Creating Downloadable Fonts ; 5.4.1. Downloading ; 5.4.2. Sending the font descriptor - Page 71

2001/10/02 

CHAPTER 2 "PCL" - 51 

5.4. 

Creating Downloadable Fonts 

5.4.1.  Downloading  

You can download existing fonts (that is, ones that you have bought or ones that you have created previously) 
using either a font downloading application program or the DOS command  

COPY/b <filename> PRN 

In addition, some word-processing and DeskTop publishing programs will automatically download the fonts that 
have been used in a document when that document is printed. 

Alternatively, you can create a new downloadable font and download the necessary blocks of data that comprise 
the downloadable font using PCL commands.  

To send a font,  you must send 

* a font descriptor block followed by the character code 

* a character descriptor 

* data for each character 

The printer can download 3 types of fonts. 

Bitmap fonts, Bound Scalable fonts and Unbound Scalable fonts. 

5.4.2.  Sending the font descriptor 

Esc)s#W

(font descriptor data) (27)(40)(115)#(58)  <1Bh><28h><73h>#<88h> 

• 

This command sends the font descriptor to the printer.

• 

# should be in the range 0 to 32767.

• 

# is the number of bytes in the descriptor.

• 

Characters are designed on a notional grid known as the character cell. The positioning and shape of each 

character on the grid defines its size, shape and alignment to the other characters in the font. 

Cell height

x-height

Baseline distance

Underline distance

Baseline

Underline thickness

Cell width