Star Micronics 4111 User Manual

APPLICA TIONS MANUAL

80821885

Trademark Acknowledgements

LaserPrinter 4111:Star Micronics Co,, Ltd.
PageMaker: AldusCorporation
Applesoft: Apple Computer Inc.
Bitstream: Bitstream Inc.
Canon:Canon Inc.
HP, LaserJet:Hewlett-Packard Company
LaserControl:Insight Development Inc.
IBM PC: InternationalBusiness MachinesCorp.
Century Schoolbook: Linotype Corporation
Lotus 1-2-3:Lotus DevelopmentCorporation

MS-DOS, Microsoft BASIC, Windows, Word: MicrosoftCorporation
MultiMate: Multimate International
WordPerfect:WordPerfect Corporation
Ventura Publisher: XeroxCorporation

NOTICE

● All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this manual in any form whatsoever without

STAR’s express permission is forbidden,

● The contents of this manualare subject to cbange without notice

● Alleffortshave been madetoensure the accuracyofthecontentsofthis manualatthetimeofpress.

However,sbouldanyerrorsbedetected, STAR would greatly appreciate being informed of them.

. The above notwithstanding, STAR can assume no responsibility for any errors inthis manual

@Copyright 1992Star Micronics Co,, Ltd

I

PREFACE

About this manual

This StarLu.~erPrinter4111Application.~Manual gives you the information

you need to program the Star Micronics LaserPrinter 4111.

Why would you read this book? Most people using a laser printer just run
softwarepackageswithbuilt-inprinter drivers, which look after everything
theircomputers send their printers.But many of us— smallbusiness people
and home computer users, not to mention the wizards who write those
softwarepackages— want tobenefit fromall thenew featuresoffered byour
printers.

Doyouwantcompletecontrol overthecharacters andimagesyou print?This
manual provides the software help you need to get the most from your

LaserPrinter 4111.
Though this Applications Manual is really intended for intermediate to

advanced computer users, we’ve tried to accommodate relative novicestoo.

The information is organized so you can walk through the general theory

underlying printer programming before dancing into specific details. It
makessense,therefore, toread thefirstthreechaptersbeforejumping intothe
middle.

There’s agoodreason to readeach chapter from itsstarttoo. People learning
how to use a new printer often find the terminology a barrier. So instead of
burying what may be new jargon in a Glossary at the back, we define each
newterm thefirst timeitappears.The whole firstpart ofthechapter on fonts,
forexample, defines different aspects of afhzt (acollection of characters of
the same size and style).

I

What’sin this manual?

●

In “Getting to Know Your Star LaserPrinter 4111”we provide a listof the
features that make this a splendid printer, to help you choose which
features you want to exploit. There’s a bit on how laser printers work,
inside and out. The chapter then explains software in general terms,
including how to write control and Escape commands to make those
features work.

●

‘&ControllingYour Printer” examines the parameters you give the Star
LaserPrinter 4111to direct precisely how you want itto behave. These let
you control theprinter, manage page formats, and specify what you want
printed.

●

Formostofus,the“Fonts”chapter willbeuseful:how tousethefontsbuilt
intotheLaserPrinter 4111,plusthose that come on cartridges or computer
disks.

●

You may look at chapters 4 and 5, which cover Star LaserPrinter 4111
commands. Your LaserPrinter 4111emufates (imitates) Hewlett-Packard
LaserJet 111by accepting the same commands they do.

If you want to write or modify a program that uses the Hewlett-Packard
LaserJet III, chapters 4 and 5 show how your Star LaserPrinter 4111can

emulate to accordingly.
The chapter on “Printer Control Language” is longer and more detailed

than the other. That’s because you are more likely to use laser printer
comtiands than commands for vector graphics.

●

Thefinal“Technical Supplement”containingthe command andcharacter
reference tables will m-obablvget thumbed the most.

✌

JG-

Conventions

Incidentally,oneofthoseTechnical Supplement tables suggestsa couple of
typographic conventions we’ll use. Base ten (decimal) numbers will gener­allybeusedhere; ifwehavetousebasesixteennumbers(hexadecinzczi)we’11
expressly say so.

And second, the lowercase L is practically identical to the number one
(1versus 1). Because lowercase L is used in many command descriptions,
we’11use the character ~ to avoid confusion.

The Star LaserPrinter 4/// Operations Manual

ThismanualisthecompaniontotheStarLuserPrinter41110peration.rManual
that came with your printer. A laser printer is a fairly complex tool that

requirescare and delicate handling. Soto usethisApplications Manual best,
make sure you understand that Operations Manual first.

Your OperationsMattualholdsessential information aboutthe LaserPrinter

4111.such as how to:

●

unpack and set up your laser printer,

●

connect the Star LaserPrinter 4111to your computer’s serial or parallel
port.

