PREFACE
About this manual
This SrarLuserPrinter8 ApplicationsManual givesyou the information
youneed to programthe StarMicronicsLaserPrinter8.
Whywouldyoureadthisbook? Mostpeopleusinga laserprinterjust run
softwarepackageswithbuilt-inprinterdrivers,whichlookaftereverything
theircomputerssendtheirprinters.Butmanyofus-small businesspeople
and home computerusers, not to mentionthe wizards who write those
softwarepackages—wanttobenefitfromallthenewfeaturesofferedbyour
printers.
Doyouwantcompletecontroloverthecharactersandimagesyoupnnt? Do
youwantto makeyourStarLaserPrinter8 worklike someearlierkindof
printer? This manualprovidesthe softwarehelpyouneedto getthemost
fromyourLaserPrinter8.
Thoughthis ApplicationsManual is really intendedfor intermediateto
advancedcomputerusers,we’vetriedtoaccommodaterelativenovicestoo.
The informationis organizedso youcan walkthroughthe generaltheory
underlyingprinterprogrammingbefore dancinginto specificdetails. It
makessense,therefore,to readthe firstthreechaptetxbeforejumpinginto
the middle.
There’sagoodreasontoreadeachchapterfromitsstarttoo.Peoplelearning
howtouseanewprinteroftenfindtheterminologya barrier. Soinsteadof
buryingwhatmaybe ncwjargonin a Glossaryatthe back,wedefineeach
newtermthefirsttimeitappears.Thewholefirstpartofthechapteronfonts,
forexample,definesdifferentaspectsofafont (acollectionofcharactersof
thesamesize and style).