as drawn 34 length of the line when the mask is used to print the resist feature the feature is formed as shown in fig4 notably the resist feature 29 is still tapered at the end as is the feature 25 shown in fig2 however since the feature 29 is longer than the feature 25 of fig2 its tapered portion is wider in the area of the via 23 consequently there is less likelihood that a later formed via will be out of registry with the actual line feature formed with the line shortening correction instead of merely lengthening the mask line feature the line shortening correction may take other forms one such form is shown in fig5 wherein the end of the mask line element 31 is not only extended but is extended in the form of a hammerhead 33 preferably the hammerhead 33 extends beyond the 34 as drawn 34 line element and also extends laterally of the line element preferably the lateral extensions is approximately one twelfth of the wave length of the radiation being used with the mask and the longitudinal extension is one sixth of that wavelength thus if the mercury i line radiation 3 650 u00e5 is used the lateral extensions 34 t 34 as shown in fig5 would be approximately 0 03 u03bcm and the longitudinal extension would be 0 06 u03bcm if the mercury g line 4 360 u00e5 were used the lateral and longitudinal extensions should be in the neighborhood of 0 035 u03bcm and 0 70 u03bcm respectively and if dpv.