●

link the LaserPrinter 4111into a network of several computers,

●

configuretheLaserPrinter41Hto yourneeds (withvariables suchas paper
size and speed of data transfer),

●

load paper and the toner cartridge,

●

operate the panel switches and display,

●

run the LaserPrinter 4111self-test,

●

look after your printer to keep it in peak condition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Getting to know Your Star LaserPrinter 4111............................................. 1

1.1Star LaserPrinter 4111Hardware ................................................. 1

1,2Star Laserprinter 4111software ...........................................,,.....5

2. Controlling Your Printer

2.I Printer Parameters ...........

2.2 Controlling the Printer .............................................................. 16

2.3 Controlling the Page .................................................................20

2.4 Controlling the Printing ............................................................25

2.5 The Star LaserPrinter 4111Superset..........................................26

3. Fonts .............................................................................................................27

3.1 Font Terminology .....................................................................27

3.2 How the Star Laserprinter 4111Stores Fonts ............................30

3.3 Symbol Sets ..............................................................................33

3.4 Managing Fonts........................................................................34

4. Printer Control Language ..........................................................................4l

4.1 Printer Control Language .........................................................41

4,2 Controlling [he printer ..................................................,...........43

4.3 Page Orientation .......................................................................46

4.4 Moving the Print Position ........................................................51

4,5 Controlling Fonts......................................................................61

4.6 Using Your Own Fonts ............................................................79

4.7 Raster Graphics ........................................................................84

4.8 Pattern Graphics .......................................................................87

4.9 Macros ......................................................................................93

5. Vector Graphics .....................................................................................,....97

5.1 GL/2 Commands and Syntax ...................................................97

5,2 controlling the prin[er ......................................... ....................99

5.3 Configuration and Status ........................................................ 102

5,4 Vector Group........................................ ................................. 106

5.5 Polygon Group ....................................................................... 110

5.6 Line and Fill Attribute Group.................................................113

5.7 Character Group ..................................................................... I 19

5.8 Escape Sequences in GL/2 Mode ........................................... 126

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

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

13
13

6. Technical Supplement ............................................................................... 129

6.1 CommandSummary............................................................... 129

6.2 Symbol sets ............................................................................ 134

Index .............................................................................................. .. ....... .... 165

m

Gettingb KnoW’Yow ‘” “

StarLaserPrinte~

4111

This chapter introduces both the hardware and software aspects of the Star
LaserPrinter 4111’spersonality, from fonts and print engine to ASCII and
Escape sequences.

1.1 STAR LASERPRINTER 4111HARDWARE

1.1.1 Versatility

Your Star Micronics Star LaserPrinter 4111works with practically all

commercial softwareprograms andcomputers. With featuresthatgo beyond

Star’s easy, affordable 9-pin and fast, quality-printing 24-pin dot matrix

printers,the StarLaserPrinteristhelogicalnext step inthe seriesof fine Star

Micronics printers.

Your Star LaserPrinter 4111produces pages that lookclose totypesetquality,

with up to 90,000 dots per square inch— no more NLQ (near letter quality)
compromises. The Star LaserPrinter 4111produces four of those pages a
minute. These numbers translate to about five times more resolution and

about three times more speed than the average dot-matrix printer.

Star’snew printer isremarkably versatile. You can printcomplicated forms

(widthwiseifyouwant)...detailed graphs...your owncustomized typestyles

...digitizedphotographs ...

You can even print your letterhead and logo as you print your letter, and
reprint them directly onto a business envelope. You don’t even need to
remove thepapertraytoprintthe envelope:just slideit into themanual feed

slot.

otherlanguages(includingArabicandJapanese).

1

The Star LaserPrinter 4111is ideal for desktop publishing. The pages it
produces make perfect photocopy or instant-printmasters. And all the main
desktoppublishingsystems, includingAldus Corporation’sPageMaker and
Xerox Ventura Publisher, work splendidly with the Star LaserPrinter 4111.
With “page makeup” programs likethese you will be able — maybe for the
first time — to deliver communications with the impact of top-notch
graphics.

1.1.2Font options

You can print with an amazingly wide variety of type fonts and sizes. The
Star LaserPrinter 4111comes with two built-in bit-mapped fonts and two
built-in scalable fonts, which can be printed from 3 points to 999.75 points
in size (a point is about 1/72 of an inch).
These fonts are:

CG Times Font

Univers Font

Courier Font

Li ne Printer Font

Besides these, you may be able to use optional cartridges and disks to give
your Star LaserPrinter 4111a variety of extra fonts, such as these:

Prestige fonts
Letter Gothic fonts
H Gothic fonts

Roman fonts
Presentation fonts
Optical Character Reader fonts
Line drawing
Bar codes

You can load your Star LaserPrinter 4111’smemory with fonts stored on
computer disks. Literally hundreds of fonts are marketed by font-supply
companies. Some fontsareevenobtainablefrom computer “user groups” or
“electronicbulletinboards”. Fontsyou getthis wayare in thepublic domain,
which means you don’t need to pay a licence fee to use them.

