Star Micronics LaserPrinter 4 User Manual

APPLICA TIONS MANUAL

80821860

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 whatsoever without

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 gives you the information
youneedto programthe StarMicronicsLaserPrinter4.

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

Doyouwantcompletecontroloverthecharacte~andimagesyouprint?Do
youwantto makeyourStarLaserPrinter4 worklikesomeearlierkindof
printer? Thismanualprovidesthesoftwarehelpyouneedto get themost
fromyourLaserPrinter4.

ThoughthisApplicationsManual is reallyintendedfor intermediateto
advancedcomputerusers,we’vetriedtoaccommodaterelativenovicestoo.
The informationisorganizedso youcan walk throughthe generaltheory
underlyingprinterprogrammingbeforedancinginto specificdetails. It
makessense,therefore,to readthefirstthreechaptersbeforejumpinginto
themiddle.

There’sagoodreasontoreadeachchapterfromitsstarttoo.Peoplelearning
howto useanew printeroftenfindtheterminologyabarrier. Soinsteadof
buryingwhatmaybenewjargoninaGlossaryattheback,wedefineeach
newtermthefirsttimeitappears.Thewholefirstpartofthechapteronfonts,
forexarnple,definesdifferentaspectsofafont (acollectionofcharactersof
the samesizeand style).

What’sin thismanual?

● In “Gettingto KnowYourStarLaserPrinter4“ we providea listof the

featuresthat make this a splendidprinter, to help you choosewhich
feahuesyouwantto exploit. There’sa bit on how laserprinterswork,
insideandout. Thechapterthenexplainssoftwarein generalterms,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 mostofus, the“Fonts”chapterwillbeuseful: howtousethefonts

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

● Youmayneverlookatchapters4 and5, whichcoverStarLaserPrinter

4 commands. YourLaserPnnter4 emulates otherprinters: it imitates
otherprintersby acceptingthe samecommandstheydo. Just think of
yourStarLaserPrinter4 as two printershidinginsideoneunit.

Ifyouwanttowriteormodifyaprogramthatusesoneoftheseprinters—
theHewlett-PackardLaserJet11Por EpsonFX-850- chapters4 and5
showhow yourStar LaserPrinter4 can emulateto accordingly. The
chaptersfirstdescribehowtocontroltheprinterandtoformatpages,then
howtqmovetheprintposition,andfinallyhowtousefontsandgraphics.

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 havemanualsfor those printers
anyway.) We recommendyou use LaserJetHP emulationwhenever
possible,withFX-850emulationas yourbackupmode.

c Thefinal“TechnicalSupplement”containingthecommandandcharac-

ter mfextmcetableswill probablygetthumbedthe most.

Conventions

Incidentally,oneofthoseTechnicalSupplementtables suggestsacoupleof
typographicconventionswe’lluse.Baseten(decimal)numberswillgener­allybe used here;if we havetouse base sixteennumbers(hexadecimal)
we’llexpresslysay so.

Andsecond,the lowercaseLis practicallyidenticaltothenumberone(1ver­sus 1). BecauselowercaseL is usedinmanycommanddescriptions,we’ll
usethecharacter/to avoidconfusion.

TheStarLaserPrinter4 OperationsManual

ThismanualisthecompaniontotheStarLaserPrin?er4OperatwnsiWanuaZ
thatcamewithyourprinter.Alaserprinteris a fairlycomplextoolthatre­quirescareanddelicatehandling.Soto usethisApplicationsl14anualbest,
makesureyouunderstandthat OperationsManual first.

Your OperationsManual holds essentialinformationabout the Laser­Printer4, such as howto:

●

unpackandsetup yourlaserprinter,

●

connecttheStarLaserPrinter4 toyourcomputer’sserialorparallelport,

✎

linktheLaserPrinter4 intoanetworkof severalcomputers,

✎

configuretheLaserPrinter4 to yourneeds(withvariablessuchas paper
sizeandspeedof datatransfer),

●

loadpaperandthetonercartridge,

●

operatethe panelswitchesanddisplay,

●

runtheLaserPrinter4 self-test,

●

lookafteryourprinterto keep it in peakcondition.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER1 GETTINGTOKNOWYOURSTAR

LASERPRINTER4

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

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

CHAPTER2 CONTROLLINGYOURPRINTER

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

2.2ControllingthePrinter

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

2.4ControllingthePrinting

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

CHAPTER3 FONTS

3.1FontTerminology

3.2HowtheStarLaserPrinter4 StoresFonts

3.3SymbolSets

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

CHAPTER4 HPLASERJETIIP COMMANDS

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

4.2ControllingthePrinter

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

4.4MovingthePrintPosition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1

13

16

25

31

37

45

47

CHAPTER5 EPSONFX-850COMMANDS

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

5.2ControllingthePrinter

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

5.4MovingthePrintPosition

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

5.6Graphics

CHAPTER6 TECHNICALSUPPLEMENT

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

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

INDEX

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

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

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

93

95
99

113

119

15’7

Gettingto Know Your ‘” “

Star LaserPrinter

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

4

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,
withupto90,000dotspersquareinch—nomoreNLQ(nearletterquality)
compromises.The Star LaserPrinter4 producesfour of those pages a
minute.Thesenumberstranslateto aboutfivetimesmoreresolutionand

aboutthreetimesmore speedthantheaveragedot-matrixprinter.
Star’snewprinteris~markablyversatile.Youcanprintcomplicatedforms

