

i w f ny e t n o d y w t m t p
p ( b a+o s i y w t m a f t c

po

Y c m t p p h b d b w t Y c

m an d a f t l e o t p o y c m

a n o d a f t c p p

T m hot w s t c

< * n X

i w f n y p e t n o d a f t p e
o ( b a + o – s t r n o d a f t
c p

So t m 20 d t t l e y s t c

< * 2

A t m

20 d t t l o t c p y s

< * –

57

I

Y c a m t c 8c a at h b u o t
hot c S s a t c

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4.4.8Movingtheprintpositionvertically

Y c u s u t m t p p v l d
o deB l a d c b f t t d
p

Y c a m t p p u d f t t e o

t p o rea f t c p p A t s

y w t m a f t c p p y p a p ( o

m ( s b t n o u y w t m
T i d a m v u o d i w t

p d w t p p h t p t o b I y t
t m a t t m t p p s r a t m

A i y m t p p d o t p t p i e a

p c o t n p

4.4.9 Verticalmoves:bylines, decipointsand
dots

T m t p p v a c n o l s t
c

< & n R

i w f n y e t n o l y w t m t p
p Som f t p y
s t c

< & 4

B t m 4 l d f t c p p y s

c & +

T movv ac n o d s t

c

< & n V

5

i w f ny e t n o d y w t m t p
p d ( p t n w a+o s i y w t m
u o d f t c p

F y c m an o d d f t t e o t p

o y c m an o d o d f t c p p

T m t p p u o d a a o d

s t c

< * n Y

i w f ny p e t a n o d d o (
b a + o – s t r n o d u o d f t c
p

S t m 2 d d y s t c

< * 2

A t m 2 d u y s

< * –

4.4.10Combiningmovecommands

O t a m t p p w t a c i t
t l y t o y p i t o C c

A w m i t y c c h a v m t
u t s u I y s t c

< * 4 2

t p p w m t as 4 d f t l e o t p
a 2 d d f t t e A i y s t o

< & + –

t p p w m r 4 d a u 2 d

4.4.11Backspace

TheB c c w e a y m e i m t

p p o c t t l

<

5

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M t p p b d n d a c a s
I f b o t t c c b q u I l y
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S y w t i ab s a t l b w a s
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r s J s t b a t f i w <

a t s a y g t ~

4.4.12Carriagereturn

The C R c b i o m t p p b

t t l m o t l o w i c s

<cFb

I y w t p p t m d a l a w s a s
L F c e t o u D A L E
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4.4.13-Linefeeds

TheL F c a t p p o l d

T m o al i s b t L D c
T s a l f j s t c c

<

T H L F c i t o y w f s T
c m t p p d t p o h t c l
d

asc> =

T s a r H L F m t p p u t l y
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< &

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4.4.14Formfeed

This c l t P b m t p a t an

s o p W y s t < c c y a a t t
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4.Defineautomaticlineendings

W y p t C R k w d y e t h
M p t ac k s w l at w
a C R s a n l a w

B c p d h t s t t a S p

(pg p w a C R t j m t
p p b t t l e o t p A t w aL F
t m d t an l w g b t t b o t l

S y c s e h y w < c a < t w

w t c

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F n e o o t n f t t

n A C

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t s

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p g aL F c i w m t p p d a
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4.4.16Autowrap

O n t w g u t w aw p p i n h

t w a w g p t r m W d h t l

f t t b a t m a m

T c d p m t s t y w p
p d T i d i t i d n w w W
y t o A i y s t m c f a l t l
p p t o o t n l

6

I A i o w t p g ac t w p b
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T A c w l a t s

dnc> &snc

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m i y h s o o t d p c

d a w m t p p p t m

A n t A d m t w w d t t n
l t aj f aw p n y l p

4.4.17Pushingandpoppingtheprintposition

T p aw w t k t o t p p I w
b l y k al o u t 2 p p

Y c “ t c p p o t t o t l w
y w L y c “ o w p i a t t o t l
m i t c p p

W w y w t s a r p p t w
W y n t i w y p n t s s
s o t p T i m h w y n t j t t
t g a b

S y w o r t p t p n i t s p

o e p a a t u c c p t
h l Y p m a ~ y h t p t l Y
t p t c p p t e t l r

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p p a a r t p r T y c p t
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t ~ t p t

6

A y m s t c i f c p
t u t m c d l i t c

T p o p a p p y s t c

c & n S

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o 1t p ( t l p s o t l

N T l p p o t l w a b t f o

p b l

4.5 C F

4.

