PAGE PRINTER HAVING AUTOMATIC FONT COMPRESSION

A page printer includes random access memory (RAM) whose capacity is insufficient to store certain page configurations; a processor; and a control memory that holds at least one data compression procedure. The page printer performs a font compression method that comprises the steps of: issuing a memory low/out signal when insufficient RAM is available to store portions of an input data stream; if raster graphics images are present in portions of the input data stream, attempting to compress those images to remove the memory low/out signal; if no raster graphics images are present in the input data stream, compressing font characters by use of a data compression procedure; and if the attempted compression of the raster graphics images is unsuccessful in removing the memory low/out signal, compressing font characters by use of a data compression procedure. The page printer also may be controlled to automatically data compress a large size font whose size exceeds a second threshold (which may be related to available printer RAM), under circumstances where a memory low/out signal is not present.