Optimized graphics operators

• Rectangle operators. New operators for filling, clipping and stroking rectangles; all highly optimized. For example, rectfill is 3 times faster than an equivalent moveto, lineto, lineto, lineto, closepath, fill. Benefits: performance and convenience.
• Graphics state objects provide a fast way to switch between graphics states, which define the current line weight, color, font, etc. In existing printers, graphics states are stored on a stack, so accessing an arbitrary graphics state is somewhat cumbersome. With graphics state objects, the graphics state can be associated with a name, and retrieved by simply requesting the name. Benefits: Performance, convenience.
• Halftone specification. New halftone dictionaries provide a more precise way of specifying the halftone dots, and makes switching between halftone screens faster. (The spot function is not reinterpreted.) Benefits: Performance, convenience, enhanced functionality.
• User paths are self-contained procedures that consists entirely of path construction operators and their coordinate operands. User path operators perform path construction and painting as a single operation; this is both convenient and efficient. There is a user path cache to optimize interpretation of user paths that are invoked repeatedly. Benefits: Performance, convenience.
• Stroke adjustment. For very thin lines, there is a trade-off between perfect positioning and consistent line width. Depending on the placement of such a line, it could end up being rendered as either 1 or 2 pixels wide, which is a noticeable difference. To account for this, PostScript language programs often include logic to slightly alter the coordinates of lines for consistent rendering. With automatic stroke adjustment the interpreter performs this adjustment to ensure consistent widths. Doing it in the interpreter rather than in the PostScript language program is 20 - 30% faster. Benefits: Performance, convenience, improved quality.