"formatting characters" could refer to the design of letters, numbers and other symbols on a square matrix. The assignment of values to there "user definable definitions" or UDGs and poking these values into the character buffer of the computer or saving for later use as in older typesetting computers
In typesetting computers or initialising printers yes you could call it character formatting or print formatting
The Format Painter.
it is the reason why you format the character
A __________ mark is sometimes called a nonprinting character because it can be displayed on the screen but is not visible on a printed document.
Light Dots
character formatting
the home tab
Character formatting
Character Formatting
Character formatting
superscript
Ctrl + Shift + C (paste in formatting with Ctrl + Shift + V)