2

Ask your Star LaserPrinter 4111dealer about resources like these. Desktop
publishing with laser printers is fast-changing territory, and some Star
Micronics staff people have found electronic bulletin boards and computer
usergroups quitehelpful inkeeping up withthe changing pace. If you invest
a littletime this way it may repay you well.

.1.1.3How your laser printer communicates

Your computercommunicates with the Star LaserPrinter 4111througheither
aparallel cable or one of two kinds of serial cable. The printer’s inter-ace,
thelinkorboundaryitshareswithyourcomputer, defineswhetherthe printer
willacceptcharactersand commands fromyour computeronebyteorone bit
at a time.

A bit is the smallest unit of computer or printer memory. It has either a low
or high electric charge, which we represent with the digits Oand 1.Usually
eight adjacent bits are grouped to form a byte. Since a byte normally
represents one character, this stringof bits— 01000001— might represent
the letter A.

The serial interface accepts just one bit at a time from your computer. A
parallel interfacecan handle a whole byte at once, by moving data bitsside­by-sidealong separate wires. You choose which interface method you want
to use by selecting it on the operator panel, as explained in your Sfar

LaserPrinter 4111Operations Manual.

1.1.4 The Star LaserPrinter 4111is a computer

The Star LaserPrinter 4111firstmaps thecharacterstobeprinted intoitsown
random access memory (RAM). That is, the printer builds.a “picture” in its
memory corresponding to the page you want to print. When that’s done the
printer can reproduce the page onto paper on its own, letting your computer
get on with other work.

Your Star LaserPrinter 4111comes with one megabyte of RAM — the
equivalent of about one million characters. A Star LaserPrinter 4111option
lets you add a second megabyte of RAM if, say, you need to map full-page
graphics or store more fonts. Accompanying all that RAM is another 2
megabytes of read only memory (ROM), containing a library of internal
fonts and the programs that let the Star LaserPrinter 4111emulate other
printers.

3

An Intel 80960SA computer chip controls boththe memory and theprinting
mechanism inthe printer, called the print engine. The printer stores a whole
page in RAM before printing it. (If a page is so dense that it overflows
memory—amost unlikelyevent—the StarLaserPrinter4HI printsthepage
on two sheets.)

1.1.5 The Print engine

It’stheprintenginethatformsthe actualcharacters and graphics.The engine
directs itslaser, a pinpoint streamoflight pulses, throughmirrors and lenses
onto the surface of a positively-charged rotating drum.

r“i””r

~Photosensitive drum

Asthe laser scans, it“draws” the page-map stored inyour printer’smemory.
Wherever a light pulse strikes, that tiny part of the drum drops to a neutral
electricalcharge.Thatspotthen attractsfinetonerpowder asthedrum rotates
past the powder compartment.

As the drum rotates further itmeets the paper. The paper itself is negatively
charged by passingbya finecoronawire. Sinceopposite chargesattract, the
negative paper clings to the positive drum. Then heat and pressure from a
rollermeltor,fusethe dots oftonerontothe paper, precisely reproducingthe
image.

Lens
Laserbeam

Scanningmirror

ctor laserdiode

Finally thepaper slides intotheoutputbin.The paper usually comesout face
dowmso it stacks in the correct sequence.

4

1.2 STAR LASERPRINTER 4111SOFTWARE

1.2.1 Binary and hexadecimal arithmetic

Ifyoualreadyknowwhathexadecimal numbersare, youcan skipthissection

and go ahead to read about ASCII.

The decimal number system with which we’re all familiar is a positional
counting system. There’s the “ones” position, the “tens” position, the
“hundreds”position and so on. Each higher position isworth ten times more
than the position to therightof it, since the decimal system uses the base of
ten. Moreover, we need ten symbols to show the actual values that may be
in each position.

The binary system ispositional too. There’s the “ones” position, the “twos”
position,the“fours”position,the “eights”position and so on. Inbinary each
positionisworthonlytwice thatof theposition to itsright.And we onlyneed
two symbols—O (zero) and 1(one)—to showthe values thatmaybe in any
position. So in binary we get numbers that look like 1010or 10001100.

The hexadecimal system is made of base-sixteen numbers. Hexadecimal is
positionallikethe othercounting systems. Andeach higherposition isworth
sixteen times as much as the position to its right.

We need sixteen different symbols to show all the possible values one
hexadecimaldigitcould have. Wecan useourdecimal system’sten symbols,
butwe’vehadtoborrowafew more fromour alphabet to get allthe symbols
we need. In hexadecimal, therefore, you can have a number that looks like
2C7C, or even FACE.

