Posted on 08/05/2007 7:47:52 PM PDT by MindBender26
It's a quiet night on the FRanch, (Maybe a little too quiet, Sheriff) so I thought I would post a question for our resident technogeniuses.
I need an impact (Dot Matrix probably) printer to print through onto all copies of 3-part NCR paper,,, but, and here is the big but(t), I need it to print larger characters than are advertised as "resident" on the printer.
Rather than 10, 12 and 17 cpi fonts shown on most dot matrix printer specifications, I need to be able to print Windows True Type fonts like we do on our laser or inkjet printers.
In other words, I can print more than 60 type faces, (Times Roman, Arial, Bookman, etc.) in sizes from 4 point all the way to to 256 point, with all the variable line spacing etc. on my laser printers.
I am running Word 2003 in Windows XP with all the fonts, etc.
Will I be able to print those type styles and big font sizes on a dot matrix printer, and if only on certain ones, which ones?
Thanks.
Jeez...sorry about that post! I was joking and forgot that graphic was that nasty looking!
I will chew on the dot-matrix thing for a while.
pingalingling
A few years ago I had a similiar need. I found printers from Okidata worked very well on NCR forms. I dont know about all the fonts. Hope this helps. http://www.okidata.com/mkt/html/nf/SIDM.html
You can’t get there from here...
What you can do however is print to a PDF document. If you don’t have that ability currently, here is a free PDF printer that I use:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
Once you have the PDF file, print that on the Dot matrix printer. That will be interpreted as graphics and thus print correctly.
There was software to make large banners on dot matrix printers availible a few years back. Some shareware sites had some good programs. Still?
Do you have to use the NCR 3-part paper?
A solution that I’ve seen is to print 3 copies, but pre-sort the paper by color before putting it into the printer tray.
You can purchase various colors of paper at Office Depot or Office Max.
NCR may have laser printer sets, too.
http://www.melbpc.org.au/pcupdate/9303/9303article3.htm
Dot-Matrix Printer Fonts Dot-matrix printers support device fonts and printable screen fonts. Usually, a dot-matrix printer includes only a limited range of internal device fonts. Typically, fixed-spacing fonts are supplied in a variety of cpi sizes. Dot-matrix device fonts are conventionally named typeface xx.CPI, where typeface is the typeface name, and xx is the number of characters per inch. Distinguishing a device font on a dot-matrix printer is usually as easy as checking for the CPI designation at the end of the font name, such as "Courier CP1 10."Through the universal printer driver, dot-matrix printers can also support TrueType. When TrueType fonts are used on a dot-matrix printer, Windows sends a rasterised graphics image to the printer. Dot-matrix printers do not provide any landscape device fonts, but vector screen fonts can be printed in any resolution or orientation. Dot-matrix device fonts are faster but less flexible than screen fonts. Some 24-pin dot-matrix printers, such as Epson and NEC printers, also support font cards or cartridges. These fonts can be used if the Windows driver for the printer supports them.
Seriously though, dot matrix printers, particularly Okidata do have some capability to print expanded fonts. I recall having the ability to print high quality and bold type by multiple passes of the print head, and print at least a couple different font sizes
Sadly, I buried my dot matrixes about ten years ago in the back pasture not long after HP came out with the HP III.
All graphics print slowly on dot matrix printers. Going to PDF is just complicating the process. Many if not most dot matrix printers can already print TrueType fonts, but just very slowly because they are graphic-based. To print fast, the fonts need to be printer embedded. One can find the printer-embedded fonts by looking for the printer symbol in the Windows font folder as opposed to the TT symbol. Select the closest printer embedded font that fits your needs. When looking to buy a new dot matrix printer, be sure to find out what fonts are embedded or can be embedded in printer memory.
Should I buy a Bowflex or a Weider Crossbow?
LOL
You gotta be from Jersey.
Did you bury them next to the 55 gallon drums of Polychlorinated biphenyls?
Hey, I got a Hewlett Packard Officejet at a garage sale for ten bucks.
Still don’t know if it works, needs an 18V power supply.
Freakin engineers!
Where on Gods green Earth do I get a 2Amp 18V power supply?
I got a little Canon BubbleJet 210. Works quite well for my needs.
I believe your printer would have to be Windows (thus TrueType) compatible. Since that came while DMP’s were well on the decline, I’m not sure how many were produced which were.
(And I wish there were more money in remembering such things.)
Does it look like this? LOL
http://www.biocomp.net/o12414.htm
Not sure. Ain’t got one.
I got a bunch of Gateway laptops, and they run on a 19V supply. I’m tempted to try it...
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