When should I use HardCopy vectorize actions for printing instead of the Open Inventor SoOffscreenRenderer class?
First, the short answer: You can/should use these actions to render resolution-independent output for large format plotters when your scene is 2D or 3D with wireframe or flat shaded rendering.You cannot use these actions for rendering realistic 3D scenes with smooth shading and textures. Heres a longer answer. SoOffScreenRenderer creates a bitmap image of your scene whereas SoVectorizeAction creates a vector representation of your scene. With raster (bitmap) output, a shape is defined by a set of pixels. Supported bitmap formats include JPEG, BMP, TIFF, and others. With vector output, shapes are defined by their coordinates. For example, a line segment is defined by the two coordinates of its end points. Supported vector formats include PostScript (SoVectorizePSAction), HPGL (SoVectorizeHPGLAction), CGM (SoVectorizeCGMAction) and GDI (SoVectorizeGDIAction). For some purposes, bitmaps are superior. For others, vector output is superior. Bitmap Pros and Cons: + A bitmap has full, realist
