Appropriate Remote Commands

All of the remote commands described above are wrapped up with the usual boilerplate. The files always start with 00 00 00 and the “magic” command described above, then two ESC @s to reset the printer. The remote command sequences come next; if they print anything that is usually followed by a FF (0C hex) character to feed the page, then the file ends with another two ESC @s to get back to the ground state.

An alignment sequence goes like this:

1. Host uses DT to print an alignment sheet.

2. User eyeballs the sheet to see which is the best aligned pattern.

3. Host sends a DA command indicating which pattern the user chose.

4. If the user said “realign”, meaning he isn't done yet, go to step 1.

5. We are done: host sends a SV command and exits.

The sequence used (by the STC 3000, at least) to print from the roll feed is (with byte count omitted):

PM 00 00
SN 00 00 00
EX 00 00 00 00 05 01
ST 00 01
SM 00 02

The sequence used by the STP 870 to print on plain paper is

PM 00 00
IR 00 03
SN 00 00 01
SN 00 01 00
SN 00 02 01
EX 00 00 00 00 05 00
FP 00 00 00

and the job finishes with

IR 00 02
LD

For different paper type settings on the STP 870, the arguments to SN vary. The arguments to the first and third SN commands are as outlined in the description of the SN command above; the arguments to the second (“platen gap”) are 00 01 01 for thick papers (“matte paper—heavyweight”, “photo paper” and “premium glossy photo paper”) and 00 01 00 for all others.

For roll-mode printing, the STP 870's sequence changes as follows. IR's arguments become 00 01 in the header, and 00 00 after the job, and EX's last argument changes from 00 to 01.

For zero-margin printing on the STP 870, the arguments to FP become 00 0xb0 0xff. This moves the origin about 5.5mm to the left, to a point one tenth of an inch to the left of the left-hand edge of the paper, allowing printing right up to (and beyond) the edge of the paper. Some printers (at least the STP 870) include white absorbent pads at the left margin position and other positions (89mm and 100mm on the STP 870) to soak up ink which misses the edge of the paper. Printing off the edge of paper of a width not aligned with a pad could result in making a mess of the inside of the printer and ink getting on the reverse of the paper.