(widthwiseif you want)... detailedgraphs... yourowncustomizedtype­styles... digitizedphotographs...
Japanese).

otherlanguages(includingArabic and

Youcan even printyourletterheadandlogoas youprintyourletter, and
reprintthemdirectlyontoa businessenvelope.You don’teven need to
removethepapertraytoprinttheenvelope:justslideitintothemanualfeed
slot.

1

The StarLaserPrinter4isidealfordesktoppublishing.Thepagesit produces
makeperfectphotocopyorinstant-printmasters.Andallthemaindesktop
publishingsystems,includingAldusCorporation’sPageMaker andXerox
VenturaPubisher,worksplendidlywiththeStarLaserPrinter4.With“page
makeup”programsliketheseyouwillbe able—maybeforthefirsttime—
to delivercommunicationswiththe impactof top-notchgraphics.

1.1.2Fontoptions

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

Thesefontsare:

Courier
Courier 12point Bold
Courier
Courier 1Opoint
Courier
Courier
LinePrinter 8.5point Medium

Besidesthese,youmaybeabletouseoptionalcartridgesanddisksto give
yourStar LaserPrinter4 a varietyof extrafonts,suchasthese:

Helvet
LetterGothic presentationfonts
Barcodes

12point Medium
12point Italic

Medium
1Opoint Bold
1Opoint Italic

linedrawing

opticalcharacterreaderfontsuniversalproductcode

You can load your Star LaserPrinter4’smemory with fonts stored on
computerdisks.Literallyhundredsof fonts are marketedby font-supply
companies.Somefontsareevenobtainablefromcomputer’’usergroups”or
“electronicbulletinboards”.Fontsyougetthiswayareinthepublicdomain,
whichmeansyou don’tneedtopay a licencefeetousethem.

Ask your Star LaserPrinter4 dealer aboutresourceslike these. Desktop
publishingwith laser printemis fast-changingterritory,and some Star
Micronicsstaffpeople havefoundelectronicbulletinboardsandcomputer
usergroupsquitehelpfulinkeepingupwiththechangingpace.Ifyouinvest
a littletimethiswayitmayrepayyouwell.

2

1.2.3HowyourIaserprinter communicates

YourcomputercommunicateswiththeStarLaserPrinter4 througheither

apardef cableoroneoftwokindsof serialcable.Theprinter’sinterjzce,
the link or boundaryit shares with your computer,defines whetherthe

printerwillacceptcharactersandcommandsfromyourcomputeronebyte
or onebit at a time.

Abitisthesmallestunitof computerorprintermemory.Ithaseitheralow
orhighelectriccharge,whichwerepresentwiththedigitsOand 1.Usually
eight adjacentbits are grouped to form a byte. Since a byte normally
representsonecharacter,thisstringofbits- O1OOOOO1—might represent
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 firstmapsthecharactemto beprintedintoits own
randomaccessmemory(RAM).Thatis, theprinterbuildsa“picture”inits

memorycorrespondingtothepage youwanttoprint.Whenthat’sdonethe
printercanreproducethepageontopaperonitsown,lettingyourcomputer
getonwithotherwork.

YourStarLaserPrinter4 comeswithonemegabyteofRAM—theequiva­lentofaboutonemillioncharacters.AStarLaserPrinter4 optionlets you
addasecondmegabyteofRAMif,say,youneedto mapfull-pagegraphics
orstemmorefonts. AccompanyingallthatRAMis another512kilobytes
ofreadonlymemory(ROM),containingalibraryofinternalfontsandthe
programsthatlettheStarLaserPrinter4 emulateotherprinters.

An Intel 80960KAcomputerchip controls both the memory and the
printingmechanisminthepnnter,calledtheprintengine.Theprinterstores
a whole page in RAM before printing it. (If a page is so dense that it
overflowsmemory-a mostunlikelyevent—theStarLaserPrinter4 prints
thepageon two sheets.)

3

I

1.2.5ThePrintengine

It’s the print enginethat-formsthe actualcharactersand graphics.The
enginedirectsitslaser,apinpointstreamoflightpulses,throughmirrorsand
lensesontothesurfaceof a positively-chargedrotatingdrum.

Mirror

Lens
Laserbeam

+

~%a~nirr~ mirror

nductor laser diode

Photosensitive drum

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

Asthedrumrotatesfurtheritmeetsthepaper.Thepaperitselfisnegatively
chargedbypassingbyafinecoronawire.Sinceoppositechargesattract,the
negativepaperclingsto thepositivedrum.Thenheatandpressurefroma
rollermeltor~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 readabout ASCII.