Here’showthe decimal, binary and hexadecimal number systems compare:

Decimal Binary

o 0000

I

2

3 0011

4 O1oo
5
6 0110

7 01I1

0001
0010

0101

Hexadecimal

o

2
3
4
5
6
7

Decimal
8
9

10
11

12
13
14
15

Binary

1000
100I
1010
lo]I
I100”
IIol
I110
1111

Hexadecimal
x
9

A
B
c
D
E
F

5

The importantthingto realize is that there’s more than one way to show the

samenumeric value.Computerprogrammers, for example, occasionallyuse
the hexadecimal system because it’s so compact. (Programmers often just
say “hex”.) This binary number:

101001011111110100110111111011010010110100001001

looksquiteabittidierwhen itiswritten asA5 FD 37ED 2D09, whichmeans
the same thing.

1.2.2 TheASCII table

Where does the Star LaserPrinter 4111get the characters and instructions it
needstoprintinthefirstplace?Itgets themfrom yourcomputer,which sends
a stream of text and commands to your printer.

The program in your computer that controls everything sent to the printer
(called the printer driver) will usually be included with your computer
programs, such asyourword processor. But thecommands could alsocome
from aprogram you’ve written, perhaps inBASZC,aprogramming language
that uses common English words.

Internally, computers and printers use only the binary number system to
representbothcommands and allthealphabetic, numericand otherkeyboard
symbols. Nearly all of those machines use the same scheme to code those
symbols, theAmerican StandardsCodeforInformationInterchange(ASCII).

An example:inour familiardecimal system,binary 01001010adds up tothe
number 74. Depending on which program your printer is using, it can
interpret that binary string 01001010 as either the number 74 or the symbol

J. The printer stores the symbol./ at position 74 in a table in its memory.

That eight-bit binary string,or byte.,can be broken into two halves. The left
or high-order part containing 0100 is called the zone portion; the right part
holdingthe 1010iscalled thedigits portion.And in thehexadecimal number
system, the zone and digit parts of that byte are represented as 4 and A
respectively (look them up in the list above).

6

Sothe laserprinterunderstands thesymbolJas 01001010, which wecan also
represent as the decimal number 74 or the hexadecimal number 4A. We’ve
printed this byte vertically and horizontally below, showing how it adds up
to decimal 74 and hex 4A.

o x 27

1x 26

0x 25
0x 24

1x 23

0x 22

1x 2’

ox 2°

zone

0100

4

—
—

—
—

—
—

—
—

—
—

—
—

—
—

—

digits

1010

A

o

64

0
0

8

0

2

0

74

Binary
Hexadecimal

Decimal

—

The ASCII table in the Technical Supplement shows all these equivalent
representations for the symbols your laser printer understands. The table
organizes them in ascending order. In fact, ASCII isorganized in a way that
actually makes sense.

Flip back there for a quick look right now. See how you can slice the table
into clumps of 16 or 32, based on what’s in the zone portion under the
hexadecimal column? These clumps make subgroups of similar symbols:

● hex 00 to 1F are the command symbols called control codes,

. hex 20 to 40 are the common keyboard symbols and numerals,
. hex 41 to 60 are capital letters and the less common keyboard

symbols,

. hex 61 to 7F are lowercase letters and a few final symbols.

That takes care of the first 128 ASCII symbols. However, nearly every
computer and printer manufacturer treats the second half of the table
differently.Hewlett-Packard, forexample, puts avariety ofaccented foreign
languagecharacters into positions 128-255(oftenreferred to as/zighASCZl).
Epson gives you a choice of either italics characters or IBM character
graphics.

7

1.2.3 Control codes

The ASCII table shows symbols like.Jor2 theway they actually print on the
laser printer. But ASCII includes more than just printable characters: none
of the control code commands at the beginning of the table actually print.
Instead,when yourcomputer sendsacontrolcodeto thelaserprinter itmakes
your printer do other things, such as sound its beeper.

Control codes mostly handle communications between your computer and
theprinter atthe lowest level,atcablelevel.For example, acouple ofcontrol
codes make sure the printer lmjfer (your printer’s storage memory) doesn’t
overflow. In this book we’ll indicate control codes enclosed by angle
brackets to their abbreviations in the table: <FF> means the Form Feed
controlcode, which advances the printer to the next page-justas the [PRINTI
button does.

1.2.4 Escape sequences

Control code 27, <ESC> or Escape, is a particularly important one for

printers.To tellyourprinterallthethings youmight need— settingmargins,

saying where to print,choosingaparticularfont, startinggraphics and so on
— requires many more than just two or three dozen control codes. So the
<ESC> control code has a special meaning: <ESC> means “the next
character specifies a command, not something to be printed”.

Therefore if you send just the chara$ter:

to the printer it will print a J and
that’s all. But if you send the <ESC> code just before the c then the printer
willswitchoverto print selftest.Extending thecontrol codes this way gives
you many more commands to control your printer. In fact, these “Escape
sequences” make up most of the Star Laser Printer’s language.

In this book we’ll leave spaces between characters when we show escape
sequences. You’ll find

<ESC>

(S OP IOh

12vos 3T

a bit more readable than

<ESC>

(sop IOh12vOS3T

8

But remember that you are not to send those spaces if you send commands
to the printer.

