LaserJet 2100TN: Drivers and Fonts

[Searcher7]

I hav an HP LaserJet 2100TN which I just connected to my system. I
used the 2100 drivers instead of the PCL6. Can anyone tell me if there
is a difference and if it is recommended I changed?

Also, before my "old" system became too screwed up for the printer to
work I had a document that was almost 200 pages in the Courier New
font, but it was 89 pages(and readable) in the Line_Printer font.

I still need to print this document out and I don't have the
Line_Printer font option in WordPad on my "new" system.

Can anyone tell me how to correct this?

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Ben Myers]

Which operating system is running on your "new" system? Which operating system
was running on your "old" system? If the old system is still running and both
systems run a version of Windows, you can copy the Line_Printer font from the
fonts folder of the old system to the fonts folder in the new system. As an
alternative, there are plenty of free collections of Windows fonts that include
a font similar to Line_Printer. How many points is/was the Line_Printer font?
Can't you simply Select All, then change the Courier New to a much smaller point
size to achieve the same 89-page result?

According to some information I've seen, the PCL6 driver includes the
Line_Printer font... Ben Myers

 

[Searcher7]

Which operating system is running on your "new" system? Which operating system
was running on your "old" system?

WIndowsMe was on my "old" system. And Windows XP is on my "new"
system.

If the old system is still running and both
systems run a version of Windows, you can copy the Line_Printer font from the
fonts folder of the old system to the fonts folder in the new system.

I'd need to find a site that explains howto do this step-by-step.

As an
alternative, there are plenty of free collections of Windows fonts that include
a font similar to Line_Printer. How many points is/was the Line_Printer font?
Can't you simply Select All, then change the Courier New to a much smaller point
size to achieve the same 89-page result?

I know nothing about fonts. I just noticed that with the
"Line_Printer" font made the text in the document line up exactly the
way it is supposed to, and also it would have allowed me to print out
the document on the lowest number of pages.

According to some information I've seen, the PCL6 driver includes the
Line_Printer font... Ben Myers

I just noticed that the "HP LaserJet 2100" and "HP LaserJet 2100 PCL6"
icons are in "Printers and Faxes". I have no idea how "HP LaserJet
2100 PCL6" got there since I only installed the "HP LaserJet 2100"
driver. ???

The WordPad document is at the moment using the Lucida Console font,
because that is the smallest(text accurate) font I have available to
me.

I don't know how Lucida Console compares to "Line_Printer" which I
still don't have, and I am still unable to figure out how to activate
WordPad's page number function so I can see how many pages it is in
that particular font.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Ben Myers]

Assuming that you still can use your Windows ME computer, search for the
Line_Printer font, using something like Line_Printer*.* in the search box. Now
copy it to a floppy diskette, USB memory stick or what have you.

Next, open up Control Panel, click on Fonts, then Install Fonts. Now install
the Line_Printer font from whatever media was used to save it... Ben Myers

 

[Searcher7]

I searched for "LinePrinter* *" and got back hundreds of hits. I have
no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for.

Also, there is nothing that says "Fonts" in Control panel.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
************************************************************************************************

 

[Ben Myers]

There isn't a Fonts icon in the Control Panel? That's just a little unusual,
been there since Windows 3.1.

As for finding the Line Printer font you want, You need to search for EXACTLY
the name of the font you used when you selected it for printing. Note that
LinePrinter and Line_Printer are different for purposes of searching for files.
The file you want probably has a TTF or FOT extension, e.g. Line_Printer.ttf .
If you can't get it onto your Windows XP computer somehow, your best alternative
is Courier New with a small point size. True Type fonts are scalable down to
very small point sizes, and Courier New is a True Type font.

To scale down what you want to print, do a Select All in WordPad (or any other
text editor/word processor), then select Courier New as the font with, say, an 8
point font. That should give you a reasonable approximation of the spacing
using a fixed point Line Printer font, probably 8 points in size.

.... Ben Myers

 

[Ben Myers]

Try this URL for hundreds of free fonts. Perhaps one of them will match up
what you want to do. You can download them and save directly into the Windows
Fonts folder, or save them elsewhere and install them.

http://fonts.goldenweb.it/index_file/l/en/d2/Freeware_fonts/c/l/start/100/default.html

.... Ben Myers

 

[Searcher7]

There isn't a Fonts icon in the Control Panel? That's just a little unusual,
been there since Windows 3.1.

As for finding the Line Printer font you want, You need to search for EXACTLY
the name of the font you used when you selected it for printing. Note that
LinePrinter and Line_Printer are different for purposes of searching for files.
The file you want probably has a TTF or FOT extension, e.g. Line_Printer.ttf .
If you can't get it onto your Windows XP computer somehow, your best alternative
is Courier New with a small point size. True Type fonts are scalable down to
very small point sizes, and Courier New is a True Type font.

"LinePrinter" is the exact term. But I get no hits with just that
term, so I put "LinePrinter* *".

To scale down what you want to print, do a Select All in WordPad (or any other
text editor/word processor), then select Courier New as the font with, say, an 8
point font. That should give you a reasonable approximation of the spacing
using a fixed point Line Printer font, probably 8 points in size.

