A method is provided herein for trim etching a resist line in a plasma etch apparatus. The method provides a reduced rate of vertical direction etching of the resist, and an increased rate of horizontal direction etching of the resist, by applying a lower biasing power to the plasma etch apparatus that is conventionally used. The resulting resist has an increased height in relation to its width which adds to the structural integrity of the resist line and significantly reduces problems of discontinuity in the resist line.