To sum up, printer commands are of two types. A cw?trolcode is a single­character command that tells your printer to do something, likemove down
one line. An Escape sequence controls a printer operation too, but is more

than onecharacter long.Sincethey are commands, neither control codesnor

escape sequences are usually printable characters.

1.2.5 Printer drivers

Most software packages already include the printer commands they need.
The programs that send commands to the printer so you don’t have to enter
them yourself are called printer dri~’ers.

Many programs ask you to install or configure your printer, which usually

means keying into a menu the particular setup information describing your

Star LaserPrinter 4111.You enter such things as how you want to underline,
alter line spacing, or move to a new print position.

Someprograms, such as WordPerjict and the systems from Lotus Develop­mentCorporation, letyou putprinter Escape sequencesbefore or rightinside
thedocument you wanttoprint.To turn on boldface, forexample, you might
hold down special keys on your keyboard, often Iabelled CONTROL or
ALT, asyoupressanotherkey.Oryoumight useaspecialFunction key, such
as F6.

In fact, to take real advantage of your Star LaserPrinter 4111’sspecial
abilities, you might opt for a word processor that lets you specify font
changes easily. WordPerfect and Microsoft Word are strong at this, but are
by no means the only good font manipulators.

If you have trouble using a particular program with your Star LaserPrinter
4111,you’ll probably get answers most quickly by asking your software
supplier how the program interacts with your printer.

In thismanual we refer to programs, fontsand other products soldby several
companies. Pleaserealizethatmentioning these productsdoesnot mean Star
Micronics endorses them in any way.

1.2.6Sending your own printer commands

Withoutaprinterdriver,sendingcontrolcodes andEscape sequencesto your
printer properly requires some knowledge of a programming language like
BASIC or Pascal, or at least of how to put such codes into a program. With
programming languages, thecomputer doesn’t acton thecommands you put
into a program until you tell it to run that program.

When you give a command to the printer from a computer program, you
normally enter each part of the command as a separate character. This way
you don’t affect anything else happening on the computer. You often send
each code or character in the command by giving its position in the ASCII
table, as a decimal or hex number.

1.2.7A BASIC example

Here’s an example you can type in right now, to clarify what we’re saying.
It’s written in Microsoft BASIC for a computer that uses the MS-DOS
operating system, so if you have a different computer or BASIC you may
have to translate a bit.

The LPRINT commands all send data to the printer. If the data is something
youwantprintedyoujustput itinquotationmarks. Ifthedataisacontrol code
you just say where it is in the ASCII table, giving its position as a regular
decimal number.

BASIC usuallysendsacarriage return after every 80 characters, to keep the

print position moving when it hits the end of a line. Unasked-for carriage

returns can mess up your printing, however, so it’s a good habit to put in a
WIDTH statement as shown. That lets us print over the whole page area.

The <BEL> control code— ASCII code7— is sent inBASIC as CHR$(7).
The <ESC> code itselfisCHR$(27). And because we’re using thecharacter

z as part of an <ESC> command, we type CHR$(112) instead of
So if you start BASIC and type these commands:

10

“z”.

NEW

10 ‘ EXAMPLE

20 WIDTH “LPT1:’’,255
30 LPRINT CHR$(7)
40 LPRINT CHR$(27);CHR$(112)
50 END
RUN

youmakethe printerfirst sounditsbell—most peoplecall ita beeper— and
then print the self test.

Generally, when you send a control or Escape code it stays active until you
deactivate it.

Mostprogramming languages,and someversionsof BASIC, letyoutreatthe
printer as a file to which youcan send data. When you write a program with
one of these languages you “open” the printer file, print into it, and then
“close” the file when you’re done. This programming jargon soundsfunny
if you’re not used to it— but it works.

A few programming languages let you send commands to the printer a third
way.ApplesoftBASICisone.With it,you can switchbetweenprinter output
and screen output.

1.2.8Printer emulations

YourStarLaserPrinter4111respondstothe sameescapesequence commands
that the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet III printer uses.

Macros are singlecontrol codes youcan define yourself, which do the work

ofawholelongseriesofprintercommands.If youare aprogrammer you will

be happy to hear the Star LaserPrinter4111supportsup to 99 macros at once.

11

MEMO

12

You can control your Star LaserPrinter 4111in two ways, either through
controlpanelparameters or through software commands. In this chapter we
will consider printer controls mostly from the perspective of the control
panel.

2.1 PRINTER PARAMETERS

2.1.1 The control panel

The easiest way to control your Star LaserPrinter 4111is through its control
panel, as explained in your Star LaserPrinter 4111OperationsManual.

When your printer is onfine (connected to and under the control of your
computer), its control panel display shows you the printer’s status. For
example, the READYlightblinks when the printer is warming up. The DATA
light comes on whenever the printer is holding data it hasn’t printed yet.

