How do I edit a callout on an image that's been reopened?

[htran]

I am unable to edit the existing callouts on images that I have created, saved, closed and reopened.

For example, when I do a screen capture, add a callout, and save and close the image, if I reopen the image and try to change the wording in one of the existing callouts, I am unable to. I can add more callouts, but this is not what I need to do.

I have not seen this issue in the forum, so I must be missing some obvious technique. (?)

Thanks for any assistance.

Heidi

[Nita Beck]

Hi Heidi,

I'm not able to reproduce your problem. I captured a screen, added a few callouts, saved, closed, even exited Capture, restarted Capture, reopened the image: my callouts were still editable. I could move them. I could edit their text.

But I COULD force your problem to appear if I deleted the .props file that accompanied my image file. By doing that, my image file became "flat" in the sense that the callouts were now just part of the image, not editable objects. Although I could still open the image in Capture, Capture no longer had any knowledge of the editable objects.

The same thing would happen if the image file and .props file became separated; perhaps you moved your image file without moving the .props file, too? Or perhaps you renamed the image file outside of Capture, which would also break the association with its .props file.

I hope this helps.

Nita

[htran]

Thanks for your efforts, Nita! Unfortunately, we do have our .props files together with our image files (.jpg, .png, and .gif). We have not renamed either file. My co-worker is having the same issue.

We've tried opening the files from within Capture (File>Open), we've tried dragging the file to the title bar of Capture, and we've tried opening the file to edit from within Flare, and none of these works.

Could the problem be that the file has to be saved within some sort of Capture Pictures file (as Mimic movies are saved in a folder called Mimic Projects)?

Thanks!

[Nita Beck]

Could the problem be that the file has to be saved within some sort of Capture Pictures file (as Mimic movies are saved in a folder called Mimic Projects)?

I don't think so. I've got my image files (with their props files) in any old place. So long as they are together, I can edit the callouts.

Are you launching Capture from within Flare? I'm not doing things that way. I launch Capture separately and take a bunch of shots. Once I bring in the images into Flare, then I might edit them using Capture... Probably what I'm describing doesn't make any bit of difference.

How about the attribute properties of the files? Have they somehow been set to read-only? Are the files on a network or a local drive? I don't know that that'll make a difference either, but I'm just trying to think of solutions for you. I'm sure you and your colleagues have beaten the bushes for a solution.

If you do solve the problem, please do post back for the benefit of the forum.

Nita

[htran]

Thanks, Nita.

We double-checked the attributes for our pics, and none of them is set to read-only. We also made sure that the props files were in the same folder as the image files. We tried opening Capture from within Flare, and we tried opening Capture independently to edit the pictures, and still can't edit the callouts.

This is a mystery. If I do figure it out, I'll post my solution, but if anyone else has had this issue and has been able to resolve it, we'd be grateful for their advice!

Heidi

[SteveS]

Just a thought...

Are you using source control?

[forfear]

This is a mystery. If I do figure it out, I'll post my solution, but if anyone else has had this issue and has been able to resolve it, we'd be grateful for their advice!

What version of Capture are you using?

[htran]

Steve- we're not using source control, but only the project/image owner is updating her respective project/images. The images were captured in Flare, specifically for the corresponding Flare project.

forfear- we're using Capture 3.0.16.

Thanks!

Heidi

[navoff]

Steve- we're not using source control, but only the project/image owner is updating her respective project/images. The images were captured in Flare, specifically for the corresponding Flare project.

forfear- we're using Capture 3.0.16.

I'm using the same version of Capture but have no problems editing the callouts. When you open the files in Capture, can you click on a bubble and make the nodes appear? like this:

select-bubble.png

If you can select the bubble, then you should be able to edit it by:

• double clicking the bubble
• clicking on the bubble properties button
• right clicking and selecting Edit Text
• hitting the F2 button

If you can't select the bubble, and you've ruled out a missing .props file or read-only properties on the files, then the only other thing that springs to mind is that there's something wrong with your copy of the application. Even the evaluation version of Capture let me edit the bubbles. It just gave me a watermark across the image.

