1. A method for enabling a program that communicates a document description from a composition system to a printing system to manage variable-dot halftones for use with variable-dot printing devices, comprising the steps of: creating a set of strings, each string defining a halftone cell intensity value and comprising at least one pixel imbution value, wherein said pixel imbution value is in the range of 0 to P, wherein P is the number of physical appearances that a painted pixel can have; using a selected halftone cell intensity value to directly choose a string from said set of strings; and painting at least one pixel within a halftone cell according to a pixel imbution value within the chosen string.