ID: Q78652
The information in this article applies to:
Because Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Word for Windows use the ANSI character set, character sets available from your printer (also called symbol sets) may not be directly accessible or viewable; however, you can print most of these characters by using a PRINT field in a Word for Windows document.
Some characters, such as the printer control characters, are not accessible and cannot be printed. Word usually differentiates these characters from accessible characters by displaying them in a different color.
To access the printer's character sets, you need to know the escape sequence for the character set you want to access, the escape sequence for the default character set of the printer, and the character number of the symbol you want to print. This information is usually found in the back of your printer manual.
1. Place the insertion point at the beginning of the line in which you
want the special character to appear.
2. Press CTRL+F9 to insert a field code. Between the field braces,
type "print" (without the quotation marks), followed by the escape
sequence of the character set you want to access. Place the escape
sequence within quotation marks. For example, on the Hewlett-Packard
(HP) LaserJet IIIp printer, the escape sequence to access the PC-8
character set is "ESC(10U". The Word for Windows PRINT field appears
on-screen as follows:
{print "|(10U"}
Notes:
The | character appears as a box when using Microsoft Windows 3.1x
and 95. See the section How To Include the "ESC" (|) Portion of Code
later in this article as to how to insert that symbol into Microsoft
Word.
The PRINT field codes must appear on the left margin so that
they do not send linefeeds to the printer.
3. Position the insertion point where you want the special character
to print in the sentence. Press ALT+0 plus the character's decimal
value on the numeric keypad (with NUM LOCK turned on). Note that the
screen displays either a vertical line or the ANSI equivalent symbol
because the screen font displays only ANSI characters. For example,
to print the "smiley" face symbol (available in the PC-8 character
set on an HP LaserJet IIIp printer), type "ALT+0001" (without
the quotation marks). A vertical line appears on the screen, as
shown in the following example:
{print "|(10U"}This is the smiley face symbol for the
PC-8 character set |.
Note: The vertical bar that follows the above text indicates the
position where the smiley face symbol prints.
4. At the beginning of the next line, press CTRL+F9 to insert a field.
Between the braces, type "print" (without the quotation marks)
followed by the escape sequence (within quotation marks) of the
default character set. For example, to return to the default
character set of the HP LaserJet IIIp printer (Roman8), you need the
sequence "ESC(8U". (See the section How To Include the "ESC" (|)
Portion of Code later in this article as to how to insert that
symbol into Microsoft Word.)
{print "|(10U"}This is the "smiley" face symbol from the
PC-8 character set |.
{print "|(8U"}
In Microsoft Word for Windows version 1.x, you can enter the escape sequence into the PRINT field by:
1. Click Field on the Insert menu and then select Print. Click OK.
or
Press CTRL+F9 to enter field braces into the document and then
type PRINT inside the field braces.
2. Type ALT+027 key combination in the Field Code box. The 027 needs
to be entered using the Numeric Keypad.
After the entire escape sequence to access the particular printer's
chanracter set is typed, the result will show as {PRINT |(10U"} on
the screen if your Field Codes are showing.
In Microsoft Word for Windows version 2.x-7.x, you must enter the escape sequence directly on-screen by:
1. Press CTRL+F9 to enter Field braces into the document
2. Type PRINT inside the Field Braces.
After the entire escape sequence to access the particular printer's chanracter set is typed, the result will show as {PRINT |(10U"} on the screen if your Field Codes are showing.
In Microsoft Word 97 for Windows version, you must enter the escape sequence directly on-screen by:
1. Click Field on the Insert menu and then select Print from the
Field Names: list. Click OK.
or
Press CTRL+F9 to enter field braces into the document and then
type PRINT inside the field braces.
2. Press the Spacebar to enter a space after the PRINT field and then
type 27" for the escape code.
After the entire escape sequence to access the particular printer's
chanracter set is typed, the result will show as {PRINT 27"(10U"} on
the screen if your Field Codes are showing.
"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, page 752
"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Reference," version 1.x, page 352
KBCategory: KBSubcategory: kbfont Additional query words: 1.x 2.0 2.0a 2.0a-CD 2.0b 7.0 word95 word7 word6 winword 6.0 6.0a 6.0c winword2 2.0c 7.0a word97
Keywords : kbprint kbFont
Version : 1.x 2.x 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0 7.
Platform : WINDOWS
Last Reviewed: February 6, 1998