Dot Matrix Printing - Star Micronics NP-IO User Manual

CHAPTER 6
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CHARACTERS
AND DOT GRAPHICS
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Subjects covered in Chapter 6 include-
. Designing and printing your own characters
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User-designed graphics
Using the procedures outlined so far, all of the printer's
standard functions can be utilized. There are two additional
user-defined functions available: designing and printing your
own characters, and designing and printing your .own dot
graphics.
These two functions can be used to design and print any sym-
bol, or any graphic shape. This allows you to make your own
special symbols, or print a company logo. Some understanding
of dot matrix technology will be useful.
DOT MATRIX PRINTING
Dot matrix printers are named because each character is form-
ed from a group of dots. The print head comprises nine wires or
pins stacked vertically. For any standard character, up to seven
of the pins are used at one time; for capital letters, the top seven
are used, for standard height lower-case characters, the center
five pins, and for "descending" characters (such as "p" or "g"),
the bottom seven pins are used. The print head moves across
the paper and at any instant prints a vertical series of dots; look-
ing at Figure 6-1 will reveal that the letter "p" consists of five
vertical columns of dots.
Any pin is fired by only one number, and any group of pins is