Specifying font descriptions

The XDC file must specify the typefaces for each printer-resident font that can appear in forms that are printed on that printer, including fonts that are installed in the printer on a device such as a cartridge, SIMM, or DIMM. A typeface is a coordinated set of glyphs that are designed with a stylistic unity.

Here are the general tasks for specifying printer-resident fonts:

1. Determine which fonts are resident on a printer

2. Design a form to use printer-resident fonts

3. Identify escape sequences that specify printer-resident fonts (PCL only)

1. Select and open an XDC file. (See Opening an XDC file.)

2. At the bottom of the XDC Editor panel, click the Fonts tab.

3. In the Font panel, click Add.

4. Select a font to add. If the font resides in the Microsoft® Windows® system folder (Windows/Fonts), create a temporary folder elsewhere on your local hard drive and copy the font into that folder. Windows prevents XDC Editor from accessing fonts in the Windows system folder.

5. Double-click the font file to add it to the list of fonts in the Font panel.

   If the font you selected in step 4 supports multiple character encodings, XDC Editor displays a dialog box where you can select the encodings to use.

6. Select the encodings that apply. For each encoding you specify, XDC Editor creates a typeface entry in the Font table. Apply the remaining steps to each of the steps for those typeface entries.

7. (PCL XDC files) Ensure that Edit Sequence As String is selected, and click Generate Sequence. If XDC Editor recognizes the font, it creates a font sequence for you that omits the printer-specific typeface code for the font. Notice that XDC Editor fills all Font Sequence fields except the Typeface Code field.

8. (PCL XDC files) If XDC Editor created a font sequence for you, deselect Edit Sequence As String, enter the printer-specific typeface code in the Typeface Code field, and then click Apply.

   For example, the typeface code for Courier is 4099. You can find the typeface codes in your printer manual or in the printer display panel. (See Obtaining information from your printer’s manual and Obtaining information from your printer).

9. (PCL XDC files) If XDC Editor did not create a font sequence, supply one in the field under the Edit Sequence as String label (see Determining PCL font sequences), and then click Apply.

10. (PostScript and ZPL XDC files) Enter the printer’s name for the font in the Font Sequence field. For PostScript files, the printer’s name for the font is a combination of the typeface name, weight, and angle. For ZPL files, the printer’s name for a font is one or more uppercase letters. You may find these names in these sources:

    • Your printer manual (see Obtaining information from your printer’s manual)

    • Information page printed by your printer

    • Printer display panel (see Obtaining information from your printer)

1. Select and open an XDC file. (See Opening an XDC file.)

2. At the bottom of the XDC Editor panel, click the Fonts tab.

3. In the Font panel, select the font and click Remove.

For label printers, the font sequences are defined in the XDC files. For example, for a Datamax printer, each of the Datamax fonts have the sequences defined in the XDC file as follows:

<seq id="Datamax0 2.5 point_Normal_Normal_ISO-8859-1">0,0,1,1,0</seq>

For the scalable fonts, the width and height magnifications will be automatically calculated depending on the point size. The bitmap fonts have the point size mentioned in their name. Use this point size at the time of designing the form.