To print 12 CPI printer_font on dot matrix printer via Windows generic/text printer driver.
Peter Chow
font - CG Times via Windows generic/text printer driver.
I get a quick printout with 10 CPI.
I want to print 12 CPI instead of 10 CPI so I choose CG Times with font
size8. The preview reflected the change but I still get 10 CPI on my
Epson dot matrix printer. There is no way I can specify the 12 CPI
request in the Windows generic/text printer driver. I also try to
assign the Epson control code in a QRLabel.Caption but nothing happened.
Any help will be appreicated.
Peter.
Bill Sparrow
Chow) wrote:
I already answered this in a previous post. I will repeat my answer...
Printing through the Generic/Text only printer driver discards ALL font
information along with all other control codes. That is its intended
purpose.
If you want to have control over the font, then you have to use the
correct printer driver for your printer. Terry's comment about using a
resident printer font is a good tip. Using a true-type font, for instance
means that the printer driver will render the page image in graphics mode
then send the graphical data to the printer. That is a lot more data to
send, and the printer will print slower in graphics mode anyway.
You need to choose fonts that are native to the printer. To do this, load
an application that includes printer fonts in its list of available fonts
(they show up with a printer icon alongside instead of the TT logo or
whatever). Look for something like Roman 10cpi, Roman 12cpi etc.
Now that you know what they are called, switch back to CR and see if it
lets you specify those fonts. I don't have CR, so I can't advise there.
With QuickReport, although the font selector will not show you any printer
fonts, if you know the name of a printer font you can just type it into
the Object Inspector after you have clicked the + sign to expand the Font
property details.
Beware that working this way, the design mode and preview mode will not be
particularly WYSIWYG!
--Bill Sparrow--
Peter Chow
In fact I have eliminate other cause by testing on Word for Window. I
selected the font with a printer icon next to it and type some text. When I
try to print it, it still comes out in graphic mode instead of the resident
font. (It is even worst that selecting Windows TT font in term of speed!) May
be the trouble is on my printer. It is a 9 pin Epson LX800. The Epson Web
page's FAQ also mentioned about the speed of printing under Windows and gave
some similar suggestion. But again the result is the same.
I am looking for a ESC/P2 24 pin printer and see if there are any difference
on the printer driver.
-Peter -
Bill Sparrow
Chow) wrote:
> Thanks Bill. I tried your suggestion but still fail.
>
> In fact I have eliminate other cause by testing on Word for Window. I
> selected the font with a printer icon next to it and type some text.
> When I
> try to print it, it still comes out in graphic mode instead of the
> resident
> font. (It is even worst that selecting Windows TT font in term of
> speed!) May
> be the trouble is on my printer. It is a 9 pin Epson LX800. The Epson
> Web
> page's FAQ also mentioned about the speed of printing under Windows and
> gave
> some similar suggestion. But again the result is the same.
>
> I am looking for a ESC/P2 24 pin printer and see if there are any
> difference
> on the printer driver.
>
> -Peter -
>
One thing I should have emphasised is that the font you select has to be a
resident printer font for that specific printer. When an application
shows you the list of available fonts, if it shows some with a printer
icon in place of the TT icon, then they will be printer fonts for the
current _default_ printer. So make sure you set your dot matrix as your
Windows default printer before starting your experiments.
As a test, I just installed the drivers for an Epson LX-800 on my Windows
NT4 machine, and made that printer the default. When I look at the
available fonts in my Word Processor, (WordPerfect 8), it shows the
following printer fonts:-
Draft 10cpi
Draft 12cpi
Draft 17cpi
Draft 20cpi
Draft 5cpi
Draft 6cpi
Roman 10cpi
Roman 12cpi
Roman 5cpi
Roman 6cpi
Sans Serif 10cpi
Sans Serif 12cpi
Sans Serif 5cpi
Sans Serif 6cpi
To find out what is really happening behind the scenes, you can install a
copy of your printer driver and set it to print to file instead of to
LPT1. Then you can examine the output with a text/hex file viewer (or
even with Windows Notepad!). If it is printing in graphics mode, then
there will be no readable text in the print file. If it is using resident
fonts (or downloaded fonts - not possible on your printer I believe) then
you will see bits of readable text mixed in with all the escape codes to
set up the printer's options and to position the print head.
--Bill Sparrow--