A micro graphic representation such as a hologram is formed by directing from a computer to a display surface signals to form a very small portion of the graphic representation of the display surface, focusing a micro image of the display on a recording element, mechanically moving the recording element to a new position, optically measuring the new position and signalling the computer the precise new position and then sending to the display surface next signals to form on the display surface a next very small portion of the graphic representation with the position of the next portion modified to compensate for the difference between the measured position and the required position. The piece-by-piece display is repeated a large number of times to record an entire graphic representation. One embodiment of the invention is a hologram writer.