Re: Printing Question
Posted by: BMichael <BMichael@...>
>apart from displaying them on the screen (which is done), I'd like to print
>them at the best resultion. Right now, the lines all tend to go into one
>great big pile of lines (lacks definition).
>
>So is it possible to actually print a ONE pixel line? Or how do you print a
>one pixel line? With 300 dpi all the way up to 1440 dpi printers, this
>should be possible I think, but how does one accomodate the different
>printers.
My knowledge on this is a couple years old, and my memory may not be
totally accurate, but here goes!
If you can "see" the things on screen, you _should_ be able to see them
on paper even with the "thick" lines (actually 1/72") provided by a
PICT... In one program I've got I read the PREC for the number of
horizontal & vertical "pixels" on the available paper size, then use that
for my x/y axis "maximums", in order to get the largest possible page
image. If the h & v values are "too small" to accomodate my graphs, I pop
back and tell the user to do a Page Setup and select "50% reduction",
then repeat. (Actually, I eventually gave up on that for my particular
group of users, and just _stored_ a 50% PREC and "force" it to be the one
used...)
This lets me get a ton of data on one page and still look good; of
course, I use no typesize smaller than 14 point, and try to go 18 or
better, because that'll be shrunk right along with my lines.
AFA hairlines, they're quite possible, but you're talking about
generating Postscript code rather than a PICT, or using PICCOMMENTS.
Unless absolutely necessary, I'd recommend against doing either; it's no
fun. (The best way I've found is to use some program like Illustrator or
MacDraw to "mock up" your desired output format, and then "print to
disk". Then look at the code produced, figure out what you need to
change, and write out something similar from your program.) I only do
this when I need to include EPS and PICT stuff all mixed together, or
when PICT is not even an option; such as when printing from the VAX!
(Yes, I've got a production program writing generated-on-the-fly
Postscript from a VAX directly to a laser printer, and the hidden header
info merrily says "Created in MacDraw II". 🙂
You can tell the resolution of the printer (sort of) based on the maximum
x & y values for the page, if you assume 8.5x11 inch paper (and 100%
scaling) - I believe there's also a "resolution" field in the PREC
record, but I'm not sure it's always accurate! Look up the PREC stuff
with the Constants tool to see what all is stored out there; it's quite a
bit.
Bill