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T L I e l y d a s f t w a
p a s f o b f i n o b
deW a t f t w n a e s af
b i a a l f o

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b y s i S i y w t s ac o d f
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4.5.2Selectingprimaryorsecondaryfonts

O t t s m y w s t m p t b
s b a f b p a s f T

cot b t f t y o n m t t

f

Tyy u p a s f t f b a f
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a p a s

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m y w y p f p a t c t t i
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f

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y p o s f y u

fo

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s a t j a s t a y w

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d f a i t R s s 1 s

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t S I c c

<
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c

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T s w t d a s f i b u f I n Y
m p m i y f u m f W n a s
a < a < i q t d f a o a o
a

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4.Selectingdownloadedfonts

T e w t s a d f i t u f I n
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t f c i y s ( “ t d y o f
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c

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s f Y w t s ad f I a y s
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want, u i g d t o

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f t p t s i b m
i f

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s f Y a m w t u t s s s f b
p a s f

6

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s s y w f y s f

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n

VALUE

S

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S t d s s

1( S s s s a p f
2 S t c f s s
3 S a t d f a ( j

s s

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L t as l a h y u t c H t s

Y a a u t L t b w t u t G
s s a y a w am y B o a n u

chf s n i t r
T i t r y d t u ap p n s w t

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69

I y h f w - ( 3 t p w r t i s
C f n j i R s s

S

I y s m f a f e c p w t s

w B i y s p s t d o e c

dei w T d h y w y p f s

s t c

<

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i w f n y p O( t g m

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P

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p f Y S Lai m f h

s o 1 1 o 1 c p i C o d

f w mop o h o s f c p
i

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<

(SnH

w f ny p i h m c p i y w F
< ( 1 H w p t c i e i

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p a s f I l l t

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7

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P C n

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2

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m h o t c y p i m i p s T

L I e p f i 6 1 1 1 a

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p w s t f w t s c t y r
T s f h f t p f u t f c F

n e t f h i p t y w

<

(SnV

T s f h f t s f s t c

<

)SnV

S

S d w y t i p i i

o u t w t

w a S t c t s t s y w f t p
f

<

(SnS

i w f n y e Oi y w n u t

o 1i y w i

T s s f s f j r t p a u t

s n n

<

)SnS

R t s i ar l a I ap f
s a h p a b d c i t s y w
y g t f w y s

S w

T w o a f d h l o b i p

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t w t b o c o t o e T f
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7

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<

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i w y r n w an f – ( l t + (
b Y n t n s t g t l w A w o O
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A inn Y w l u o f t g y b
s p d n t k t B i p t p b w
e h ab f i t p Y j p t t y w i b
t t w t o o b 4 d

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k t w i d o w y w t o I a m
spf l C t e j k t o h m
c y p I ap f y k t o t d
b u acht A b u 4d l t t
t t w y j p y t a

T
T l a y c g t c i t t T d o

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w f L itf s t b o o r
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o
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7

T B s w c s t s o d f w l
l t

1 L C ( 2 ) : “ ) s . 6 . 5 O

A asw h s a f p w a

f t l l t s f

4.Underline

Uni p f n a f a
Y c u i t w a a p f o w t – u

chI y b a u t u c h y
o f t u d c o t s l a y t

T u c w b W y t o t u
f t w t p w u a s p c
t i s

S t c t t o t u m

< & n D

i w f n y p O( t g f u

o 3 t g f u

A s t c t t o t u m

< &

4.How toprintEscapesequencesandcontrol

codes

Y u b E s a c c t p S h d y

p E s a c c
B y a c p c a i t d w Y w

d t w y w t s e e a i i s t t p
f e t d a s o t a c t d p t
w y t i s

T Trp c p t s o d t f i

w p a t a e E s o c
c Trp e p C R c w z

t p p b t t l m

7

T u Trp j p t c i i f o y
p d

< & n X
F n y s t n o b o d y w t p
D F l t T p c p E

s a c c w a e t B D
F p a t C R c s t l m l
t w i n p D F a p c a
b n a s

D F a i t E s o t t i o

a a t t i o T t o D F s t c

j b t d y w d

< Y

A t t o D F s t c a t e o t
d p d

< Z
T E Z s i p a ab f b a Z

4.Fontcontrol

T F C c h t m f d af s
a d f

Y c m a f e p o t w t F C
c T h y c w f y d a p f
d n g d w y r t s T p o t
s y g t a f w a o t t f y l s u
o o t f I c d a

