DRAWING

You're getting PICT handles confused with the standard PICT file format. They are the same except a PICT file has a 512 byte header.

PICT handle (including PICT resource) :
- 2 bytes for size in bytes of picture (size of the handle)
- 8 bytes for bounding rect
- rest of picture data

PICT file format :
- 512 byte header (not used unless you put info there for your own use)
- 2 bytes for size in bytes of picture (total size minus 512 byte header)
- 8 bytes for bounding rect
- rest of picture data

To put a PICT file into a handle, you have to start at byte 513 and read from there to bypass the 512 byte header.

I think Type 1 PICT's can support only the eight "old-style" QuickDraw colors(black, white, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow), while Type 2 PICT's support Color QuickDraw (full color). So you could have a Type 2 PICT that happens to be b&w; and you could have a Type 1 PICT that contains (limited)colors.

I haven't worked with it in a while, but I found this bit of code in a program which analyzes the contents of a PICT data structure. In the following, picPtr& is a pointer (_not_ a handle!) to the PICT structure.

  SELECT CASE
    CASE {picPtr& + 10} = &1101
      version = 1
      PRINT #outFile, "This is a version 1 picture"
    CASE {picPtr& + 10} = &0011 AND {picPtr& + 12} = &02FF AND {picPtr& + 14} &0C00 AND {picPtr& + 16} = -1
      version = 2
      PRINT #outFile, "This is a version 2 picture"
    CASE {picPtr& + 10} = &0011 AND {picPtr& + 12} = &02FF AND {picPtr& + 14} &0C00 AND {picPtr& + 16} = -2
      version = 2
      PRINT #outFile, "This is an extended version 2 picture"
    CASE ELSE
      version = 0
      PRINT #outFile, "This does not appear to be a valid picture!"
  END SELECT