proportional printing

Printing in which the amount of space given to each character varies. For example, an uppercase W receives much more space than a lowercase i. ‘The result looks more like a typeset book than a typewritten draft.

pull tractor

An optional paper feeder that is useful when printing on preprinted or multi-part forms.

push tractor

A device that feeds continuous paper through the printer. Both the front and rear built-in tractors are push tractors; they push the paper through the printer to the print head.

RAM

Random Access Memory. The portion of the printer’s memory that is used as a buffer and used for storing user-defined characters.

rear tractor

The built-in push tractor that feeds paper from the rear of the printer.

rear tractor arrow

The arrow-shaped light on the PAPER SELECT indicator that lights up when the rear tractor is selected. The arrow is green when there is paper loaded in the tractor, even if the paper is in standby position, and red when the tractor is out of paper.

reset

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

Glossary GL-9