W y p m g s w f y c a u t
c t d s o t Y c o d f y
doa i a c f a n d N t w
g l w y d af e w t f i o a u p
i t p m

T c f y s t c

<

n F

7

F ne o o t n f t t o f

F

n

D a t a p f

O(

D a t f ( w t d

1(
a t f i t s a r c
D j t f w t m r s I 2
D j t l c o t f y h

do

3

M t c f I t

4

M t c f I p

5

M a t c o t c f

6

Ab o exa t l f 6 W y g a f I t
a f y f n at c o t f i m T c
i a t f d f B y w n f 6t c
a t c o a i o c f

H h t a I n t a i o c f Y f
s t f t s t F I c t g i a I n a
f c t f i m w F C f 6 I y w
t c t s i R w y r t p y c b
s F C f 5

4.Example:Controllingfonts

L s h t l f c w t i B
P y w t m a w y c f ( d

w i i y w t p w i A t p 1 t

1 T n t i y n R s s b s

o s k c c o i c t
A y l w y s p f t A p y

t w t m t c f p F y a w t
d a t t f f p m t m r f s
g y b p

76

L s w a m a a u h f y t p

1 L C ( 2 ) ; “ ;
1 L C ; “ ;

1 L “ h f t p

o A 1 - 1
1 L C ”
1 L CH

1 L C ; ;
1 L C
1 L C ’ ;

L

100i

L l

o u f
L 1 t o t p w f p e f

norc T w
l Toy s a i 1

A fm1 f c c t m t c f
p a t d a t f

4.Example:Assigningfontnumbers

N l d a p i B F w a f n t t

C a Lim f a t a c f I P
C T w p s o e f

1 L C ( ; “ ( ;

. L C ( : “ (s:

1 L C ( 1 ) :
1 L

C ( 2 ) : “ ● c I ;

1 L C ( 2 ) : “

● C6 ;

1 L C ( ; “ ( ;
1 L C ( : “ ( . 6 . 5 O ;
1 L C ( :
1 L C ( ;
1 L C ( ;
2 L C ( :

2 L C ( ; O O :
2 L CH
2 L C :
2 L C :
2 L C ;
2 L “ 1 - R C
2 L C :
2 L “ 2

- R L
2 L C ;
3 L “ 3 - C P C
3 L C ;
3 L C

L 1 c t i C a l 1 i
p f L 1 g i f n l a l 1 m
te

L 151 sama

200tf No t

I s s 1
Linsaml

n d t o C f a l 3 t f

f f t p t p

78

4 U Y O F

4.6.1Fontdesignis tedious

A w f d i a a D e t t o p
l f i a f h

Sot y h t b y o t e i y d
w w a c i t f b Y m f e
w t p y o c c l I m b u
c w ac o g p 5 d h a 3 w l o
d

B d y o t i s t m s y
c o a m d f a y c f f f
dec

T n h w t d t j i t a a m w y
b y Lat s i y c g o o t f o

fou p n o t m F W i o K
a e o t f n w p t t m s y t t

o paf o d l k
E w a l t b a c f i a i p I

c f t c o af o u t 2 c s ac
d a prs a t j f o t s N m

f

4.6.2Howto downloadyourownfonts

Ch

t y d a s y a c “
c L a y a k w t i t b i y c
f a h d i t w w a s O y
c y o c y n t d t t y l

p
T p o d a f y d y i s

d T d y f y f t f s

1 a a f I n t y f
2 d a f h
3

i t p o e c t b d

4

s ac d a b f e c

5

s w t f i t b p o t

79

I

1 A a f I t y f

T a a I t y f y s t c ( a u

“Af I n w a I n f n b Oa
3

<

n D

B s t c t c w t I n i
a a t a f I i i t e f w b d
w t n c

2 Doa h f y f
E i t p d h e m t c y f i w
d a e f w t s I n w y d t
h f y f

A f h i t l o i a w y p u t s
t f E f h 2 b l i s a t f o t f
Y s af h c t y p j b y d

t f c
T h c l l t

<

n W

a m b f i b t d d t f

atT n v i t a n o b o d d
a a 2 N u o L 1 c y m e
t A s 2 a 6 h n t n 2

H a‘ f h c

< ) 2 CkS

<F

A f t a c a t f t r l l g
g B t 2 b t e o a A c e o
spap f a ( e i w b a
s A c t h t b c c