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,weneedten symbolsto showthe actualvaluesthatmaybe
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)- toshowthevaluesthatmaybe inany

position.So inbinarywe getnumbersthatlooklike 1O1Oor 10001100.

Thehexadecimalsystemismadeofbase-sixteennumbers.Hexadecimalis

positionallike theothercountingsystems.Andeachhigherpositionisworth

sixteentimesasmuchas the positionto its right.
We need sixteen differentsymbolsto show all the possiblevaluesone

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

Theimportantthingtorealizeisthatthere’smorethanonewayto showthe
samenumericvalue.Computerprogrammers,forexample,occasionallyuse
thehexadecimalsystembecauseit’s so compact.(Programmersoftenjust
say“hex”.)Thisbinarynumber:

10100101111111010011011111101101OO1O11O1OOOO1OO1

looksquiteabittidierwhenitiswrittenasA5FD37ED2D09,whichmeans
thesamething.

1.2.2TheASCII table

Wheredoesthe Star LaserPrinter4 get the charactersand instructionsit

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

sendsa streamof textandcommandsto yourprinter.

Theprogramin yourcomputerthatcontrolseverythingsentto the printer

(calledthe printer driver) will usually be includedwith your computer
programs;suchasyourwordprocessor.Butthecommandscouldalsocome
fromaprogramyou’vewritten,perhapsinBASIC,aprogramminglanguage
thatusescommonEnglishwords.

Internally,computemand printersuse only the 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.

That eight-bitbinarystring,or byte, canbebrokenintotwohalves.Theleft
orhigh-orderpartcontaining0100is calledthezoneportion;therightpart
holdingthe 1010iscalledthedigitsportion.Andinthehexadecimalnumber
system,the zone and digitparts of that byte are representedas 4 and A
respectively(lookthemupin the list above).

SothelaserprinterunderstandsthesymbolJ as 01001010, whichwe can
also representas the decimalnumber74 or the hexadecimalnumber4A.
We’veprintedthisbyteverticallyandhorizontallybelow,showinghowit
addsup to decimal74 andhex4A.

6

o x 27 = o

1x 26 = 64

0x25= o

x24= o

0

1X 23 = 8

0x2’ = o

1x 21 = 2

0x2° = Q

74 Decimal

zone digits

0100 1010 Binary
4 A Hexadecimal

The ASCIItablein the TechnicalSupplementshowsalltheseequivalent

~presentationsfor the symbolsyourlaserprinterunderstands.Thetable

organizesthemin ascendingorder.Infact,ASCIIisorganizedinawaythat

actuallymakessense.

Flipbacktherefor a quicklookrightnow.Seehowyoucan slicethetable
into clumpsof 16or 32, based on what’sin the zoneportionunderthe
hexadecimalcolumn?Theseclumpsmakesubgroupsof similarsymbols:

● hex 00 to IF arethecommandsymbolscalledcontrolcodes,

● hex 20 to 40 arethecommonkeyboardsymbolsandnumerals,

● hex41 to 60 arecapitallettersandthelesscommonkeyboardsymbols,

● hex 61 to 7F arelowercaselettersand a few finalsymbols.

That takes care of the first 128ASCIIsymbols.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.ButASCIIincludesmorethanjust printablecharacters:none

of the control codecommandsatthebeginningofthetableactuallyprint.
Instead,when your computersends a controlcode to the laser printerit

makesyourprinterdo otherthings,suchassoundits beeper.

7

Controlcodesmostlyhandlecommunicationsbetweenyourcomputerand
theprinteratthe lowestlevel,atcablelevel.Forexample,acoupleofcontrol
codesmakesuretheprinterbuffer(yourprinter’sstoragememory)doesn’t
overflow.In this book we’ll indicatecontrol codes enclosed by angle
bracketsto their abbreviationsin the table:=&I%-meansthe Form Feed
controlcode,whichadvancestheprinterto 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 special meaning: <ESC> means “the next
characterspecifiesa command,notsomethingto beprinted”.

Thereforeif yousendjust the character4 to theprinterit willprinta4 and
that’sall. Butif yousendthecESC>codejustbeforethe4 thentheprinter
(in FX-850 mode)willswitchoverto italicstext.Extendingthe control
codesthiswaygivesyoumanymorecommandsto controlyourprinter.In
fact,these“Escapesequences”makeupmostoftheStarLaserPrinter’skm­guage.

In thisbookwe’llleavespacesbetweencharacterswhenweshowescape
sequences.You’llfind

<ESC>

abit morereadablethan

<ESC>(sOp10h12vOs3T

Butrememberthatyou arenotto sendthosespacesif yousendcommands
to the printer.

To sumup,printercommandsareoftwotypes.A controlcodeis a single­charactercommandthattellsyourprintertodosomething,likemovedown
oneline.AnEscapesequencecontrolsaprinteroperationtoo,butismore
thanonecharacterlong.Sincetheyarecommands,neithercontrolcodesnor
escapesequencesareusuallyprintablecharacter.