When you press the [ON LINE] button, the printer changes from normal to
offline mode and cannot accept data from yourcomputer. When the printer
is offline you can usethe other panel buttons.For instance, if you press the

[TEST/>] button for two seconds and release itjust after STATUS SHEET is

displayedwhen thelaserprinter isoffline,itfinishesprintingthecurrentpage
and then feeds in and prints a status sheet.

Some buttons on the panel let you perform two functions. Holding one of
those buttons down, rather than quickly pressing it, selects a different
operation. For example, holding down the [TEST/>] button for over five
seconds makes the Star LaserPrinter 4111print its font list.

13

I

2.1.2 Parameter settings

From the panel you can also change the parameters that define how your
printer works. Parameter just means
earlier kinds of printers, you’ll understand that laser printer parameters
controlpretty much thesame thingsDZPswitches do.(A DIP switchor’’dual

in-linepackage switch” is a setof small switches that controlvarious printer

functions.)

The printer stores these parameters as easy-to-use program menu items that

you can select from the control panel. These parameters specify:

●

number of copies (how many sheets of each page to be printed)

●

character (what character font to print)

●

page size (what size the printer will use)

●

layout (how pages will be formatted)

●

paper feed (what paper the printer will use)

●

input buffer (what size the printer can store the input buffer)

●

interface (how the printer communicates with your computer)

A dejbult is the setting the Star LaserPrinter 4111will use if none is

specificallyselected by a program. When you firstturn on or later reset your

printer these default settings will take effect.

“variable”. If you’re familiar with

Your main usefor the control panel will likely be to set the default settings

you want for these parameters. However, you will probably find the panel

convenient too when you want to switch between manual and automatic

paper feed.

2.1.3 Four versions of parameters

The Star LaserPrinter4111actually stores four versions of these parameters:

●

its “ultimate default” factory settings,

●

the user default settings in effect when you first turn on the printer,

●

your initialsettingsfor one particular session,

●

and the current settings that the printer is using now.

These are in priority order. The current settings always override the initial

sessionsettings,which inturnoverridetheuserdefault settings,whichinturn

override the factory settings.

14

Factory settings are programmed into the Star LaserPrinter 4111when it is

builtatthe factory. Your printer keeps the factory settingsfor its parameters
in ROM; they never change. You can copy them into the current settings or
any other settingsas needed. But the only way you can return to the factory

defaults is from the control panel; no commands do this.

A few factory default settings are as follows:

Item

Fuetory deftiult settincq

Emulation HP LaserJet III
Feeder

Multi-purpose tray
Number of Copies 1
Orientation

Portrait
Font 10-pitch 12-pointCourier (internal)
Lines/inch

6 lines per inch

The user default setti}?gsare the normal default settings. The printer keeps
themeven when you turn off the power. There are two settings:Mode 1and
Mode2. The Mode 1isthenormal default seton power-up orhard reset. You

can select either Mode 1or Mode 2 by using [PROGRAM] button in normal
offline mode.
When you turn on the printer, these user default settingsget copied intothe

initial and current parameter settings.

You probably will not often change the Star LaserPrinter 4111’sinitial set-
tings(sometimes called “session settings”). You’11likelyonly change them
when youwantto useadifferent printeremulation than normal. These initial
settings stay the same as the user default settings until you change them.

On the other hand, your software will probably change the (urrent settings
many times within the same document, with every change of font or print
style.

15

I

2.1.4 How to change parameters

With the printer offline, ifyou press the [PROGRAM] button theprinter goes
into “program” mode. You can then step through the laser printer’s four
levels of program menu to configure your printer. That’s the process of
changing certain printer settings so your computer and printer can commu­nicate properly.

It’s actually pretty easy. Flipping through and setting parameters from the
panel isdescribed in detailintheStarLaserPt”inter4111OperationsManual.

Basically, all you do is press the [<]or [>] buttons to scroll through the se­quence of possible parameters and values, which is clearly shown on the
panel display. You press [v] when you want to go down and scrollthrough
alower menulevel.And youalsopress
menu item as the value for a current parameter setting.

The two last menu headings let you load one version of the parameters into
another version. One moves the current parameter values into user default
parameters. The final menu option goes the other way, letting you load the
factory parameter settings as your current settings.

[A]when youwanttosaveaparticular

2.2 CONTROLLING THE PRINTER

Inthissectionyou’llmeettwoseparatecontrolsoverhowtheStarLaserPrinter
4111itself works. The INTERFACE parameter controls communications
between the printer and your computer. You can set the INTERFACE
parameters on the control panel.

2.2.1 The l/VTERFACEparameter

The INTERFACE parameter, the most basic of the Star LaserPrinter 4111’s
configuration settings, defines how your computer connects to the printer.
You can set the INTERFACE to either Serial or Parallel. In most single­computerenvironmentsyou’ll optfor thefaster Parallel interface;in amulti­user network you may be better off with Serial.

The particularprinterinterface settingsdon’tmatter as much as making sure
they match those on your computer. If you use an MS-DOS computer, you
can”set your computer’s parameters with the MODE command. See your
MS-DOS manual.