[htran]

Thanks for the suggestions, but no, we can't select the bubble at all. When we double click, we, of course, get the properties window for the entire image, not just for the bubble.

Our properties are set correctly (they're not set at 'read-only.').

Our props files are in the same folder as the image files, but now I'm wondering...could it have something to do with the fact that we moved them from our hard drive to our network drive? We did move the image files with the props files, and the names did not change. Is there something more we need to know or do when moving image files like this? Some of the files, we are able to edit...just not all of them, and there seems to be no common factor for the ones that we can't edit.

We each downloaded our own copy of Capture, as well as our own upgrade, so I would be surprised if there were something wrong with both our copies, but I guess you never know...

Thanks,
Heidi

[Andrew]

Do you open the images in any other program for editing/post production, etc.?

[forfear]

Do you open the images in any other program for editing/post production, etc.?

yes Andrew is right.

in any case, if they aren't editable anymore, even with the props file, am afraid there's nothing much else you can do, since it appears the props file and the associated image file are either corrupted or don't match up anymore.

[navoff]

Thanks for the suggestions, but no, we can't select the bubble at all. When we double click, we, of course, get the properties window for the entire image, not just for the bubble.

Our properties are set correctly (they're not set at 'read-only.').

Our props files are in the same folder as the image files, but now I'm wondering...could it have something to do with the fact that we moved them from our hard drive to our network drive? We did move the image files with the props files, and the names did not change. Is there something more we need to know or do when moving image files like this? Some of the files, we are able to edit...just not all of them, and there seems to be no common factor for the ones that we can't edit.

We each downloaded our own copy of Capture, as well as our own upgrade, so I would be surprised if there were something wrong with both our copies, but I guess you never know...

In that case, the only other thing I can think of is that something got messed in the .props file. The .props file overlays the original image with whatever editing you do in Capture. This allows you to undo, move, modify any of the existing edits while still preserving the original image.

As an experiment, I took a file I had edited in Capture and saved the changes. Then, I opened the .props file in a text editor, deleting the shapes that were overlaid in the image, then re-opened the image in Capture. In Capture, the image looks like it did prior to my editing. However, if I view the image in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, it still appears as though my changes are there. That's because the file I think of as my original image, is just a copy with the changes made in Capture merged with the original image.

The format of the .props file is:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<fileProperties>
    <ImageOverlay>
        <OriginalImage Format="image_format">ascii_text_coding_of_image</OriginalImage>
        <Variables />
        <Shapes>
            <Shape />
        </Shapes>
    </ImageOverlay>
</fileProperties>

If the image is cropped, the <OriginalImage> tag will contain additional fields relating to the cropping (i.e. if cropping is enabled, the coordinates, background color, etc.). If there are shapes added (like say, a bubble with text), it will include information about what type of shape, the start coordinates, height, width, background color, font color, font size, line color, line width, shadow offset, shadow color, etc. For example, a bubble with the text, "Here's a bubble", might look like this:

<Shape Type="Bubble" X="490" Y="34" Width="97" Height="63" TipX="554" TipY="127" BackgroundColor="#ffffff" BackgroundColorAlt="#eeeeee" BackgroundType="GradientNS" Color="#000000" FontSize="11" LineColor="#4169e1" LineWidth="1" EnableShadow="True" ShadowDX="4" ShadowDY="4" ShadowColor="#696969" ShadowTransparency="0.7">Here's a bubble </Shape>

As an experiment, you might want to try opening up the .props file of images you can't edit in a text editor like Notepad and compare them to ones that you can edit to see if there's something different that might affect your ability to edit the image file. If, for instance, the shape tag doesn't appear but you still see the shape in the image, then, my guess is that at some point the original .props file was separated from the image and then the image was re-opened, edited and saved in Capture. Since Capture was using the copy that included the callout as a merged element of the image, then it wouldn't be able to change it.

