Epson FX-286 - Impact Printer, User Manual

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The quickest and easiest way to print graphics on your FX-286 is to
use a commercial graphics program. With such programs you usually
create an image on your monitor or TV screen and then give a com-
mand to send the image to the printer.
If you use commercial software that produces graphics, all you
need to know about dot graphics is how to use the software. If, on the
other hand, you wish to do your own programming or merely wish to
understand how the FX-286 prints graphics, read on.
Dot Patterns
Graphic images are formed on the FX-286 about the same way that
pictures in newspapers and magazines are printed. If you look closely
at a newspaper photograph, you can see that it is made up of many
small dots. The FX-286 also forms its images with patterns of dots, as
many as 240 dot positions per inch horizontally and 72 dots per inch
vertically. The images you print on the FX-286 can, therefore, be as
finely detailed as the one on the first page of this chapter.
If you plan carefully where you want the dots to appear and then
use or create a program that gives the proper instructions to the
printer, your FX-286 will print almost any picture you can imagine.
The Print Head and Graphics
Chapter 4 told you a little about how the print head on the FX-286
prints letters: It receives a code for a letter and then fires a pattern of
pins to form that letter.
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