Halftone Algorithms

Important

The modern print platform is Windows' preferred means of communicating with printers. We recommend that you use Microsoft's IPP inbox class driver, along with Print Support Apps (PSA), to customize the print experience in Windows 10 and 11 for printer device development.

For more information, see Modern print platform and the Print support app design guide.

Some printer vendors prefer to use different halftone algorithms while printing different kinds of objects, such as text, vector objects, and bitmaps. The three examples that follow show what should be added to the GPD to print each of these types of objects.

The first example shows how to incorporate halftone rendering while printing text.

*Ifdef: WINNT_51
*Feature: TEXTHALFTONE
{
  *rcNameID: =TEXTHALFTONE_DISPLAY
  *DefaultOption: DETAIL
  *Option: DETAIL
   {
     *rcNameID: =DETAIL_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetTextHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t0J" }
   }
  *Option: SMOOTH
   {
     *rcNameID: =SMOOTH_HT_DISPLAY
     *Name: "Smooth"
     *Command: CmdSetTextHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t15J" }
   }
  *Option: BASIC
   {
     *rcNameID: =BASIC_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetTextHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t18J" }
   }
}
*Endif:

The second example includes commands for halftone rendering while printing vector graphics.

*Ifdef:  WINNT_51
*Feature: GRAPHICSHALFTONE
{
  *rcNameID: =GRAPHICSHALFTONE_DISPLAY
  *DefaultOption: SMOOTH
  *Option: DETAIL
   {
     *rcNameID: =DETAIL_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetGraphicsHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t15J" }
   }
  *Option: SMOOTH
   {
     *rcNameID: =SMOOTH_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetGraphicsHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t18J" }
   }
  *Option: BASIC
   {
     *rcNameID: =BASIC_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetGraphicsHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t18J" }
   }
}
*Endif:

The third example includes commands for halftone rendering while printing bitmaps.

*Ifdef: WINNT_51
*Feature: PHOTOHALFTONE
{
  *rcNameID: =PHOTOHALFTONE_DISPLAY
  *DefaultOption: SMOOTH
  *Option: DETAIL
   {
     *rcNameID: =DETAIL_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetPhotoHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t15J" }
   }
  *Option: SMOOTH
   {
     *rcNameID: =SMOOTH_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetPhotoHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t7J" }
   }
  *Option: BASIC
   {
     *rcNameID: =BASIC_HT_DISPLAY
     *Command: CmdSetPhotoHTAlgo { *Cmd : "<1B>*t3J" }
   }
}
*Endif: