chapter 5
DOWNLOAD CHARACTERS
With this printer you can create new characters and symbols, download their dot data, and have them printed in place of selected characters in the regu- lar character set. Characters that can be generated in this way range from simple but useful symbols like the check mark through complex Chinese or Japanese characters.
Regular characters are permanently stored in the printer’s ROM, but characters you design are downloaded and stored in RAM for use.
DESIGNING YOUR OWN DRAFT CHARACTERS
Designing and printing your own characters has two requirements: first, designing the shape of the character, calculating the data necessary to make the shape, and sending that data to the printer, and secondly, sending the command to print the downloaded characters instead of the regular charac- ters. There are a number of design constraints for download draft quality characters:
•The matrix or grid on which you design the characters is six boxes wide by nine boxes high.
•Horizontally, dots may be centered in a box, or may straddle a line, making the actual character grid 11 dots wide by 9 dots high. Vertically, dots can only be centered in a box. See Figure
FIgurn 5-1. Clots can be inside boxes or straddle the vertical lines of the grid
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