8

(S@ IOh12vos 3T

1.2.5Printerdrivers

Mostsoftwarepackagesahvadyincludethe printercommandstheyneed.
Theprogramsthatsendcommandstotheprinterso youdon’thaveto enter
themyourselfa~ calledprinter drivers.

Manyprogramsaskyouto installor configureyourprinter,whichusually
meanskeyingintoamenutheparticularsetupinformationdescribingyour
StarLaserPrinter4.Youentersuchthingsas howyouwant to underline,
alterlinespacing,ormoveto a newprintposition.

Someprograms,suchasWordPerfectandthesystemsfromLotusDevel­opmentCorporation,let you put printerEscapesequencesbeforeor right
insidethedocumentyouwanttoprint.Toturnonboldface,forexample,you

mightholddownspecialkeysonyourkeyboard,oftenlabelledCONTROL

orALT,asyoupressanotherkey.OryoumightuseaspecialFunctionkey,
suchasF6.

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

onlygoodfontmanipulator.

If youhavetroubleusinga particularprogramwithyourStarLaserPrinter

4, you’ll probably get answers most quickly by asking your software

supplierhowthe programinteractswithyourprinter.

Inthismanualwerefertoprograms,fontsandotherproductssoldbyseveral
companies.PleasemalizethatmentioningtheseproductsdoesnotmeanStar
Micronicsendomestheminanyway.

1.2.6Sendingyour ownprinter commands

Without a printerdriver,sending controlcodesand Escapesequencesto
yourprinterproperlyrequiressomeknowledgeofaprogramminglanguage
likeBASIC!or Pascal,or at leastofhowto put suchcodesintoaprogram.
Withprogramminglanguages,thecomputerdoesn’tactonthecommands
youputinto a programuntilyoutellitto runthatprogram.

Whenyougivea commandto the printerfroma computerprogram,you
normallyentereachpartofthecommandasaseparatecharacter.Thisway

. youdon’t affectanythingelsehappeningonthecomputer.Youoftensend

eachcodeorcharacterin thecommandby givingitspositionintheASCII
table,asa decimalor hexnumber.

9

1.2.7A BASICexample

Here’sanexampleyoucantypein rightnow,to clarifywhatwe’resaying.
It’s written in MicrosoftBASICfor a computerthat uses the MS-DOS
operatingsystem,so if youhaveadifferentcomputeror BASICyou may
havetotranslateabit.We’llshowcommandsthewaythey’rewrittenforan
Epsondot-matrixprinterbecauseyourStarLaserPrinter4understandsthose
commands.

TheLPRINTcommandsallsenddatatotheprinter.Ifthedatais something
youwantprintedyoujust putit in quotationmarks.If thedataisa control
codeyoujustsaywhexeitisintheASCIItable,givingitspositionasaregular
decimalnumber.

BASICusuallysendsacarriagereturnafterevery80character, tokeepthe

print positionmovingwhenit hitstheendof a line.Unasked-forcarriage

returnscan messupyourprinting,however,so it’sagoodhabitto putin a
WIDTHstatementas shown.Thatletsus printoverthe wholepagearea.

The<BEL>controlcode— ASCIIcode7—is sentinBASICasCHR$(7).
The cESG codeitself isCHR$(27).Andbecausewe’reusingthecharacter
4 aspartof 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’s what happensin line 40 of our programabove.All

subsequenttextwillbe italicizeduntilyouchangeitbackto uprightagain.

10

1

Mostprogramminglanguages,andsomeversionsof BASIC,let youtreat
theprinteras a filetowhichyoucansenddata.Whenyouwritea program
withoneoftheselanguagesyou“open”theprinterfile,printintoit,andthen
“close”thefilewhenyou’redone.Thisprogrammingjargon soundsfunny
if you’renotusedtoit—but it works.

Afewprogramminglanguagesletyousendcommandstotheprinterathird
way. Applesoft BASICis one. With it, you can switchbetweenprinter
output and screenoutput.

1.2.8Printeremulations

You noticedthat we said“in FX-850mode”up there? Your Star Laser­Printer4respondstothesameescapesequencecommandsthatseveraloiher
printemuse.Beingableto emulateprintersliketheEpsonFX-850letsyou
useyourStarLaserPrinter4witholderprogramsthathaven’tbeenupdated
to take advantageof laserprinters.In fact,becauseit emulatestwo of the
mostpopularprinters,youcanusetheStarLaserPrinter4withjustaboutany

microcomputerprogramaround.

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

quencesfor functions the 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.Ifyouareaprogrammeryouwill
behappyto heartheStarLaserPrinter4 supportsupto 99 macrosat once.

11

MEMO

12

Controlling

YourPrinter

YoucancontrolyourStarLaserPrinter4intwoways,eitherthmughcontrol
panelparameters or throughsoftwarecomrnana!s.In thischapterwe will
considerprintercontrolsmostlyfromtheperspectiveofthecontrolpanel.
However,we’llalsomeetfourspecialcommands,theStarLaserPrinter4

superset.

