LQ printing

One of two print qualities available on your printer. Near letter quality provides better readability and appearance at a reduced print speed. See also draft printing.

paper-park position

The position in which the paper is backed out of the paper path, but is still attached to the push tractor.

parallel interface See interface.

printable area

The area of a page on which the printer can print. It is smaller than the physical size of the page due to margins.

proportional printing

Printing in which the width of the character varies from character to character. For example, a capital W receives much more space than a lowercase i. The result looks more like a typeset book than a typewritten

draft.

push tractor

An optional, detachable device that automatically pushes continuous paper into the printer from the loading side.

RAM

Random Access Memory. The portion of the printer's memory used as a buffer and for storing user-defined characters. All data stored in RAM is lost when the printer is turned off.

reset

To return a printer to its defaults either by sending a command, an INIT signal, or by turning the printer off and then back on.

ROM

Read Only Memory. The portion of the printer’s memory that is permanent. Information stored in ROM is used to control how the printer operates. Resident fonts are also stored in ROM.

self test

A method for checking the operation of the printer. When you run the self test, the printer prints the characters stored in its ROM.

subscript

Printing in which each character is printed at about two-thirds the normal height in the lower part of the character space.

Glossary GL-3