Epson LX-86TM Chapter, Introduction to Dot Graphics

Chapter 9

Introduction to Dot Graphics

The Epson dot graphics mode allows your LX-86 printer to produce pictures, graphs, charts, or almost any other illustrative or creative material you can devise. Instead of using the standard letters, numerals, and symbols stored in the LX-86’s ROM (Read Only Memory), the graphics mode prints dots column by column and line by line. You plan where you want the dots to appear and then use a program to tell the LX-86 where to put them.

Because many software programs take advantage of Epson dot graphics, you may be able to print graphics like the ones on this page and the next by simply giving your software a few instructions. The chart on the next page, for example, was created and printed in about

10minutes.

Contents

LX-86TM PRINTER User's Manual FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENT FOR AMERICAN USERS and NOTICE: •All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this manual in any form whatsoever without EPSON’s express written permission is forbidden •The contents of this manual are subject to change without notice © Copyright 1986 by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION Nagano, Japan Contents Page 9 Introduction to Dot Graphics Appendixes D The DIP Switches E Using the Optional Tractor Unit F Troubleshooting and Advanced Features G Printer Maintenance H Technical Specifications I The Parallel Interface List of Figures List of Tables LX-86Features standard NLQ Chapter Setting Up Your LX-86Printer Printer Location Paper Feed Knob Installation Ribbon Installation Page Page Ribbon Replacement Paper Loading Control Panel Lights Buttons p r i n t i n g ON LINE/OFF LINE. This button switches the printer between <Draft Connecting the LX-86to Your Computer First Printing Exercise SelecType Operation Figure 2-1.Turning SelecType on Table 2-l.SelecType modes Page SelecType Tips Figure 3-l.A capital T Bidirectional Printing Changing Pitches does so by i t Page Figure 3-3. LX-86dot matrix characters Page Printer Control Codes A S C I I C o d e s ESCape Code (ESCape) or abbreviated as ESC or <ESC LX-86 Printer Codes OD Embedded codes Inserted codes See your software documentation for further information Programming Languages IX-86Features BASIC PR#O PR#l 40 FOR X=65 TO 50LPRINT CHR$(X); Cancelling Codes Resetting the Printer single-strike Pitch Comparison 30 LPRINT CHR$(l5); WIDTH 5 WIDTH LPRINT BASIC 20 FOR X=65 TO Table 5-1,Summary of LX-86pitches Print sample CPI Codes oft Figure 6-l.Emphasized and standard print life with emphasized the increase in print quality is well worth it. Indeed, you may want to a master program that allows you to test almost any of Master program First, type in the program below. If you have some programming Figure 6-2. Double-strikeand standard print Double-widthMode Figure G-3.Double width and standard characters “Wl” "Wo” “WO” Mode Combinations Italic Mode “4” Underline Mode “-1” “-0 This uses the underline mode This uses the under-line character Master Select 40 LPRINT "Master Select number";M “Sl Page LPRINT CHR$(27)"t"CHR$(n) Page 6-1 6-2 6-l Page Graphics character set The next printout shows the characters in emphasized double- width pica: 216ths “1” 10LPRINT CHR$(27)"1"CHR$(lO); 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"Q"CHR$(60); Justification with NLQ Skip Over Perforation Line Spacing Page Paper-OutSensor User-DefinedCharacters Defining Your Own Characters Designing Process Grid overlapping dots dot on horizontal line line Figure 8-2.Correct and incorrect designs First definition program 100 DIM F(9) 110 FOR I=1 TO 120 PRINT "WHICH ROWS HAVE DOTS IN COLUMN";I Figure 8-3.Design for character Second definition program Once