Laser Printer User Manual

3.3 SYMBOLSETS

Let’s summarizebriefly,to putthe subjectof symbolsets in context.

The attributesof a font determinewhatthat fontwill looklike when it is

printed. We covered all but orientationat the start of this chapter, and

orientationin the last chapter.A font’sattributesinclude:

orientation(portraitor landscape)

symbol

set(whichwe’lllookatnext)

spacing(monospacedor proportional)

pitch(10or 16.66charactersperinch,forexample)

fontheight(measuredin points)

style(uprightor italics)

strokeweight(light,mediumor bold)

typeface(LinePrinter,Courierandso on)

Thoughthey are not font attributes,such printingfeaturesas subscripts,

superscriptsandunderliningare treatedalongwith fontsin the following

chaptm. Each emulationhas itsown wayof providingthesefeatures.

Incidentally,the bestwayto underlineis to usethe underlinecommandin

theemulationyou areusing,insteadof backspacingandoverprintingwith

theseparateunderlinecharacter(-). If youdo thelatterwithproportionally

spacedtext,you’llusuallyfindtheunderliningis too longfor the text.

3.3.1 Whatare symbolsets?

Keyboardsdifferfromcountrytocountry,TheBritishneedtheirf symbol,

thqFrenchneedtheirq and6,theSpanishneedtheir~andfietc.Scientists

needparticularmathematicalsignstoo.ThereeasilycouIdbefourhundred

or morepossiblesymbolsfor anygivenfont.

However,the numberof symbolsprintersstorefor a fontis limitedto 256

slots,asinASCII.Sosomesymbols,ortheorderofsomesymbols,candiffer

in anyfont.Eachuniqueselectionandarrangementof symbolsis a symbol

set (sometimescalleda “graphicset”or “characterset”).

The symbolat position91 forexampleis an openbracket,[ , in the usual

ASCIIsymbolset.ButthesamepositionhoIdsA(capitalAwithanumlaut)

in theGermansymbolset.