CONTRACTED LETTER PRINTING SYSTEM

PURPOSE:To enable contracted letters to be printed without dropping the actual speeds of printing by a method in which for LQ-mode letters, printing is made by thinning out dots without changing speeds, and printing is made by reducing speeds only for draft-mode letters. CONSTITUTION:A table 41 housed with a flag to designate whether LQ-mode letters or draft-mode letters from a letter set is provided in a letter generating circuit 4. A thinning-out circuit 13 is actuated on the basis of the flag of the table 41 by a processor 1, and according to the contracting rates, LQ-mode letters are thinned out and housed in a line buffer 21. Draft-mode letters are housed as such in the line buffer 21. A space control circuit 8 is controlled by the processor 1 in such a way that the moving speed of a printing head 7 is lowered according to the contracting rates only when draft-mode letters are printed. The contracted letters can thus be printed without the needs to drop the actual printing speeds, whereby preventing the complication in the procedure of space control.