E b i t h i a n w y s a w s
h t b s a t n p i t A t C
s o t n i t h a w r y a y
S M d t h y b y f h T g y s
t t b s w e o t b m

8

MEANING

o-1

headerlength
2 blank
3

fontsize
4-5 blank
6-7

baselinepositionforcharactem

8

blank
9

cellwidth

10

blank

11

cellheight

12

orientation
13 spacing
14-15 symbolset
16-17 pitch
18-19 linespacing

20-22 blank
23 style
24

strokeweight

25 typeface

3)Positioningeachcharacterin your font
Beforeyou downloadeachcharacteryouhave totelltheprinterwherein its
fonttableto putit. Youindicatewhereby sendingthiscommand:

<ESC>

*C n E

Fornyouputthedecimalnumber,betweenOand255,of thepositioninthe
fonttablewhereyouwantyourcharacterstored.

Yourprinter’sfonttableisjust liketheASCIItable.Beforeyousendeach
character,sayg, you havetosaywhereyouwanttoputit.IntheASCIItable,
g is atdecimalposition103. So you sendthiscommand:

<ESC>

*C 103E

Andimmediatelyafterit yousendthebitsthatmakeup thecharacterg.

4) Describing each character in your font
Thenextstepisto describeeachofyourcharacters,“mapping”whereyou

wanteachdotto go.Sendthiscommandbeforeeachcharacter:

<ESC>

(Sn W

Forn youenterthenumberofbytesyou’llbe sendingafterthis command,

81

to describe and map your character.Sixteen bytes are needed for the
description;the bit-map takes as many bytes as you’ve put into each
charactercell— perhapstwo ortie hundredbytes.

Aswiththefontheader,eachbyteinthecharacterdescriptionis anumber,

sent as the symbolat that positionin the ASCIItable. Codingcharacter
descriptionsis tricky too, so again we recommendyou ask your Star
Micronicsdealer for help.The tablebelow showswhat the bytesin the
characterdescriptionmean:

BYTE
o

1
2
3
4
5
6-7
8-9

10-11

12-13

14-15

MEANING

descriptionlength
blank

always14

always1
orientation
blank
leftoffset(blankspaceto leftof character)
topoffset(blankspaceabovecharacter)
characterwidth
characterheight
printposition travel(proportionalspacingonly)

Thebitmapofthecharacterisjustthepattemofdots inthecharacter,starting
atthetopleftofitscell.Youworkyourwayacrossthecellanddowntothe
bottomright,givingeachdota valueof Oifit’snotto beprintedand 1if it
is.Thenyougroupthosedotsas 8-bitbytes.

5) Permhent or temporary?
Thelaststepindownloadingyourownfontistomakethefontpermanent
or temporary,using the Font Controlcommanddescribedearlier. The
command<ESb *C4 Fwillallowthefonttobeerasedwhenyouresetthe
printer.Butthecommand<ESC>*C5F willkeepyourfontavailableeven
afteryou Rset theprinter.

82

4.7 GRAPHICS

TheStarLaserPrinter4offerstwokindsofgraphics.Itprints ru.stergraphics

(sometimes called “bit-mappedgraphics”),which specifyeach dot in a
graphicspattern. And it printspattern gruphics,which prints lines and
patternedblocks.

Be aware,though,that addinggraphicelementsalwaysslowsup printing

withlaserprintem.

