Robert Cogburn wrote:

> Thank you Joe Wilkins and Pierre Zippi for your code setting up the use
> of Hairlines. After looking up PicComment in ThinkReference and checking
> IM:Imaging I finally got it. At first they did not work for me because I
> put the call to the function to set hairlines before the ROUTE _toPrinter
> statement. This works OK with the PRGeneral method of setting resolution,
> but the PicComment for Hairlines works by sending this call to the
> printer as part of the print job. Apparently this started as a Postscript
> command, but Apple has been able to set it up so it works with (at least
> some) non-Postscript printers. They mention the Quickdraw printers, and I
> tested it on an Epson Photo EX (without Postscript) and it worked there
> too.
>
> So there are two ways to reset to higher resolution, the Hairlines method
> and the method using PRGeneral. It may be that there are printers on
> which one will work and not the other, but I have no info on that - both
> worked on my Laser Writer Pro and the Epson, and I have heard from others
> that it works on their HP Laser printers. I would be interested in
> hearing any other reports on this. If you prefer you can email me
> privately, and I will post a summary if I get new information.
>
> There is one difference that is important to note between the two methods:
>
> Resetting resolution with PRGeneral rescales the page, so for example if
> it is reset to 300 dpi from 72 dpi then there will be 300/72 or 4 1/6
> times as many pixels horizontally and vertically on the page. Placing the
> pen for drawing must take this into account, but greater precision in the
> placement is possible. This works in the way the COORDINATE statement
> used to work for windows in FBII.
>
> With Hairlines the scale is not changed, still at 72 dpi, and this makes
> for transparent translation from the Quickdraw screen drawing commands
> and the commands sent to the printer. So which you choose depends on what
> you need to do.

Thanks for the recap. To set the record straight, I was just regurgitating a
routine that Staz sent me a long time ago; so it probably was Andy's baby
originally.

One item of possible interest/"future resolution"; I've recently used one of
my older apps, though newly revived and enhanced, "MacDraft". It has 3
different width "hairlines": H, .5, .75; in addition to 1 (one pixel width). I
suspect that the Hairlines routine could be enhanced without too much
difficulty to provide these additional options as well.

Sorry I forgot to indicate that "Hairlines" should be called after ROUTE
_toPrinter.

Joe Wilkins