Font Scaling - Intermec EasyCoder E4 Programmer's Reference Manual

3. Font Scaling

EasyCoder E4 Direct Protocol v2.10 – Programmer's Reference Manual
In general, the EasyCoder E4 scales characters "on the fl y" into
bitmaps ready for printing. It stores as many character bitmaps as
possible in a memory cache, to avoid having to rescale characters
which are used more than once. Character bitmaps are deleted
from the cache automatically by the printer, and so characters
which are used often usually need to be rescaled frequently.
In some instances it can take a long time for the printer to scale
characters, such as when using double-byte TrueType fonts on a
card. The user can force the printer to hold character bitmaps in
the cache using the following command:
PRESCALE | PS "<string of characters>"
<string of char.>
Example:
The 10 digits from a single-byte font and the ren character from a
double-byte font are prescaled.
NASCD "CARD1:BIG5.NCD" ↵
FONT "Swiss 721 BT",50,10 ↵
FONTD "CARD1:HOMINCHO.TTF" ↵
DIR 2 ↵
MAG 2,1 ↵
PS "0123456789";CHR$(164);CHR$(56)↵
The contents of a character bitmap depend on all of the following
settings:
• Single-byte character:
DIR, MAG, NASC, FONT, FONTSIZE, FONTSLANT
• Double-byte character:
DIR, MAG, NASCD, FONTD, FONTDSIZE, FONTDSLANT
The printer holds prescaled characters for the last 15 combina-
tions of these settings. When a new combination is used, (for
example, when the specifi cation of DIR is changed), the pres-
caled characters for the 15th previous combination are lost. All
prescaled characters are lost when the printer is switched off.
Chapter 9
an ASCII string specifying all the characters
that are to be scaled from the current
single- and double-byte fonts. It is inter-
preted according to the current NASC and
NASCD settings.
Advanced Features
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