Printers always have had the capability to switch between
character and graphics mode. The capability to switch between
object and character or graphics mode, however, is not easy.
This is not important in the Macintosh world because all
software can switch over immediately and start using the
marvelous capabilities of object printers. In the IBM-PC
world, not all application software knows how to use object-mode
printers. In order to continue using the old character-oriented
software, the capability to support character / graphics
and object printer modes at the same time will be important.
There are four ways that all three modes can be made available:
* Purchase a printer with all three 'nodes. The difficult
part is switching between the modes. The most obvious way
would be for PC software to send instructions to the printer
to switch modes just like switching between character and
graphics mode. However, the object to character / graphics
mode switch is not that easy. PC application software is
not programmed to send these types of instructions. Usually,
you must make this switch manually. You must type the name
of the switching program, choose a menu option, or walk
to the printer and choose an option on the front panel.
* Purchase a PC software program that can support multiple
printers attached to one PC. This is the only completely
automatic method of switching between object and character
/ graphics modes. Use this feature to run two printer cables
to an object / character / graphics printer. You then can
set up the printer to listen on one port for character/graphics
instructions and on the other port for object instructions.
By selecting different printers within PC software, you
can select different printer modes. Many PC application
programs do not directly generate object-mode printer instructions.
Instead, the PC application program sends emulation software
to the printer and enables the object-mode printer to translate
from character/graphics into object mode. This emulation
software is typically called a header file. It is possible
to write a generic header file and send it to the object
printer so that it can understand character graphics data.
* Purchase a character-mode printer This is the cheapest
method. Then, purchase PC software that grabs the object-mode
instructions before they get to the printer port and translates
them to character-graphics software. The drawback of this
technique is that it puts all the burden of translating
from formulas into dots on the PC rather than the printer.
This slows down the PC drastically. A page that normally
takes two minutes for a decent object printer to print may
take 45 minutes for the translation software to print.
If you use an object printer with the Macintosh, you
need to use a utility program that can reset the printer.
When used with IBM PCs and Macintoshes, object printers
tend to get lost and confused regularly.If the utility program's
reset does not work, try using the front panel (if there
is one). Otherwise, turn off and on the printer. If that
doesn't work, then turn off and on the PC and printer again.
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In the links below you will find pages that lists other
sites offering office computers, printers ( laser toners,
inkjet cartridge printers) & scanners | Ink
& Toner, Shredders | Ink
& Toner, Shredders ( ink toners additional 1) | Ink
& Toner, Shredders (additional 2) | Computers
| Computers-1
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| Printers,
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Scanners (additionals) | Printers,
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