4.7.1StartingRasterGraphics

Thefollowingstepsshouldbeperformed(inthe ordershown)whenprinting

rastergraphics:

1)Definethe resolution

2) Settheorientationofthegraphicimage

3)Issuethe commandto startgraphics

4) Issuethe commandtosetthecompressiontechnique(if any)of
thegraphicaldata

5) Sendthe commandswhichtransferthegraphicsdata

6) Sendthecommandto endgraphics

Beforegraphics are sentto theprinter,the resolutionmustbe set. This is
achievedusingthe followingcommand:

<ESC>*t n R

wheren cantakea valueof75, 100,150or 300.Thesevaluesrepresentthe
desiredvaluein dots/inch(dpi)of the printedgraphicimage.The default

,resolutionis75dpi.Anyfimtherresolutioncommandswill beignoredbythe

printeruntila commandtoendgraphicshasbeenreceived.
To set the orientationof the graphicimage,transmitthe followingcom-

mand:

<ESC>*r n F

WherencantakeavalueofeitherOor3.Wheren=O,rastergraphicsprinting
willtakeplaceinthelogicalpageorientation,andwhenn=3,rastergraphics
willbeprintedalongthewidthofthephysicalpage,~gardlessofthe logical
pageorientation.

83

I

Thecommandtostartgraphicsmustbetransmittednext.Thiscommandis:

<ESC>*r n A

wherencantakeavalueofeitherOor 1.Whenn=O,themarginforprinting
graphics will be the left-most printableedge of the page (this is not

necessarilythe sameas the left textmargin).If n=l, the left marginfor

graphicsis set to the currentprint position,and anygraphicsimagewill
appearonlyto therightof thatmargin.

Threegraphicdatacompressionformatsareavailablefordata transfer.The
datacompressionformatto be used is selectedusingthe followingcom­mand:

<ESC>*b n M

wheren cantakethevalueO,1or 2. Anyotherwilueisinterpretedas O.A
fill discussionof datacompressiontechniquesisoutsidethescopeof this
manual,but a briefexplanationof thiscommandshouldbe useful.

.

.

●

Wheren=O,noencodingtakesplace,anda simplebinarytransfertakes
place.Bit7 ofthefirstbytecorrespondstothefirstdotinarasterrow,bit
6 to thesecond,andsoon.

Where n=l, run-lengthencodingtakes place. This is a compression

techniquewherethedatais dividedintopaics;thefirstbyteofeachpair

servingasthe repetitioncountforthedatain thesecondpair.If thefirst

byteofthepairisequaltozero,thedatainthesecondbyteisnotrepeated.

Wheren=2,the data to followis in TaggedImageFile Format(TIFF)
confofrningto RV.4.Ostandards.The demandsof spacedo not allowa
detailed discussion of TIFF standards here, but briefly, TIFF files
combinefeaturesofnon-encodedandnon-encoded.fdes.Manyproprie­tarygraphicspackagesuseTIFFencodingwhenstoringandtransmitting
graphicdata.

When transferringraster graphicdata, each line of rasterdata must be
prefixedby the command:

<ESC>*b n W

wherengivesthenumberofdatabytestofollow(themaximumis255 before
anothersuchcommandissent).Thisdatamustfollowthecompressionrules
setin thepreviouscommand.Forinstance,aTIFFimageinterpretedinany

84

way otherthantheTIFFformatwillproducevery strangeresults!Repeat

sendinglines of graphicsdata,prefixedby the abovecommand,untilthe
wholeimagehas beentransmitted.

To signalthe end of graphicdatatransmission,sendthe followingcom­mand:

<ESC>* r B

Thereareno parameters.TheLaserPrinter4 is nowin textmode.

4.7.2Rulesandpatterns

Patternsandlinesare easeto do.
Print shops call lines of any thicknessrules. A printedline in fact is a

rectangularareawithone“skinny”dimension,fromonetomanydotsthick.
Wewillusetheword“rules”too,to avoidconfusionwiththelinesusedto
measurepages.

Youfollowthesethreestepswhenyouuseruleandpatterngraphics:

1) Definethedimensionsyouneed.

2) Choosethe graphicspatternyouwantto fill in thosedimen­sions.

3) Printthepattern.

Rememberto sendthefollowingruleorpatterncommandsin
thatorder.

4.7.3Definingruleorpatterndimensions

Definingthedimensionsoftheareayouwanttofilljustmeansindicatingthe
horizontaland vertical sizeofthepattcm,ortherule’slengthandthickness.
Youcanindicatedimensionsin eitherdotsor decipoints(tenthsofa point).

