MacDraw Pro: MacDraw II Multi-colored Patterns Converted to Solid Colors

Patterns from a MacDraw II document appear in MacDraw Pro as solid colors.

Color patterns in MacDraw II are frequently used to simulate solid colors, since MacDraw II is limited to the eight QuickDraw colors. When MacDraw II documents are opened in MacDraw Pro, patterns are converted to their solid color equivalents. Usually this is desired, since the resulting solid color is what was being simulated in MacDraw II. However, multiple-colored non-dithered patterns in MacDraw II are converted in MacDraw Pro even when a solid color is not the intended end result (for example, a two-colored brick pattern). There is no workaround at this time.

This pattern conversion takes effect when the "Convert Patterns to ... Colors" checkbox is set for the MacDraw II 1.1 Import settings in the Preferences/Translators dialog box of MacDraw Pro.

"Convert Patterns to ... Colors" is CHECKED�? This is the default setting. When checked:
1- Dithered patterns that include white and one other color are converted to solid colors.

- The MacDraw II XTND filter contains a table of about 200 dithered patterns. As the MacDraw II document is converted, each pattern is compared with the patterns in the XTND filter's pattern table. Any patterns that match those in the table are converted to solid colors.
2- Non-dithered patterns that include white and one other color are NOT converted (e.g., the brick pattern, diagonal lines pattern, etc.)
3- All patterns that include two or more non-white colors (dithered and non-dithered) are converted to solid colors. (MacDraw Pro only supports patterns that include white and one other color.)

"Convert Patterns to ... Colors" is UNCHECKED -- When unchecked:
1- Dithered patterns that include white and one other color are NOT converted to solid colors.
2- Non-dithered patterns that include white and one other color are NOT converted (such as the brick pattern, diagonal lines pattern, and so on)
3- All patterns that include two or more non-white colors (dithered and non-dithered) are converted to solid colors. (MacDraw Pro only supports patterns that include white and one other color.)

Why doesn't MacDraw Pro support more colors in its patterns? MacDraw Pro is not limited to the standard eight QuickDraw colors to define its colors, as is MacDraw II. MacDraw Pro uses Color QuickDraw and 32-bit QuickDraw. Patterns defined using Color QuickDraw (called a "pixpat") may not print reliably unless the pattern contains only white and one other color. This is a system-level issue not associated with MacDraw Pro. (Other drawing programs that attempt to offer full-color pixpat support may also have difficulties printing). MacDraw Pro was created to support only these white/2-color patterns to avoid these printing difficulties.