How to draw a subpixel line

Question

In the following code, I\'m trying to draw two lines: One with a subpixel width (0.5) and the other with 1px width:

        var img = new Bitmap(256, 256);
              


        

Answer 1

Subpixel lines can be drawn as thin rectangles.
Here's how to do this:

    public static class GraphicsExtensions
    {
        public static void DrawLineAnyWidth(this Graphics gr, Pen pen, PointF pt1, PointF pt2)
        {
            if (pen.Width > 1.5f)
            {
                gr.DrawLine(pen, pt1, pt2);
            }
            else
            {
                var poly = new PointF[5];
                var h = pen.Width * 0.5f;
                var br = new SolidBrush(pen.Color);
                poly[0] = SidePoint(pt1, pt2, -h);
                poly[1] = SidePoint(pt1, pt2, h);
                poly[2] = SidePoint(pt2, pt1, -h);
                poly[3] = SidePoint(pt2, pt1, h);
                poly[4] = poly[0];
                gr.FillPolygon(br, poly);
                br.Dispose();
            }
        }
        static PointF SidePoint(PointF pa, PointF pb, float h)
        {
            float Dx = pb.X - pa.X;
            float Dy = pb.Y - pa.Y;
            float D = (float)Math.Sqrt(Dx * Dx + Dy * Dy);
            return new PointF(pa.X + Dy * h / D, pa.Y - Dx * h / D);
        }
    }

Example:

    var bmp = new Bitmap(200, 350);
    using (var gr = Graphics.FromImage(bmp))
    {
        gr.Clear(Color.White);
        gr.SmoothingMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.SmoothingMode.AntiAlias;
        var pen = new Pen(Color.IndianRed);
        for (int i = 1; i < 30; i++)
        {
            var pa = new PointF(50, 20 + i * 10);
            var pb = new PointF(150, 30 + i * 10);
            pen.Width = i * 0.1f;
            gr.DrawLineAnyWidth(pen, pa, pb);
        }
    }

Result of example: