Oki 8w manual Fonts, What is a font?, Using fonts

Fonts

What is a font?

A font refers to a set of printable characters in a partic- ular typeface of a specific size (e.g. 12 point) and style (e.g. roman, bold or bold-italic). In computer printing, however, this term has been used in a wider context to refer to all sizes and styles of a particular typeface. In printers, fonts may be divided into two basic types: bit- map fonts and scalable (or outline) fonts.

Bitmap fonts are made up of a pattern of dots (at the printer resolution) to form the image of each printable character. These are of a fixed size and scaling makes them look ragged.

Scalable fonts are stored as a set of mathematical curves. At print time, the printer uses the stored curves to make up a bitmap of each character required, at the required size in the required style, at the full printer res- olution. Such fonts are therefore said to be scalable and do not appear ragged at enlarged sizes.

Using fonts

The easiest way to select fonts is through the software program being used. Software programs send printer commands that consist of a set of codes, one for each of the font characteristics. If the software program has the appropriate driver, fonts can be specified and the neces- sary commands will be sent to the printer. For more de- tailed information on how to select fonts in a software program, refer to the documentation for that software program.

12 OKIPAGE 8w Lite