the and run the next program. The program as listed creates the Mercury 90 FOR P=58 TO 63: LPRINT CHR$(P);" ";: NEXT P 95 LPRINT 100 K=l: IF K>3 THEN A=58 ELSE A=60 Running the program Defining NLQ Characters NLQ grid Page for one column First NLQ definition program 10 LPRINT CHRS(27);"xl"; 20LPRINT CHR$(27);":" ;CHR$(O);CHR$(O);CHR$(O); 30LPRINT CHR$(27);"%";CHR$(l);CHR$(O); 40LPRINT CHR$(27);"&";CHR$(O);"<<"; YOUR CHARACTER IN PICA: IN DOUBLE-WIDTHEMPHASIZED PICA: Second NLQ definition program 1 0 J=1: IF J>3 THEN A=58 ELSE A=60 20 LPRINT CHR$(27)"x"CHR$(l) Page Introduction to Dot Graphics Dot Patterns Print Head dots Graphics Mode Pin Labels 9-l for 10 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(40)CHR$(0); 20 FOR X=1 TO 40: LPRINT CHR$(74);: NEXT 30 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(100)CHR$(O); 40 FOR X=1 TO 50: LPRINT CHR$(85)CHR$(42); 50 NEXT 10LPRINT CHR$(27)"1"; 20FOR R=1 TO 30 LPRINT CHR$(27)"K"CHR$(100)CHR$(0); Description Reassigning Code LPRINT CHR$ (27) “?Y” CHR$ (5) ; Column Reservation Numbers C H R $ ( 2 7 ) " Z " C H R $ ( 1 2 8 ) C H R $ ( 7 ) ; C H R $ ( 2 7 ) " * " C H R $ ( 3 ) C H R $ ( l 2 8 ) C H R $ ( 7 ) ; WIDTH Statements WIDTH LPRINT Design Your Own Graphics Page 90 WIDTH LPRINT 100 LPRINT CHR$(27)"1 590 FOR K=1 TO 600 LPRINT CHR$(27)"Y"CHR$(50)CHR$(0); 610 READ N: IF N=128 THEN Graphics Programming Tips Semicolons and command placement 20LPRINT CHR$( 27) “K”CHR$( 50)CHR$(0) 30LPRINT CHR$( 27) "1 40FOR G=1 TO 50: LPRINT CHR$(74): NEXT G Page “J” 10s 13s CHR$(74) String variables Graphics and low ASCII codes Appendix A IX-86Characters CHR A-2 Epson Character Graphics Appendix B Commands in Numerical Order B-2 B-3 Control Key Chart O-27 Hexadecimal Control key B-4 Appendix C Command Summary Near Letter Quality Character Width O E ESC SO Select Double-width E S C S O DC4Cancel Double-width(one line) Print Enhancement ESC G ESC H Cancel Double-StrikeMode ESC S 1) Mode and Character Set Selection ESC Master Select Select Italic Mode Cancel Italic Mode ESC @ ESCR Some Norway ESC m ESC t Special Printer Features ESC EM n ) Ctrl Ctrl ESC Line Spacing 7/72 “1” Forms Control ESC C ESC CO NUL ESC N ESC O Cancel Skip Over Perforation Page Format ESC 0 B c-17 ESC D ( n 1 ) 137) ESC e (s) ESCI User-DefinedCharacters Dot Graphics ESC L L (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) 2776 (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) 1B 4C (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) ESC Y ESC Z Z (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) 2790 (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) 1B 5A (n1) (n2) (data1) (data2) . . . (data(d)) ESC Miscellaneous Codes Beeper DEL 7 F CAN C-24 Appendix D The DIP Switches D-l Table D-I.DIP switch functions Switches l-6, l-7, and l-8 determine l-6 l-7 is enabled. When it is OFF, the cut-sheet feeder is disabled pica. Regardless of the setting, you can still select condensed with D-3 Appendix E Using the Optional Tractor Unit pin feed holes along the sides. The unit is E-l Tractor Unit Installation E-3 Loading Continuous Paper and feed the E-5 the Appendix F Troubleshooting and Advanced Features Problem/Solution Summary Problem Setting print styles (12 8) Paper-outsensor ESCape “8” and the setting use a longer page as a backing sheet Beeper Error Warnings Data Dump Mode F-3 40LPRINT "Sample text lB, 45, 0D 10 FOR X=0 TO 20 LPRINT CHR$(X) ; 30 NEXT PR#l PR#1 PRINT CHR$(9)"80N PRINT CHR$(9)"I" or PR#O PRINT CHR$(9); CHR$(l) WIDTH "LPTl: OPEN “LPT1 : ” AS #1 PRINT #1 OPEN “LPT1: ” AS #1 : WIDTH $1 DOS Appendix H Technical Specifications Printing Printing Impact dot matrix Paper Paper width Paper feed 10” Printer Environment 41°F Interface H-3 INDEX Page G-l 10 D-2 -D-3 H-l