Printronix P3000 Series manual Chapter Graphics, Serial Matrix Compatible Bit Image Graphics

CHAPTER 4

GRAPHICS

Introduction

The printer can produce Bit Image graphics when in Serial Matrix protocol and P–Series Plot Mode graphics when in P–Series protocol. You can print text and graphics on the same line only by using the Bit Image protocol in Serial Matrix protocol. In either mode, printing text is the default mode. Conse- quently, each line of graphics data must include the necessary plot mode commands to enable the print- er to perform the desired graphics functions.

The following graphics information is presented in this chapter:

•Serial Matrix Compatible Bit Image Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4–1

•P–Series Compatible Plot Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4–5

•Combining Graphics and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4–12

Serial Matrix Compatible Bit Image Graphics

The printer produces Bit Image graphics in Serial Matrix protocol. Bit Image graphics are created by printing a series of vertical Bit Image data bytes which represent the binary code bit pattern. This meth- od utilizes the “1” or “true” bit from a binary data byte to print dot patterns. These data bytes are actu- ally the binary equivalent of ASCII character decimal values 0 through 255. When the data byte is rotated vertically, the result is a vertical data byte pattern with the Most Significant Bit (MSB) at the top.

Plotting a Bit Image Pattern

A Bit Image pattern is produced by following these steps:

1.Lay out the graphic(s) pattern on a quadrille pad or graph paper.

2.Determine the decimal equivalent of each Bit Image data byte required to produce the pattern (Figure 4–1).

3.Write a program to generate the complete pattern.

4.Enter and run the program on the host computer.

Graphics 4–1