At300dotsor720decipointsto theinch,decipointmeasurementsaremore
accurate.The printer converts decipointvalues into dots, using 2.4 de­cipointsto the dot. It rounds up fractionsto the next integer. So 1225
decipointswouldworkoutto510.4dots,andthepnnterroundsthisupto511
dots.

Yourdimensioncommandsspecifyanareato therightanddownfromthe
currentprintposition.Ifyou defineanarealargerthanthepage,yourprinter
willacceptthecommand.Itwill,however,cutoff your patternorruleatthe
boundariesof the page’sprintablearea.

85

Whenthe printerfinishesits print “map”of yourruleor pattern,the print
positionautomaticallyreturnsto the spot from which you started.That
means,forinstance,thatyoucanmakealightlyshadedrectangleandthen
startprintingtextrightoverit.Thiskindofboxcanbeusefulforsettingoff
particularinformationfromthe mainbodyof yourtext.

Horizontally,youcan specifythe rulelengthor horizontalpatternsizein
dotswiththis command:

<ESC>*cn A

in whichfor n youenterhowmanydotsacrossthepageyouwantthe rule
or patternto be.

Alternatively,to specifythe horizontaldimensionfor a rule or patternin
decipoints,you canprintthiscommand:

<ESC>

*C n H

in whichn is thehorizontalruleor patternsizein decipoints.
Vertically,youcanindicatethesizeofyourruleorpatternin dots withthis

command:

<ESC>*c n B

inwhichnisthenumberofdotsdefiningthethicknessoftheruleorthedepth
ofthepattern.

Alternatively,to showtheverticaldimensionin decipoints,yousendthis

command:

<ESC>*c n V

inwhichnisthenumberofdecipointsintherule’sthicknessorthepattern’s
verticallength.

4.7.4Choosingandprintinga ruleorpattern

Youneedbothofthenexttwocommandstochooseandprinttheparticular

patternyouwantto fillyourdefinedarea.These commandsworktogether.

WiththePrintPatterncommand(whichactuallycomessecond)youspecify
whetheryouwant tofillyourrectangularareawithasolidblackrule,afinely

dotted gray-scalepattern, or a predefine linear pattern. And with the

SpecifyPatterncommandyou canindicatewhichparticulardottedorlinear

86

I

patternyou want.YoualwayssendtheSpecifyPatterncommandbefo~ the
PrintPatterncommand,evenif youwanta solidblackrule.

To indicatetheparticularpatternyouwant,sendthe followingcommand.
The generalmeaningof the n value you enter actuallydependson the
commandyouput afterthis:

<ESC>

*C n G

If youwanta solidblackruleit doesn’tmatterwhatyouputin forn,asthe
printerignores it.

Ifyouwantal-scaledottedpattern,fern youenterhereapementagenumber
from1to 100indicatingthedensitywithwhichyouwanttheboxfilled,from

lightto solid.Your n percentagewillcorrespondto one of the eightgray-

scaledensitiesinthechartbelow.

87

If youwantalinearpattern,forn youenterhereapatternnumberbetween

1~d 6 inclusive,identifyingone of thelinearpatternsbelow.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

You always send the followingPrint Pattern commandafter
Patterncommand.ThisPrintPatterncommandidentifieswhetherthearea
youhavedefinedistobefilledwitharule,dottedgray-scalepattern,orlinear
pattern:

<ESC>

*C n P

For n entera valuefromthe followingtable.(If youselectalinearpattern
here, but a dottedpattern in the previousSpecifyPatterncommand,the
printerwill ignorethisPrintPatterncommand.)

n VALUE

PATI’ERN

O(zero)

solidblack

1 white
2 dottedgray-scale
3

linear

88

4.Z5 Examples:Patterngraphics

Tospecifyablockfiveincheswideyoucoulduseahorizontaldimensionof

1500dots(5 inchestimes300dots).Thatcommandwouldlooklikethis:

<ESC>

*C 1500A

To printthatareawith a 25percentgray-scalepattern,thecommandsyou

sendwouldbe:

<ESC>

*C 25G

<ESC>

*C 2P

Buttoprintanareafilledwiththehorizontalbarpattern,the commandsyou
sendwouldbe:

<ESC>

*C IG

<ESC>

*C 3p

(Youcouldcombinethesecommandsas<ESG *c lg 3P.)

