3.2 HOWTHE STAR
LASERPRINTER4STORESFONTS
3.2.1 Bit-mappedfonts
StarMicronicshasearnedareputationforattractive,well-designedfontson
itsprinters, andthislaser printercontinuesthetradition.
TheStar LaserPrinter4usesbit-mappedfonts.Eachcharacters madeup
ofapatternor “map”of dots,justlike charactersonadot-matrixprinteror
on yourcomputerscreen. Resolutionmakesthedifference:to makeeach
charactertheStar LaserPrinter4usestenor twentytimesasmany dotsas
adot-matrixprinterorcomputerscreen does.
Everysizeofprintyouwant,pluseveryitalicorboldfacevecsion,hasitsown
bitmap andis normallyconsideredaseparatefont.It takes agooddealof
printermemoryto holdall thefontsyou mightwantat anygivenmoment.
Star Las&Pnnter4fonts can be grouped intothree categories:internal,
cartridge,anddownloadablefonts.
3.2.2Internal fonts
TheStar LaserPrinter4hassevenbuilt-ininternulfontsthatresideperma-
nentlyin its read-onlymemory (ROM).That’swhy these are sometimes
called“residentfonts”:
Courier 12point Medium
Courier 12point Bold
Courier 12point Italic
Courier 1Opoint Medium
Courier 1Opoint Bold
Courier 1Opoint Italic
LinePrinter 8.5point Medium
Courieristhe faceused onthe mostcommonelectrictypewriters.Courier
is not printedwith proportionalspacing.The LinePrinterfont, designed
originallyformainframecomputem,issmalland designedtopack alotof
charactersintoeveryinch ofprint (greatfor spreadsheets).
Withthese mostfrequentlyusedfonts in ROM,apage canbe assembled
muchfasterthanifthefontshadto beloadedintotheprinterforeachprinting
job.
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