Printing with a dot-matrix printer question

[Salad]

I'm developing an app where the print output will be on a dot-matrix
printer. I suppose the printers will either be an Epson or Okidata, not
really sure at this point.

I, unfortunately, do not have a dot matrix anymore. Can I design my
reports using TrueType fonts? Should I only use Courrier fonts? And
if so, is there a recommended point size? Will page ejects work OK?
Any other caveats?

Thanks

[Douglas J. Steele]

You really should have the exact same printer, and use printer-specific
fonts.

While other fonts will work, they'll be excruciatingly slow.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)
"Salad" <oi*@vinegar.com> wrote in message
news:%1***************@newsread1.news.pas.earthlin k.net...

I'm developing an app where the print output will be on a dot-matrix
printer. I suppose the printers will either be an Epson or Okidata, not
really sure at this point.

I, unfortunately, do not have a dot matrix anymore. Can I design my
reports using TrueType fonts? Should I only use Courrier fonts? And
if so, is there a recommended point size? Will page ejects work OK?
Any other caveats?

Thanks

[Salad]

Douglas J. Steele wrote:

You really should have the exact same printer, and use printer-specific
fonts.

While other fonts will work, they'll be excruciatingly slow.

Thanks for the reply. I wish I had a printer like theirs but the client
is on one coast, I on another. I guess it'll have to be slow...I would
be unsure how to set up a Windows like report to print 66 lines per
page...that would seem to be an exercise in frustration.

Maybe I'll find out what the printer/model is and download the print
driver for it and create a printer in control panel. I'm not sure that
will help. The problem is that they have different types of dot-matrix
printers so setting up the report for each type would be time consuming.

[Bill Elgie]

I can't wee how you can develop a dmx print layout without a dmx
printer!

It doesn't need to be the same, any will do but you need to check page
length etc. Use default printer and if an Epson use a generic driver,
550, 650, 850 etc. OKI can be a problem in Windows that needs extra
attention.

However it's all good fun, just watch that Access doesn't change
margins when you make amendments. Continuous paper is more of a
problem than A4

[Salad]

Bill Elgie wrote:

I can't wee how you can develop a dmx print layout without a dmx
printer!
Join the club <g>. Nah, it'll come out OK....it'll just take more time
on my part and a bit of theirs.
It doesn't need to be the same, any will do but you need to check page
length etc. Use default printer and if an Epson use a generic driver,
550, 650, 850 etc. OKI can be a problem in Windows that needs extra
attention.
Thanks. I'm going to get an idea of what printers they have on location
....hopefully my app will just be using one model number. I'll dl the
driver, set that printer up via Control Panel, and see if I can get the
report to be close to what's needed/wanted. Then I'll make adjustments
to it over a VPN and they can tell me if the output looks OK after a
tweak here/there.
However it's all good fun, just watch that Access doesn't change
margins when you make amendments. Continuous paper is more of a
problem than A4

Hmmm....maybe I can ask them to spring for an airline ticket and I do
the work on-site. That'd be cool. But I have a feeling this is going
to be more trial and error over long distance.