User-defined Characters

With this printer, it is possible to define and print characters of your own design. You can design an entirely new alphabet or typeface, create characters for use as mathematical or scientific symbols, or create graphic patterns with user-defined characters to serve as building blocks for larger designs.

Below, you can see sample typefaces created with the user-defined character function.

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You can make the task of defining characters easier by using a commercial software program that either assists you in creating characters or just supplies you with sets of characters already created. Also, some popular commercial software programs take advantage of the printer’s user-defined character function to enhance printouts. (These characters are called downloadable fonts in some programs.)

The standard ASCII characters are stored in the printer’s Read Only Memory (ROM), and the user-defined characters are stored in the printer’s Random Access Memory (RAM).

Designing your characters

User-defined characters are like dot graphics because you send the printer precise instructions on where you want each dot printed. In fact, planning a user-defined character is like planning a small dot graphics pattern. For simplicity, this section shows you how to design draft-quality characters. Designing NLQ characters is more complicated and is therefore described later in this chapter.

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