I already know that Courier New doesn't shrink the text down as small
as LinePrinter on my WindowsME system.

The reason I want LinePrinter is because it allowed the smallest text
of all the fonts available on my old WindowsMe system.

On my new Windows XP system Lucida Console is the best, but I don't
think it shrinks things down as much as LinePrinter.

Another issue is that on my XP system I cannot determine how many
pages a document is in WordPad *before* I print it out. When I open
the document the little notations show which page I'm looking at do
not pop up when using the vertical slider. So that is another problem
I have to solve.

Anyway, what I need to print out is here: http://marp.retrogames.com/

At the end of the alphabet along the top there is a "1st" link. I need
to print out the scoring list there, and do it using a minimum number
of sheets of paper.

No too small to read, and the text has to line up the same way it is
displayed at the site.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Ben Myers]

Maybe WordPad is not the best choice, because it has no Print Preview? Can you
use Word or OpenOffice Writer?

The search argument for the LinePrinter font would be "LinePrinter*.*" Note
the period between the two asterisks. You might also try "LinePrinter.ttf",
which would be successful if the font was of the TrueType flavor.

.... Ben Myers

 

[craigm]

Switch to Classic mode on XP's control panel and you should be able to find
fonts.

"LinePrinter" is the exact term. But I get no hits with just that
term, so I put "LinePrinter* *".

Line printer font is 8.5 point and 16.67 chars/inch. To print the tables you
want, you need to make sure you use a fixed pitch font.

I already know that Courier New doesn't shrink the text down as small
as LinePrinter on my WindowsME system.

The reason I want LinePrinter is because it allowed the smallest text
of all the fonts available on my old WindowsMe system.

On my new Windows XP system Lucida Console is the best, but I don't
think it shrinks things down as much as LinePrinter.

Another issue is that on my XP system I cannot determine how many
pages a document is in WordPad *before* I print it out. When I open
the document the little notations show which page I'm looking at do
not pop up when using the vertical slider. So that is another problem
I have to solve.

If you know how many lines are in the file and how many lines per page get
printed, the math is simple.

Anyway, what I need to print out is here: http://marp.retrogames.com/

At the end of the alphabet along the top there is a "1st" link. I need
to print out the scoring list there, and do it using a minimum number
of sheets of paper.

No too small to read, and the text has to line up the same way it is
displayed at the site.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

<snip>

If you go to the HP website, you can find the User Guide for the printer. It
tells how to print the pcl font list. Print the list, it may tell you the
escape sequence to switch the printer to line printer font. Send that
sequence to the printer. Then you can probably copy the file to the
printer.

Or, you can add the escape sequence to the beginning of the file to be
printed.

Consider using notepad rather than wordpad. You clearly don't want any
formatting to be done.

 

[Ben Myers]

Good catch. I am so accustomed to classic mode that I forget that the other
useless mode exists... Ben Myers

Switch to Classic mode on XP's control panel and you should be able to find
fonts.

<SNIP>

 

[Searcher7]

Maybe WordPad is not the best choice, because it has no Print Preview? Can you
use Word or OpenOffice Writer?

I have no idea what they are.

The search argument for the LinePrinter font would be "LinePrinter*.*" Note
the period between the two asterisks.

That brings up nothing. I only get hits without the period.

You might also try "LinePrinter.ttf",

which would be successful if the font was of the TrueType flavor.

I've switch my keyboard mouse and monitor acbles between these two
machines about 20 times today alone.

Maybe I should call it quits.

Darren Harris"
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Searcher7]

Searcher7wrote:

Switch to Classic mode on XP's control panel and you should be able to find
fonts.

Yes, I found that.

Line printer font is 8.5 point and 16.67 chars/inch. To print the tables you
want, you need to make sure you use a fixed pitch font.

I have no idea what any of this means.

If you know how many lines are in the file and how many lines per page get
printed, the math is simple.

?!? Who would want to get in the habit of counting every line in 200
page documents?

If you go to the HP website, you can find the User Guide for the printer. It
tells how to print the pcl font list. Print the list, it may tell you the
escape sequence to switch the printer to line printer font. Send that
sequence to the printer. Then you can probably copy the file to the
printer.

Or, you can add the escape sequence to the beginning of the file to be
printed.

The simple stuff doesn't work, and this is getting more and more
complicated.

Consider using notepad rather than wordpad. You clearly don't want any
formatting to be done.- Hide quoted text -

I have the file in Notepad and WordPad.

I've been trying to get this done with help from three groups, but
time is running out,and tomorrow I'll just have to pay out of pocket
to have this document printed out.

