Microsoft KB Archive/36467

Definition: Picture Clipboard Format and Metafiles PSS ID Number: Q36467 Article last modified on 12-19-1988 PSS database name: PSS

MS-DOS

Picture Clipboard Format and Metafile:

The Picture format, also called metafile picture. A graphic image copied from a graphics program. Pictures are represented not by a series of dots (although that is how they appear on your screen), but by a series of drawing commands for Windows’ Graphic Device Interface (GDI).

When you cut or copy a picture to the clipboard, Window stores the GDI commands required to re-create it in a metafile. When you view the clipboard using Clipboard, or when you paste the picture into another application, Windows plays back the commands in the metafile to re-create the picture.

More Information:

Pictures have the following significant advantages over bitmaps. Because they’re stored as metafiles, they are resolution-independent, i.e., they are not locked into specific nubmer of dots per inch. This lets pictures take advantage of all the resolution your display or printer can provide, and it lets you easily resize, or scale, images without distortion. A picture often is called an object-oriented graphic because it is stored as a series of distinct objects (lines, rectangles, arcs, etc.) rather than as a map of bits.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1988.