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Q74793: HOWTO: Simulating CreatePatternBrush() on a High-Res Printer

Article: Q74793
Product(s): Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1,95; winnt:
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbOSWin95 _IK kbSDKWin16
Last Modified: 11-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
- Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API) 
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SUMMARY
=======

When a pattern brush is used to fill an area of the page on the printer, the
printer's high resolution will cause a fine pattern to lose definition and
appear as a shade of gray.

Brushes that are created with the CreatePatternBrush() function are eight pixels
by eight pixels (8 x 8 pixels) in size. On a 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) laser
printer, the pattern will be 0.027 inches wide.

To create a pattern that gives similar effects on the screen as on the printer,
it is necessary to compare the screen resolution to the printer resolution, and
to compensate for the differences.

For example, if the video display is 100 dpi (typical of a VGA), and the printer
is 300 dpi (a typical laser printer), the bit must be three times larger in each
direction. The following compares a screen bitmap and a printer bitmap:

  10101010          111000111000111000111000
  01010101          111000111000111000111000
  10101010          111000111000111000111000
  01010101          000111000111000111000111
  10101010          000111000111000111000111     and so forth
  01010101          000111000111000111000111
  10101010          111000111000111000111000
  01010101          111000111000111000111000
                    111000111000111000111000
   Video            000111000111000111000111
                    000111000111000111000111
                    000111000111000111000111
                    111000111000111000111000
                    111000111000111000111000
                    111000111000111000111000
                    000111000111000111000111
                    000111000111000111000111
                    000111000111000111000111
                    111000111000111000111000
                    111000111000111000111000
                    111000111000111000111000

                            Printer

However, since the pattern brush is always 8 x 8 pixels, a different approach
must be used when printing:

1. Use the StretchBlt() function to create, from the video bitmap, the 24 x 24
  pixel bitmap for the printer.

2. Manually "tile" this bitmap into the region to be painted.

Additional query words: 3.00 3.10 4.00 win16sdk

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Keywords          : kbOSWin95 _IK kbSDKWin16 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWin32sSearch kbWin32API kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1,95; winnt:
Issue type        : kbhowto

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