4.8 MACROS

4.8.1 Usingmacros

There’sagreatshortcutthatsimplifiesthetaskofsendingcommandstoyour
LaserPrinter4:usemacros.Amacroisasinglecontrolcode,whichyoucan

define yourself, that does the work of a whole long series of printer
commands.AnyLaserJet11Pemulationcommandcango intoa macro.

Puttingmacrostogetherto automaticallyrepeatsequencesof tasksis like
usinga ml programminglanguage.YourStarMicronicsdealermayknow
of somepre-wnttenmacrosalreadyavailableforthe StarLaserPrinter4.

You’llfindmacrosespeciallyhandyfor creatingletterheadsandbusiness

forms,and alsofor settingtabs, subscriptsandsuperscripts.
Yourpnntercanstemupto32macroswithouttheoptionalRAMexpansion.

To manageprinter memoryyou can make a macro eithertemporary(it
disappearswhenyouresettheprinter)orpermanent(itdisappearsonlywhen
youturn offtheprinter).

You assigneach macro an ID numberwhen you first defineit. Use this
SpecifyMacroIDcommandtospecify(inplaceof n)theID numberofthe
macroto whichyouwishto refer:

<ESC>&fn Y

89

Forexamplesayyouwanttodeleteamacronumbered80.Youwouldfirst

selectthatmacrowiththe commandcESC>&f80Y.Thenyouwoulddelete
it withtheMacroControlcommandcESC>&f 8Xasdescribedbelow.

4.8.2MacroControl

The Macro Control commandperforms severaljobs for you, such as
defining,mnning and deleting macros.To managemacrosyou sendthe
followingcommand:

<ESC>&f n X

FornyouenteranumberfromO(zero)to 10to specifywhatmacrocontrol
functionyouwanttoperform.Thesefunctionsaredescribedinthefollowing
table:

n
O(zero)

1(one)

2

FUNCTION

Start definingmacro. Creates a new macro with the last
specifiedmacro number.This macro will be temporary;to

make it permanent use <ESC> &f 10X after your

definition.Theprinterwillmakea macroof the sequenceof

commandsthatfollow thisone,untilit getsthe commandto

stopdefiningthemacro.

Stopdefiningmacro.
Executemacro. This optionmakes the printer run the last

specifiedmacro, changingprinter parametersaccordingto
whatitscommandssay.(Thepnnterparametersarethose you
might also set from the controlpanel.) Whenthe macro is
done,theprintpositionwillbejustwhereitwasbeforeyouran
themacro.

Callmacro.This optionalso makesthe printerrun the last
specifiedmacro. But before it runs the macro it savesthe
currentparameters,andthenrestoresthem whenthemacrois
finished.Again,whenthemacroisdonetheprintpositionwill
bejust whereit wasbeforeyouranthemacro.

Turnonautomaticmacro.Thisoptionautomaticallyrunsthe
lastspecifiedmacrooneverypageyou print.Youcanusethis
optionto reproducethesamedesignon eachpage(alogoor
formdesignperhaps).Youcanhave morethanoneautomatic

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macro.Aswiththe“call macro”option,thisonesavescurrent
parametersand print position,and restoresthem when the
macrois finished.Anautomaticmacrowillterminateif you
changeorientationor pagelength.

5

Turnoffautomaticmacro.Startingwiththecurrentpage,this
optionterminatesthelast specifiedautomaticmacro.

6 Deleteallmacros.Thisoptionremovesallmacms andauto-

maticmacrosfromprintermemory—evenmacmsyouhave
definedaspermanentwithoption 10below.

7

Deletetemporarymacros.This optionalsodeletestemporary
automaticmacros.

8

Deletelast specifiedmacro.

9

Makelast specifiedmacrotemporary.

10 Makelast specifiedmacropermanent.

4.8.3Examp/e:Macros

Thefollowingprogramloadsandrunsa macro.Themacrumovesaninch

andahalfrightanddownthreeinchesfromthetopleftcomerofthepage,
whereit printsa 25 percentgray-scalebar. It thenejectsthepaper.

