Selecting (or describing) a printer is the main step in the installation
process and frequently the only step necessary. If you selected this printer or any Star, Epson or IBM printer you should be able to use software
commands for all the standard printer functions, including bold or dou-
Printer command options
Besides the standard printer functions, however, your printer has some
capabilities your software may not be aware of, including double- and
options in the installation process. Read your software manual to find out whether you can do this and if so, how.
The most useful thing you can do is to define a way to enter the escape code < ESC > , which is the control character with decimal character code
27 (hexadecimal 1B). This code usually cannot be keyed in directly (pressing
the ESC key will not work). As an installation option, however, you may
be able to assign it to a function key or a special key combination. Doing so will put the full power of the printer at your disposal.
Type styles
Some
change type styles in the middle of a document without a printing pause.
To use these commands you must generally define the printer’s type styles
(fonts) during installation, by assigning them numbers for example. Read your software manual for details, and refer to Appendix B for the relevant printer commands.
Page width
Spreadsheet programs in particular may ask you to specify the printer’s
column width. The column width of this printer depends on the character - pitch used:
Pica |
| 80 | columns |
|
|
| |
Elite |
| 96 | columns |
|
|
| |
120 | columns | (Standard | mode | only) | |||
Condensed | pica | 137 | columns |
|
|
| |
Condensed | elite | 160 | columns | (Standard | mode | only) | |
The character pitch can be selected from the control panel before you
start printing, or possibly by an initialization sequence as described next.
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