Throughoutthismanualweapproachparametersandcommandsthesame
way:overallprinter-levelcontrolsficst,then page-levelcontrols(layoutand
printpositionmovements),and finallycharacter-levelcontrols(fontsand
graphics).We’lldiscusstheseingeneraltermsin thischapter.

Thespecificcommandsyoucansendto yourprintertomakeit emulate,or
work like, other printers are describedin chapters 4 and 5. The most
importantfact about printercommands,though,is that you may 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 easiestwayto controlyourStarLaserPrinter4 is throughits control
panel,asexplainedin moredetailin yourStarLzserl%nter4 Operations

Manual.

Whenyourprinteris online(connectedto and underthe controlof your
computer),its controlpaneldisplayshows you the printer’sstatus.For
example,the READYlightblinkswhenthe printeris warmingup. The
DATAlight comesonwheneverthe printerisholdingdataithasn’tprinted
yet.

Whenyoupressthe [ONLINE]button,theprinterchangesfmmnormalto
ofline modeandcannotacceptdatafromyourcomputer.Whentheprinter
isofflineyoucanusetheotherpanelbuttons.Forinstance,ifyoupressthe

13

[TEST/>]buttonforthrecsecondhandreleaseitjustafterSTATUSSHEET

isdisplayedwhenthelaserprinteris offline,it finishesprintingthecurrent

pageandthen feedsin andprintsa statussheet.

Somebuttons on thepanellet youperformtwofunctions.Holdingoneof

those buttons down, rather than quickly pressing it, selects a different
operation.For example,holdingdown the [TEST/>]buttonfor over six
secondsafterSTATUSSHEETisdisplayedmakestheStarLaserPrinter4
printitstestpattern.

2.1.2 Parametersettings

Fromthe panel youcan alsochangethe pararnetemthatdefinehow your
printerworks.Parameterjust means“variable”. If you’refamiliarwith
earlier kinds of pnntem, you’ll understandthat laser printerparameters
controlpn%ymuchthesamethingsDIPswitchesdo.(ADIPswitchor’’dual
in-linepackageswitch”is asetofsmallswitchesthatcontrolvariousprinter
functions.)

Theprinterstorestheseparametemaseasy-to-useprogrammenuitemsthat
youcan selectfromthecontrolpanel.Theseparametemspecify:

8

emulation(whatprinterthe StarLaserPrinteremulates)

●

numberof copies(thenumberof copiesof eachpageto be printed)

●

character(whatcharacterfonttoprint)

●

job size(whatsizeof papertheprinterwilluse)

●

layout(howpageswillbe formatted)

9

paperfeed(howpaperwillbe fed)

●

page,mode(partialor full)

●

interface(howtheprintercommunicateswithyourcomputer)

Ad@auZtisthesettingtheStarLaserPrinter4willuseifnoneisspecifically
selectedbyaprogram.Whenyoufirsttumon orlaterresetyourprinterthese

defaultsettingswilltakeeffect.
Yourmainuseforthecontrolpanelwilllikelybetosetthedefaultsettings

youwantfor theseparameters.However,youwillprobablyfmdthepanel
convenienttoo when you want to switchbetweenmanualandautomatic
paperfeed.

2.1.3 Four versionsofparameters

TheStarLaserPrinter4 actuallystoresfourversionsof theseparametem:

s its “ultimatedefault”factorysettings,

14

● the power-onsettingsin effectwhenyoufirstturnon theprinter,

● yourinitialsettingsfor oneparticularsession,

● andthecurrentsettingsthat theprinteris usingnow.

Theseare in priorityorder.Thecurrentsettingsalwaysoverridetheinitial

sessionsettings,whichinturnoverridethepower-onsettings,whichinturn

overridethe factorysettings.
FactorysettingsareprogrammedintotheStarLaserPrinter4whenitisbuilt

atthe factory.Yourprinterkeepsthe factorysettingsfor its parametersin

ROM;theyneverchange.Youcancopythemintothecurrentsettingsorany

other settingsas needed.But the only way you can returnto the factory

defaultsis fromthecontrolpanel;no commandsdothis.

A few factorydefaultsettingsareas follows:

Item Factorydefaultsetting
Emulat;o.1 HPLaserJetIIP
Feeder

Multi-purposetray
Numberof Copies 1
Orientation
Font
Lines/inch

Portrait

10-pitch12-pointCourier(internal)

6 linesperinch

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

YouprobablywillnotoftenchangetheStarLaserPrinter4’sinitialsettings
(sometimescalled“sessionsettings”).You’lllikelyonlychangethemwhen
you want to use a differentprinteremulationthan normal.These initial
settingsstaythesameasthepower-onsettingsuntilyouchangethem.

Ontheotherhand,yoursoftwarewillprobablychangethecurrentsettings
manytimeswithinthe samedocument,witheverychangeof fontorprint

style.

2.1.4Howto changeparameters

Withthe printeroffline,if youpressthe [PROGRAM]buttontheprinter
goesinto“program’’mode. Youcanthenstepthroughthelaserprinter’sfour
levelsof programmenuto configureyourprinter(seepage46-48,opera­tionsManual).That’stheprocessofchangingcertainprintersettingssoyour
computerandprintercan communicateproperly.