"Help: Getting The LinePrinter Font"
"microsoft.public.word.printingfonts"

"Help: Getting The LinePrinter Font" "comp.fonts"

"LaserJet 2100TN: Drivers and Fonts" "comp.periphs.printers"

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

 

[Ben Myers]

Let me sort out some cobwebs in my brain, and respond for the last time. Way
back when in the dark prehistoric days before Windows, I bought an HP Laserjet
II. It had a built-in Line Printer font, which was the default for any text
printing. HP carried forward all the LaserJet II capabilities to later models,
to allow for backward compatibility of software written just for the LJ II.
Along came Windows, and I'll speculate that HP & Microsoft together provided
some level of printer driver that somehow allowed people to use the LinePrinter
font. I'll also guess that HP & Microsoft dropped this font with the Windows
XP set of LJ 2100TN (and other) drivers. Probably your only recourse is to use
Lucida Console or a similar free monospaced font with your computer running XP.

Finally, WordPad is a very much stripped down version of Microsoft Word, part of
the Office suite. Still, you can select different fonts and font sizes in
WordPad and it does have a crude Print Preview feature. So to crunch the
document down to 89 pages or so in WordPad, do a Select All, choose a monospaced
font at a small size (6 points, 8 points?), use Print Preview to see how many
pages there are, then print if and when you are satisfied with the previewed
result.

I have run out of other possibilities to suggest... Ben Myers

 

[Searcher7]

Let me sort out some cobwebs in my brain, and respond for the last time. Way
back when in the dark prehistoric days before Windows, I bought an HP Laserjet
II. It had a built-in Line Printer font, which was the default for any text
printing. HP carried forward all the LaserJet II capabilities to later models,
to allow for backward compatibility of software written just for the LJ II.
Along came Windows, and I'll speculate that HP & Microsoft together provided
some level of printer driver that somehow allowed people to use the LinePrinter
font. I'll also guess that HP & Microsoft dropped this font with the Windows
XP set of LJ 2100TN (and other) drivers. Probably your only recourse is to use
Lucida Console or a similar free monospaced font with your computer running XP.

Yes, that's the conclusion I arrived at. Which is why I have to see if
a place like Kinkos can doit in using the LinePrinter font.

Finally, WordPad is a very much stripped down version of Microsoft Word, part of
the Office suite. Still, you can select different fonts and font sizes in
WordPad and it does have a crude Print Preview feature. So to crunch the
document down to 89 pages or so in WordPad, do a Select All, choose a monospaced
font at a small size (6 points, 8 points?), use Print Preview to see how many
pages there are, then print if and when you are satisfied with the previewed
result.

Getting it down to 89 pages is not possible in Notepad or WordPad on
my XP system. (And 8 points is the smallest).

I have run out of other possibilities to suggest... Ben Myers

Thanks for all your help.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York

************************************************************************************************

 

[Ben Myers]

8 point font size must be a limitation built into WordPad. It helps to think of
WordPad as a badly crippled Microsoft Word, which does have the capability of
handling small point sizes. I've experimented by successfully printing 6 and
even 4 point font sizes from Word.

Kinkos and the like are pretty expensive. There are absolutely free Word
processors that can accomplish what you want, especially if this is something
you do somewhat regularly. I have used and I like the "Writer" equivalent of
Microsoft Word, and part of the free and freely downloadable OpenOffice. All
you need is a sharper tool to do the job. Try a full-fledged word/document
processor in conjunction with one of the free monospaced TrueType fonts
mentioned here... Ben

 

[Searcher7]

I've been switching between PCs so much I'm confusing myself. I
reconnected everything to my WindowsME PC and realized that it is
"Microsoft Word 2000" that allows the LinePrinter font.(But still
cannot find that file in the font folder.

It was difficult enough copying the page from online to my WindowsMe
computer. Notepad couldn't hold the entire page and when I tried to
copy it to Word all I'd get were squiggly lines. So while creating
multiple Notepads so I could copy the page in sections something
happened.

One of the Notepads "converted" itself to what looked like a simple
version of Word and allowed me to fit *all* of the text I needed
copied.(The Icon however remained a Notepad icon).

I however was able to copy and paste the text from Notepad to Word.(It
was actually down to 86 pages using the LinePrinter font).

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

************************************************************************************************

 

[me]

8 point font size must be a limitation built into WordPad. It helps to think of
WordPad as a badly crippled Microsoft Word, which does have the capability of
handling small point sizes. I've experimented by successfully printing 6 and
even 4 point font sizes from Word.

Can you think outside the box for two seconds? Just because the pull
down menu is limited to 8 pt at the low end, this doesn't mean you
can't enter a smaller value.

 

[Ben Myers]

Good point (pun intended). I recall entering the really small point sizes
manually with Word. WordPad allows you to do the same. I just tried it. The
OP can accomplish what he wants with WordPad and Courier New, as far as I can
tell... Ben Myers

 

[me]

Good point (pun intended). I recall entering the really small point sizes
manually with Word. WordPad allows you to do the same. I just tried it. The
OP can accomplish what he wants with WordPad and Courier New, as far as I can
tell... Ben Myers

Though I'm not going to go through this whole thread. but the 2100 user
guide lists it;s fonts as all being scalable, except for a bit mapped
lineprinter font. My take on this is someone needs to read a manual.
Else wise there are may 3rd party utils including shareware available to
print to pcl printers. 4print was one I used for many years.