DOS Print HELP!!

[The Sina]

Hi!

I have Epson LQ-580 dot matrix printer,and need to print from dos
application.
But i need to set it up print in landscape instead of portrait.
In windows works fine, but in dos print only portrait.
So where can I and how change that.

Thx in advance!

 

[Arthur Entlich]

This may require a change on the front panel, if that is an option. If
you can find the manual on the Epson website (if you don't have it)
there may be some explanation there.

There is also likely to be an escape code that will switch it, which may
also be available via the manual, but it is probably easier to do it via
the front panel.

Art

 

[The Sina]

In the manuals is described all for windows,nothing for dos.
In the office we have exact config. except printer is LQ-680,
and works fine,but nobody knows how was that managed.
Is it somewhere in the application code or something?

 

[phineaspaine]

First off, I can pretty well guarantee you that the LQ-580 and the
LQ-680Pro do not have identical capabilities. Secondly, most of these
impact printers do not print in graphical mode. They print serially,
so there is no "portrait" or "landscape". The printers can only print
text in a single line across the page as it is received. So, in order
to print "landscape", you must have a printer with a wide (11"+)
carriage so you can insert letter-sized paper long-edge first.

The margin settings and number of characters per line control how wide
you print using a particular font. For example, using a 10 point 10
character per inch font (e.g. Courier 10), you can print up to 85
characters across 8.5 inches with no margin. If you print (i.e.
transmit) more characters, it'll just keep printing past the right
edge of the page, if able.

The paper length switch controls the length of the page. For example,
to print "landscape" on letter-sized paper, you set the printer for a
page length of 8.5 inches and load the paper long-edge first (wide-
carriage printer required). For "portrait", set it to 11 inches and
load the paper short-edge first.

Now to the program. DOS applications, if default plain text "file"
printing was insufficient, had to have their own application-specific
print drivers to take advantage of a specific printer's features.
Remember the most popular word processor prior to Windows?...
WordPerfect 5.1? The last two diskettes in the software package
contained nothing but WordPerfect print drivers for all kinds of
printers. Print drivers were normally supplied with the DOS
application, so if the application was commercially available, I'd
check there first. If your printer is more recent than the
application, you could be out of luck unless someone subsequently
wrote a print driver for the application.

If it is a custom-built or proprietary application, then whoever wrote
it should be able to provide information as to which printers are
supported, and in which emulation (i.e. the printer "language") The
LQ-680Pro supports both ESC/P 2 and IBM 2390 Plus emulations. The
LQ-580 may or may not; I can't find any info specific to the LQ-580,
but only for the LQ-570, LQ-570+, LQ-570e and the LQ-590. Note that
the LQ-570 does not support IBM emulation. If the application
generates Epson Escape sequences, you should be able to get it to
work.

It looks like you'll have to determine if the LQ-580 can support the
same emulations as the LQ-680 (since you've got the manual for the
580), and then compare the two printers' default settings. Also, if
the application is generating codes specific to the LQ-680Pro, you may
have to choose a back-levelled driver in your application for
compatibility with the LQ-580.

PhineasPaine

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I haven't worked with a dot matrix printer in many years, but most have
front panel buttons that allow for changing certain aspects like printer
resolution, and similar features. I just looked through the manual for
your printer on line, and it indicates to operate it in DOS mode you
need to find a DOS application that supports that printer. The
application may have an option of paper orientation, or it may not.

The problem is that dot matrix printers usually have a set of fonts
built in, and they typically only print in portrait mode. To print in
landscape usually involves creating a font from a graphic set, or using
something like TrueType, which is a vector based (and fully rotatable)
font set. True Type requires Windows to be created and interpreted...
so it may be possible, now that I've looked at this and reacquainted
myself, that the printer may be unable to print in landscape mode from a
DOS application, unless the application has some specific methods of
accessing or creating a landscape font set.

So, I take my previous advice back as probably in error. You may well
have to use a Windows driver to allow you to make the printer function
in landscape mode.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

You are correct for the most part in terms of the DOS applications. The
specific application needs to have a specially created DOS program to
run the specific family of printers. Luckily, Epson has used the ESC/P
and ESC/P2 printer languages for a long time, throughout their printers.
This printer also offers an IBM 2390 emulation. It's been so long
since I worked with dot matrix printers than I had forgotten the
limitations within DOS and the printer language.

However, the printer in question does allow for landscape mode in
Windows applications, via a graphical or vector based font set which
Epson has provided the driver for. The Windows driver does have a paper
orientation mode.

So, you are likely correct that there is no way to have the printer work
in landscape mode within DOS applications, unless the carriage is wide
enough to accept a wider paper and to widen the margins as you suggest.

Art

 

[Davide Guolo]

I have Epson LQ-580 dot matrix printer,and need to print from dos
application.
But i need to set it up print in landscape instead of portrait.

you may want to have a look at Printfil to print from DOS through the
Windows Printer Driver (so, in landscape too).

Please note however that printing in GDI mode to a dot matrix printer makes
the print job VERY slow.

You can find more info and a free trial version at
http://www.printfil.com/edown.htm

Regards,
Davide Guolo
aSwIt s.r.l.
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