100 LPRINTCHR$(27) ; “&f6X”
200 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“&fIY”
300 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“&fOX”

400 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“*p450x1200Y”;

500 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“*c180h7200V”;
600 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“*c25G”;
700 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“*c2P” ;
800 LPRINTCHR$(12)
900 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“&f1X”;

1000 LPRINTCHR$(27) ;“&f 2X”;
1100 END

Line100clearsanyexistingmacros,thenline200specifiesthatthiswillbe
macroID number1.Line300startsdownloadingthemacro.

Line400movestheprintpositiontoaspot450dotsright and1200dotsdown
fromthe topleftcomerof thepage.

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Lines500through 700 selectthe 180-dotdeep and7200-dotwide pattern
andprintit.Line800doestheformfeedthatforcestheactualprinting.Line
900endsthe downloadingprocess.

Atthetwo line we selectourmacroand actuallyrun it.

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Commands

The small-carriageFX-850 is one of Epson’s more recent dot-matrix
printers.Becauseof thepopularityof the IBMPersonalComputer,which
was marketedwith a modifiedEpsonprinter,thousandsof softwarepro­gramsalreadyworkwithEpsonprintercommands.

Ifyouhaveaprogramthatdoesn’tworkwithlaserprintercommands,you’ll
ahnostcertainlyfinditwill workwiththecommandsintheStarLaserPrinter
4’s FX-850emulationmode.YourStarLaserPrinter4willprintanydocu­mentsyoucreatewithstandardEpsoncommands.

Wefollowthesamesequenceinthischapteraswedidinearlierchaptem:
firstsomeprintermanagementandpagesetup commands,thenwe’llcover
commandsthat movetheprintposition,andfinallywe’llprintour document
withourchoiceoffontattributes.

5.1 FX-850COMMANDS

5.1.2 WhatdoFX-850commandslooklike?

Mostcommandsin theFX-850emulationlooklikethis:

<ESC>C

or

<ESC>C n

in whichC isthecodefortheparticularcommandyouwantto send.If the
commandincludesthen signit indicatesa numericvariablethecommand
needs.For example,theFX-850commandto setthe rightmarginis this:

<ESC>Q n

in whichn is the columnnumberfor therightmargin.So to putthe right
marginat column65 you wouldsendthiscommand:

<ESC>Q 65

MostFX-850commandsworkliketoggleswitches:one<ESb codeturns
on a featweandanothercESC>codeturnsit off.

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Butsomecommandsincludetwonvariables,whichamshownasnl andn2.
Thesenormally~pmsentbytes tobeaddedtogethertoproduceonesum,in
whichnl representssingleunitsandn2 represents256-unitgroups.

Finally,a few commandscanhavemany n variables (such as tab stops),
whicham listed the same way.And oneor two includea secondkindof
variable,whichaR showninthischapterassinglelowercaseletters,suchas
c or m.

5.1.2 Userealnumbers,notASC/1symbols
An

importantpoint: withFX-850commandsanynumberyouputafterthe

cESC> code is a real number,not the printableASCII symbolfor that

numberas in LaserJet11Pcommands.In FX-850mode, for the number

shownafteran<ESb codeyoumustenterwhatevercharacteroccupiesthat

position in the ASCII table. We’ll alwaysuse decimalnumbers in our

descriptions.

For example, in FX-850emulationyouset the rightmarginto column55
withthis command:

<ESC>Q 55

Youwouldwritethiscommandin BASICas:

10 LPRINTCHR$(27) ; “Q”;CHR$(55)

That BASIC command sends the printer the symbol Q and whatever

characterhappenstobeinASCIIposition55.YourStarLaserPrinter4’sFX­850progiaminterpretsthese,notas ASCIIsymbols,butonlyasthecom-

mandthatmeans“makecolumn 55 therightmargin”.

5.1.3 Unsupportedcommands

YourStarLaserPrinter4,becauseitis alaserprinter,ignoresthefollowing
FX-850commands:

c paperend

cESC> 8 and<ESC>9

● sheetfeedercontrol <ESC><EIkb

● selectcolor

cESC> r

● copy,selectanddownloadcharacterset cESC>:<ESbYO<ES@ &

● selectdrafl/NLQmode

<ESC>X

c selectNLQ font

<ESC>k

94