QuickDraw pictures are sequences of saved drawing commands. Pictures provide a common medium for the sharing of image data. Pictures make it easier for your application to draw complex images defined in other applications; pictures also make it easier for other applications to display images created with your application. Virtually all applications should support the creation and drawing of pictures. All applications that support cut and paste, for example, should be able to draw pictures copied by the user from the Clipboard.
The Picture Utilities allow your application to gather information about pictures–such as their colors, fonts, picture comments, and resolution. You can also use the Picture Utilities to gather information about the colors in pixel maps. You typically use the information gathered with the Picture Utilities in conjunction with other system software managers. You might use the Picture Utilities to determine what fonts are used in a picture, for example, and then use Font Manager routines to help you determine whether those fonts are available on the user’s system. Or, you might use the Picture Utilities to determine the most-used colors in a picture, and then use the ColorSync Manager to provide sophisticated support for these colors.