Epson FX-80 Specifications download pdf (Page 149)

A final multiplication:

480

main columns

792

rows

gives you a grand total of

380,160

dot positions per FX-80 page. And

that doesn’t even take into account intermediate columns, the

FX-100’s ability to print 136 Pica matrixes, or both models’ ability to

use graphics density settings to increase the number of dots across the

page and microscopic line spacing to increase the number of dots

down the page.

Since there is a huge number of such dot positions on each page, this

sounds like a giant task. It won’t be, however, because we’ll give you

methods to shorten the time and steps to good graphics design.

Print Head

Printing high-resolution graphics on the FX requires a mode that is

very different from the text modes. In any of the several versions of

Graphics Mode, none of the predefined characters or symbols in the

printer’s memory are used. Instead, you create the patterns of dots

that are printed. Thus, you control where and when each and every

dot is printed.

To do this, you look at the page as a series of dot columns, arranged

in rows. For each column position on a print line, the print head

impresses the pattern of dots that you have specified. Before you can

start designing these patterns, however, you need to know a little

more about the way the print head works.

Even though there are nine pins on the print head, each column can

be only eight dots high. That’s because printer/computer communica-

tions are based on eight data lines, with each of the top eight pins of

the print head corresponding to one of the eight lines. So each sweep

of the head prints eight or fewer dots, depending on your computer

system and your specifications (see Figure 10-1).

Seven-bit systems can control only the middle seven pins. Because

we want users of such systems to be able to use these programs, we

rarely put the top pin to work in the programs that follow. When we

do, we tell you so.

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Epson FX-80 Specifications Page 149