15

I

It’sactuallyprettyeasy.Flippingthroughand settingparametersfromthe
panelis describedin detail in theStarL.userPrinter4 OperationsManual.

Basically,allyoudoispressthe [ < ] or [ > ] buttonsto scrollthroughthe
sequenceof possibleparametersandvalues,whichis clearlyshownonthe
paneldisplay.Youpress[v ] whenyouwantto godownandscrollthrough

a lower menulevel. And you also press [

particularmenuitemas thevaluefor a currentparametersetting.
SETPOWER-UPenablesyoutosavenewsettingsinapermanentmemory

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

2.2CONTROLLINGTHEPRINTER

In this sectionyou’llmeettwo separatecontrolsoverhowtheStarLaser­Printer4 itself works.The INTERFACEparametercontrolscommunica­tions between the printer and your computer.And the EMULATION
parameterdetermines,amongother things, which set of commandsthe
printerwilluse.Youcan settheseINTERFACEandEMULATIONpara­meterson the controlpanel.

v ] when you want to save a

2.2.1 TheINTERFACEparameter

The INTERFACEparameter,the most basicof the StarLaserPrinter4’s

configurationsettings,defineshowyourcomputerconnectsto the printer.
You can set the INTERFACEto eitherSerialor Parallel.In most single­computetenvironrnentsyou’lloptforthefasterParallelinterface;ina multi-

usernetworkyoumaybe betteroff withSerial.
Theparticularprinterinterfacesettingsdon’tmatterasmuchasmakingsure

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

MostMS-DOSandAT-compatiblecompute~supportupto threeparallel

andtwoserialports,whichcomeonexpansionboardsyouplugintoyour
computer.Whenyouinstallsuchboardsyoumustset switchesto indicate
the numberandaddressesoftheseports.Ifyouspecifythe wrongaddresses,
youwon’tbe able to print.

16

Serialinterface:rate

IfyouaskfortheSerialinterfaceyou’llhavetotellyourprintermoreabout
howthedatawillbe comingin-in particularitsrateandunitsizeandthe
meaningsof any specialbits.

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

300baud
600baud

1200baud
2400baud
4800baud
9600baud(thedefault)

19200baud.

Roughly,one character secondworksoutto 11baud.Ifyou’renotsurehow

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

theprinter’soutputlooksOK.

Serialinterface:specialbits
InSerialmodeyou’llalsohaveto specifyif yourcomputersendsdatabits

in groupsof seven(mostcomputerssendeight,thedefaultfor a byte).
Sometimesanextrabit getsappendedtomakethe sumof all bits in each

characteralwaysoddoreven;that’scalledparity.Aparitybitcanhelp spot
transmissionerrors.Ifyourcomputersendsthatextraparitybit,you’llhave
to say whether it produces an even or odd number of “on” bits in the
character.

You’llalsohaveto indicateif yourcomputersendstwostopbitstoindicate
theendof a byte,insteadof one,thedefault.Theseserialinterfacesettings
aredescribedinmoredetailinyourStarfuserPrinter4 @erationsMan~l.

Serialinterface:protocol

Finally,in Serialmodeyour computerwill use one of threeprofocoZsto
ensuredata is sent properly.Protocol(sometimesalsocalled“handshak­ing”)means“whosayswhatwhen”,andisthewayyourprintertells your
computerit’sreadytonxeivedata.Yourcomputerandprintercommunicate
by sendingprotocolcontrolcodes(they’reatthefrontoftheASCIItable).

17

SomepmgrammemcalltheXONand XOFFcontrolcodes“kissonandkiss
off’ otherscallthesameprotocolDC1andDC3(fordevicecontrol).Either
way,thesecodesletyourprinterruntheshow,tellingthecomputerwhento
startandstopsendingdata.Yourprinterasksto havedataheldbackwhen
itsmemoryis nearlyfullor whenit sensesan ERRORcondition.

DTR(DataTerminalReady)protocoldoesthe samethingslightlydiffer­ently. Theprinter sendsa continuoushigh-voltagesignaloverthe cableas
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 see whichisbestfor yoursystem.You can
sticktotheprinter’sdefaultsifyourcomputerdoesnotusetheDTR,butdoes

XON/XOFF.

use

2.2.2 Checkingyourconnections

Yourcomputerandpnntermayhavetroublecommunicatingwhenyoufirst
introducethemto eachother.Thequickwayto findoutifyoursettingsand
printercableareworkingistosendyourprinteraprintoutfromyourscreen
(CTRL-PwithMS-DOS).

Whenthat’sdoneyouwillalsohaveto presstheprintbuttonontheprinter,

whichmakestheprinteradvanceto anewsheet.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;yourcomputer’soutput,forexample,
might not be goingtotheproperport.

