A technique for combining graphical objects in a computer system works by removing the destination dependent ROP commands to permit rendering directly to the device color space and pixel depth. The solution is to recognize that the GDI command sequences that applications use to generate various special print effects, such as transparency and complex clipping. Once recognized, the original application intent can be determined, allowing the GDI command sequence to be replaced with one that generates an equivalent output, but without the destination dependency. This avoids problems that arise when using ROP combinations, especially when rendering on a print device. This is because the ROP combinations are defined based on the GDI command sets, which are in an RGB color space, with a pixel depth of 24 bits. Thus, information can be lost when combining a series of GDI commands because of the pixel depth limitations. The problem becomes even more severe when drawing to the device color space, since it is typically not in the RGB color space and is usually half-toned. Attempting to apply the ROPs in the device color space can often produce incorrect or at least suboptimal results.