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Windows Drivers, GDI, and EMF
In Windows OS, the format conversion job is done by the printer drivers. On MS Windows OS platforms all
application programmers have at their disposal a built-in API, the graphical device interface (GDI), as part
and parcel of the OS itself to base themselves on. This GDI core is used as one common unified ground for all
Windows programs to draw pictures, fonts, and documents
on screen
as well as
on
paper
(print). Therefore, printer driver developers can standardize on a well-defined GDI output
for their own driver input. Achieving WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is relatively easy, because the
on-screen graphic primitives, as well as the on-paper drawn objects, come from one common source. This source,
the GDI, often produces a file format called Enhanced MetaFile (EMF). The EMF is processed by the printer
driver and converted to the printer-specific file format.
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