The actual pattern that the printer prints on the paper is made up of dots that overlap each other both vertically and horizontally. The reason the planning grid uses an x for each dot is that using an accurate representation of the dots makes calculating the data numbers difficult because they cover each other. Therefore, remember that each x represents the center of a dot, and the dots actually overlap.

Write the assigned values of the pins next to your design and then total the values for each column of dots. These totals are the values that will be sent to the printer as graphics data.

The following figure is the same grid divided into three sections to make the data calculation easier. At the bottom of each section of each column is the total of the pin numbers for that section. This gives you a total of

126data numbers necessary to print this small figure.

Using Software and Graphics

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