16

Most MS-DOS and AT-compatible computers support up to three parallel
and two serial ports, which come on expansion boards you plug into your
computer.Whenyouinstallsuch boardsyoumust setswitchesto indicatethe
numberandaddresses ofthese ports. Ifyou specifythe wrong addresses,you
won’t be able to print.

Serial interface: rate

If you ask forthe Serial interface you’llhave to tell your printer more about
how the data will be coming in — in particular its rate and unit size and the
meanings of any special bits.

The Rate parameter specifies how fast data will be arriving, measured in
baud (named afterthe French communications engineer Jean Baudot). Pick
any of the following data transfer rates:

300 baud
600 baud

1200 baud
2400 baud
4800 baud
9600 baud (the default)

19200 baud

38400 baud.

Roughly,onecharacter a second worksoutto 11baud.If you’renotsure how
fast your computer will transmit, the general rule is to experiment. Try
sending a page to print at the highest speed, and work your way down until
the printer’s output looks OK.

Serial interface: special bits

In Serial mode you’ll also have to specify if your computer sends data bits
in groups of seven (most computers send eight, the default for a byte).

Sometimes an extra bit gets appended to make the sum of all bits in each
character always odd or even; that’s calledparity. A parity bitcan help spot
transmission errors. If your computer sendsthat extra parity bit, you’ll have
tosay whetheritproducesanevenorodd numberof“on” bitsinthecharacter.

17

You’ll also have to indicateifyour computer sends two stop bits to indicate
the end of a byte, instead of one, the default. These serial interface settings
are described in more detail in your Star LaserPrinter 4111Operations

Manual.

Serial interface:protocol

Finally,inSerialmodeyour computerwill useoneof twoprotocols toensure
dataissentproperly.Protocol (sometimesalso called “handshaking”)means
“who says what when”, and is the way your printer tells your computer it’s
ready to receive data. Your computer and printer communicate by sending
protocol control codes (they’re at the front of the ASCII table).

Someprogrammers call the XON and XOFFcontrol codes “kisson and kiss
off’; otherscall the same protocol DC1and DC3 (for device control). Either
way, these codes let your printerrun the show, telling the computer when to
startand stop sendingdata. Your printer asksto have data held back when its
memory is nearly full or when it senses an ERROR condition.

DTR (Data Terminal Ready) protocol does the same thing slightly differ­ently. The printer sends a continuous high-voltage signal over the cable as
long as it can accept data, but drops the voltage to say “whoa” to the
computer.

Look in your computer’s operations manual, in the section dealing with
communications protocols, to see which is best for your system. You can
sticktothe printer’sdefaults ifyourcomputer doesnotuse theDTR, butdoes
use XON/XOFF.

2.2.2 Checking your connections

Your computer andprintermay have troublecommunicating when you first
introducethemto each other. The quick way to find out if your settings and
printer cable are working isto send your printer a printout from your screen
(CTRL-P with MS-DOS).

When that done you will also have to press the print button on the printer,
which makes the printer advance to a new sheet. No laser printer prints and

ejects a page untilit’stold to feed aform,or untilit has received all the lines
the page can hold.

18

If your Star LaserPrinter 4111doesn’t print what’s on the computer screen,
recheck your connections and interface settings. With an applications
program likeLotus 1-2-3 or Microsoft Word, you use a printer setuproutine
to match your computer with your printer’s operating characteristics. So
double-check your software settings; your computer’s output, for example,
might not be going to the proper port.

2.2.3 Hints: The hex dump

To make your Star LaserPrinter 4111print in hexadecimal rather than the
usual ASCII symbols, press the control panel buttons that put the printer
offline and in PROGRAM mode. Move to the EMULATION parameter’s
HEX DUMP setting and select it.

Some control or Escape codes can be problems on a few computers; those
computers change certain codes when sending them to the printer. If you
think you have this problem you need to see exactly what your printer is
receiving. We recommend you run a short program that loops through and
prints the ASCII table. Print in hexadecimal rather than the usual ASCII
symbols.

If you spot a problem code you can try to bypass the problem, either by
sending each code directly to the printer, or by changing your system’s
printer driver. Such computer-specific solutions, though, are beyond the
scope of this manual. We suggest that if necessary you consult another
programmer more familiar with your computer.

Actually, if you are debugging any program you may find this hex-dump
mode helpful. It can be a great trouble-shooter.

19

I

2.3 CONTROLLING

In this section we look at two controls you have over how the Star
LaserPrinter 4111handles and formats its pages: You can set values for the
PAPER FEED and LAYOUT parameters on thecontrol panel. At the end of
this section we’ll also preview different ways to move the print position.

2.3.1 The PAPERFEED parameter

The PAPER FEED parameter lets you specify both what kind of paper you
want and how the paper is fed.