2.2.3Printeremulations

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

Your Star LaserPrinter4 understandsand uses the same commandsas
severalearlierkindsof printers.Your printerworksby emulatingone of

these:

18

● Hewlett-PackardLaserJet11P

● EpsonFX-850

Otherlaserprintersmayoffersuchemulationstoo,butoftenrequireinstal­lationof a new circuitboardfor eachemulation.StarMicmnicshas built
thesetwo emulationsintotheStarLaserPrinter4.

Youselectwhichemulationyouwanteitherby selectingit fromtheprint
programmenuontheStarLaserPrinter4’scontrolpanel,orbysendingthe
printeroneofthesupersetcommandsat the endof thischapter.

2.2.4 Whatare theemulatedprinterslike?

Mostofthe timeyouwillprobablychooseHPLaserJet11Pemulation,which
is thedefaultwhenyouturnontheStarLaserPrinter4. That’sbecausethe
LaserJetIIP, liketheStarLaserPrinter4,is a laserprinter.Thisemulation
modegivesyouthe bestcontroloveryourprinter’sfeatures,andworkswith
mostpopularapplicationsprograms.

TheFX-850emulationisquitepowerfultoo.It includesallthedot-matrix

printer commands(includinggraphics)used by hundreds of programs.
Mostly,you’llchoosethisoptionwhenyourunaprogramthatcannotsend
laserprintercommands.

2,2.5 TheEmulationparameter

The Star LaserPrinter4’s Emulationsettingdefineswhich printer it is

imitating:Hewlett-PackardLaserJet11PorEpsonFX–850.
Most oftheotherEMULATIONvaluesbelowcanbechangedwithEscape

codesas wellas fromthepanel.
AfewcomputerschangecertaincontrolorEscapecodeswhensendingthem

tothe printer,whichnaturallycausesconfision.Moreover,manyprogram­merspreferto seehexadecimalprintoutwhentheyaredebuggingprograms.
To helpwiththesesituations,youcanmakeyourStarLaserPrinter4 print
inhexadecimalratherthantheusualASCIImodebyswitchingONtheHEX
DUMPparametersetting.

19

I

2.2.6Hints:Thehexdump

.

To makeyourStarLaserPrinter4 ‘printin hexadecimalratherthanthe

usualASCIIsymbols,pressthecontrolpanelbuttonsthatputtheprinter
offlineand in PROGRAMmode.Moveto theEMULATIONparame­ter’sHEXDUMPsettingandselectON.

●

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

●

If youspotaproblemcodeyoucantry to bypasstheproblem,eitherby
sendingeachcodedirectlyto theprinter,or by changingyoursystem’s

printerdriver.Suchcomputer-specificsolutions,though,arebeyondthe

scope of thismanual.Wesuggestthatif necessaryyou consultanother

progranimermorefamiliarwithyourcomputer.

●

Actually,ifyouaredebugginganyprogramyou mayfindthishex-dump

modehelpfid.It can be a greattrouble-shooter.

2.3CONTROLLINGTHEPAGE

this section we look at two controls you have over how the Star

In

LaserPrinter4 handlesand formatsits pages:You can set valuesfor the
PAPERFEEDandLAYOUTparametersonthecontrolpanel.Attheendof
thissectionwe’llalsopreviewdifferentwaysto movetheprintposition.

2.3.1 ThePAPERFEEDparameter

ThePAPERFEEDparameterletsyouspecifybothwhatkindofpaperyou
wantandhowthepaperisfed.

Oneconvenientthingaboutalaserprinteristhatitdoesn’tneedcontinuous

forms, sometimescalledfanfohi paper. Otherprintersfeed in a stackof

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

WiththeStarLaserPrinter4 youcanprinton avarietyofordinarycutsheet
pages.

20

Forthe FeedervalueofthisPAPERFEEDparameter,youfirstentereither

multi-purposetray,manualfeedorcassette(option)toindicatewhereyou

wantpaperfedfrom.Themulti-purposetrayhandlesvarioustypesandsizes
ofpaper(htter, Legal,A4,B5,Executive,OHPsheets,Labels,Envelopes).
Manualfeedmeansyoufeedeachsheetbyhandfromthemulti-purposetray.
Thecassettetrayautomaticallyfeedssinglesheets,muchlikesheetfeeders
on othertypesof printers.

Thedefaultpapersizeis A4,youcanspecifyothersizesgivenbelowtoo.A
different-sizedtrayautomaticallyselectsthatdifferentpapersize.

.

8.5 by 11inchletter-sizepaper

.

8.5by 14 inchlegal-sizepaper

.

B5 international(usedin everycountryexceptNorth America)
(182by257mm)

●

thenarrower“executive”size(7.25by 10.5inches)

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

10,InternationalC5andDL.Thenjust workoutwhereto puttheaddress,
settheorientationto landscape(seebelow),andslideyourenvelopeintothe
multi-purposetray!

Inanyemulationmodeyoucansendyourprintercommandstochangepaper
sizeorfeedinpapermanually;youcanalsoselectthoseparametersfromthe
panel.Eitherway, a messagein theprinterdisplaytellstheoperatorwhat
papersizeto use.

2.3.2 Hints:Paper,labelsand transparencies

.