One convenient thing about a laser printer is that itdoesn’t need continuous
forms, sometimes called ~bnfbki paper. Other printers feed in a stack of
forms— withpages alljoined byperforations— byhaving sprocketsengage
and pullalongpinfeed holespunched alongeach side of thepaper. After it’s
printed you have to tear off the pinfeed-hole strips and then separate the
pages,

With the Star LaserPrinter 4111you can print on a variety of ordinary cut
sheet pages.

For the Feeder value of this PAPER FEED parameter, you first enter either
multi-purpose tray, manual feed or cassette (option) to indicate where you
wantpaper fed from. The multi-purposetray handles various typesand sizes
ofpaper (Letter, Legal, A4, B5, Executive, OHP sheets, Labels, Envelopes).
Manualfeedmeansyoufeed each sheetby hand fromthemulti-purpose tray.
The cassette tray automatically feeds single sheets, much like sheet feeders
on other types of printers.

ThedefaultpapersizeisA4,youcanspecify othersizestoo.A different-sizes
tray automatically selects that different paper size,

●

8.5 by 11 inch letter-size paper

●

8.5 by 14 inch legal-size paper

●

B5 international (used in every country except North America)
(182 by 257 mm)

●

the narrower “executive” size (7.25 by 10.5 inches)

20

Oneothernicethingyoucando isprintdirectlyon envelopes.WiththisPaper
Size parameter you can specify envelopes in sizes, Monarch, COM-10,
InternationalC5 and DL. Thenjust work out whereto putthe address, setthe
orientationto landscape (see below), and slide your envelope intothe multi­purpose tray!

2.3.2 Hints: Pape6 labels and transparencies

●

The best paper forthe Star LaserPrinter 4111hasa smooth finish and isof
60 to 105g/mz(20 to 24 pound) weight. Any paper designed for photo­copiersshoulddothetrickthough;Xerox 4024and CanonNPprint nicely.
High quality cotton bond paper, which contains up to 25 percent cotton
fibres, works passably well with even heavier weights.

Theabsolutelimitsare 16-poundpaperatthe lightend and 35-poundstock
at the heaviest. With heavy paper, open the tray so the pages will be
delivered face up and won’t have to bend over the final rollers.

●

Be aware that any puckered or woven finish may not print as sharply as
you’d like. Avoid shinycoated paper or multipart forms. And don’t even
think about putting in stapled or ripped pages.

●

If you frequently change paper weights, you will probably get skewing
problems — lines thal print at an angle because of misfeeding. For best
results, when your Star LaserPrinter 4111is first set up have the paper
feeder“squared” forpaper ofat least60grams (20 pounds).Lighterpaper,
though cheaper, isn’t really,the way to economize.

●

Want to print on your own preprinted letterhead? Fine — so long as your
logoisn’tthermographed.Thick colored inkmay lookluxurious,butitcan
also wind up stuckallover your printer’s roller. Stay away from any inks
that soften at relatively low temperatures; your printer fuses pages at

200”C.

This warning appliestocoloredpaper too, ifit hasbeen tinted witha low­temperature dye.

●

When printing startsfading becausethe toner islow, remove thecartridge

and gently rock itback and forth half a dozen times. Don’t tip it up or the
tonermay spillout.Redistributingthe tonerpowder this way can keep the
cartridge going for another tray of paper.

21

I

. No question, working with single label sheets is more convenient than

with continuous label stock. Laser printers are faster and produce better­looking labels than other printers. But laser printers, which work by
electrostaticphotographyratherthanimpactpressure,putdifferentstresses
on labelpaper. Each sheethas to bend over and through the guide rollers;
moreover, fusing toner to the paper involves heat. You can eliminate
trouble by always feeding label sheets manually.

Both Avery’s “Lasergraphic” labels and Canon’s labels seem to work

fine. Your main concern is that the labels completely cover the backing

sheet so itshowsonly at the outside margins. That way individual labels

can’t easily peel off.
The safestapproach isto laser-printsharp master copiesonpaper and then

photocopy those lists onto labels. This will avoid putting your printer’s
adjustment for paper thickness out of adjustment.

. Ifyou.wanttoprinttransparencies foryouroverhead projector,somefilms

will actually melt in your laser printer. Stick to 3M’s medium-weight
transparency film (type 501) or to Hewlett-Packard’s #92285J.

2.3.3 The LAYOUTparameter

The layoutorformat orsetup ofa page refers tohow text ispositioned on the
page. Layout includes page orientation, margins and the spacing of charac­tersacrossand linesdownthepage.You can controlthesewiththe LAYOUT
parameter.

You probably won’t use the LAYOUT parameter on the control panel’s
program menu very much though. Most of the time you’ll either leave the
Star LaserPrinter 4111with itsdefault settings,or look after page formatting
with commands you send from your computer.

Page orientation

A page’s orientation tells you inwhich direction the print goes on the page.
When youuseportraitorientationthelines areprinted asthey arein anormal
business letter, across the width of the page. A portrait painting of a person
is usually vertical — hence the name.

22