Thebestpaperfor the StarLaserPrinter 4 has a smoothfinishandis of

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

.

Beawarethat anypuckeredor wovenfinishmaynotprint as sharplyas
you’dlike.Avoidshinycoatedpaperormultipartforms.Anddon’teven
thinkabout puttingin stapledor rippedpages.

21

I

● If youfrequentlychangepaperweights,you willprobablygetskewing

problems—linesthatprintatan anglebecauseof misfeeding.For best
results,whenyourStarLaserPrinter4isfirstsetup havethepaperfeeder
“squared”forpaperof atleast60grams.Lighterpaper,thoughcheaper,
isn’treallythe way to economize.

● Wantto printon yourownpreprintedletterhead?Fine—solongas your

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

c.

200°
Thiswarningappliestocoloredpapertoo,ifithasbeentintedwithalow-

temperaturedye.

● Whenprintingstartsfadingbecausethetonerislow,removethecartridge

andgentlymckitbackandforthhalfadozentimes.Don’ttipit uporthe
tonermayspillout.Redistributingthe tonerpowderthiswaycankeepthe
cartridgegoingfor anothertrayof paper.

● No question,workingwithsinglelabelsheetsis moreconvenientthan

withcontinuouslabelstock.Laserprintersarefasterandproducebetter­lookinglabels than other printers.But laser printers,which work by
electrostaticphotographyrather than impact pressure, put different
stressesonlabelpaper.Eachsheethastobendoverandthroughtheguide
rollers; moreover, fusing toner to the paper involvesheat. You can
eliminatetroubleby alwaysfeedinglabelsheetsmanually.

BothAvery’s“Lasergraphic”labelsand Canon’slabels seemto work
fine.Yourmainconcernis thatthelabelscompletelycoverthebacking
sheetso it showsonlyattheoutsidemargins.Thatwayindividuallabels
can’teasilypeel off.

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

● If you wantto print transparenciesfor your overheadprojector,some

films will actuallymelt in your laser printer. Stick to 3M’s medium­weighttransparencyfilm(type501)or to Hewlett-Packard’s#92285J.

22

I

2.3.3 TheLAYOUTparameter

Thelayoutor@mat or setupof a pagerefersto howtextispositionedon
the page. Layout includespageorientation,marginsand the spacingof
charactersacrossandlinesdownthepage.Youcan controlthesewith the
LAYOUTparameter.

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

StarLaserPrinter4 with its defaultsettings,or look afterpageformatting

withcommandsyou sendfmmyourcomputer.

Pageorientation

Apage’sorientationtellsyouinwhichdirectiontheprintgoesonthepage.
Whenyouuseportraitorientationthelinesareprintedastheyareinanormal

businessletter,acrossthewidthof thepage.A portraitpaintingofaperson

is usuallyvertical-hence the name.

LandsCap

Portrait

Whenyouuselandscapeorientationthewordsareprinted“ontheirsides,”

verticallyupthelengthofthepage.Textwrittenwithlandscapeorientation

onlylookscorrectwhenyouturnthepagesoitslengthrunsside-to-side,just

likethepaintingof a landscape.
Envelopesmustbe printedwith landscapeorientation.Youalso will use

landscaperegularlyto printchafisor banners,and spreadsheetsor reports

withsomanycolumnsthey wouldn’totherwisefiton thepage.
AUinternalfonts,andalmostallcartridgeanddownloadedfonts,arestored

in the StarLaserPrinter4 withportraitorientation.

23

Margins,columnsandlines

Youcanchangemarginsettingsforallfouredgesofapage.Theleftandright

sidemarginscan havevaluesfmm Oto 132,definingthe margincolumns
betweenwhichwordsandimagescan be printed.Andthetop andbottom
marginscan be set at anywherefromOto 112lines.

, Top Margin ,

Text

Length

{

\

Portrait
Orientation Orientation

Bottom Margin

/

Landscape

Themeaningofaline (sometimescalleda “row”)is definedbythevertical
motionindex(VMI).Theprintermovestheprintpositiondownalinewhen

itgetsa LineFeedcode,usuallywhenit bumpsintotherightmargin.

You’llprobablyletyourcomputerprogramsetthelinedepth.Butfromthe

panelyou can set the VMIvaluein incrementsfrom 1/48to 255/48of an

inch.

2.3.4 Movingtheprintposition:a preview

Wh.hdot-matrixanddaisywheelprinters,youpickwheretoprintonthepage

eitherbymovingtheprintheadbackandforthorbymovingthepaperitself.

Laserpnntemdon’thaveprintheads,buttheprincipleremainsthesame:you

havetosayexactlywhereonthepageeachpictureandstringoftextistogo,

so eachpagecanbe constructedin theprinter’smemory.

Insteadoftalkingaboutpnntheadswetalkaboutmovingtheprintposition

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

analogy).Horizontally,youcanmovetheprintpositionwithbackspaceand

carriagereturncommands.Vertically,youcanmovetheprintpositiondown

thepagebyprintingsomanylinesperinch,orbysendingline-feedandhalf

24