Well, them's my two cents worth.....

[htran]

Ok, we've had some more discussion in the office about this. Maybe it's our process that's causing us problems?

A. One person actually imports all of her Capture pictures into Flare before inserting them into her project. I don't see why a Capture file should actually need to be imported into Flare. Couldn't it just be copied or moved into Flare?

B. Here's what I do: I create an image in Capture, add the callouts, etc. I then do one of the following, depending on the circumstances:

1. Save the image to my hard drive, then move it, along with the props file, to the project, which resides on our network drive.
OR 2. Save the image directly into the Flare project, if I have it open, in the Resources>Images file. (There was some discussion here that this is the incorrect way to do it)

Now, here's a question (actually several): If I create an image on my hard drive to replace an image that's already in a Flare project on the network, and then I move the image and the props file to the project on the network (overwrite the files), does the props file actually not get overwritten? Could that be why Capture won't let me edit the picture? (Or perhaps it's still looking for the original props file?) If I deleted the original image file and props file and then add them, would that help?

In the original response to this post, Nita said that she does move her image files and props files, and is still able to edit them later.
I'm not sure this accounts for our whole problem, but could it be that, at least for images that have been replaced, there's an issue with Flare trying to read the "wrong" props file?

Thanks!

Heidi

[Andrew]

Heidi, if you are always using Capture with Flare, you may find it easier to use Flare's Capture integration to create screen caps. That way, the caps are already in the project (with the .props files).

Basically, in your topic, go to Insert > Screen Capture, and click the checkbox for "open in Capture" and when you create the screen cap, it will insert it automatically into your document, your project, and it will open the screen cap in Capture so that you can do your production work (callouts, etc.). Save it in Capture, and the image is updated in the project.

Right-click on an image and select Open in Capture to open it in Capture and edit.

Hope that helps.

[navoff]

Ok, we've had some more discussion in the office about this. Maybe it's our process that's causing us problems?

A. One person actually imports all of her Capture pictures into Flare before inserting them into her project. I don't see why a Capture file should actually need to be imported into Flare. Couldn't it just be copied or moved into Flare?

Chances are, if she's importing her images, she may not be getting the .props file with the image during the import. They can be copied directly into the Images folder in the project (though if the project is bound to a source control, you may have to add the image and/or .props file to the source control as a secondary step). If you're not using source control, then simply copying both files into the folder in Flare will do. Or you can do as Andrew suggested and create the capture from within Flare. Then there's no problem with the .props file not being where it needs to be. Also, you shouldn't need to do an import to add an image not located within your project. All you have to do is to go to Insert > Picture. Then click the Browse button and browse to where ever the image is. When you click OK to add the image, both the image and its associated .props file will be added to the project's image directory. I've used this method as well to insert an image. You'll see a pop-up from Flare verifying the addition of both files to the project.

B. Here's what I do: I create an image in Capture, add the callouts, etc. I then do one of the following, depending on the circumstances:

1. Save the image to my hard drive, then move it, along with the props file, to the project, which resides on our network drive.
OR 2. Save the image directly into the Flare project, if I have it open, in the Resources>Images file. (There was some discussion here that this is the incorrect way to do it)

Either of those methods should work. The only downside to saving directly to the Resources > Images directory would be if the project is bound to source control. When a capture is done from within Flare or you do an insert as mentioned above, then Flare will ask you if you want it added to the source control. If you're saving files to the directory outside of Flare, then you'd have to manually do that step to add both files. I don't know if Flare is "smart" enough to add a .props file if it finds an image file in its Images directory that's not in source control and is directed after the fact to check the image file in. (You'll notice you don't see the .props file from the Content Explorer in Flare so you can't select it to have it added to source control.)

Now, here's a question (actually several): If I create an image on my hard drive to replace an image that's already in a Flare project on the network, and then I move the image and the props file to the project on the network (overwrite the files), does the props file actually not get overwritten?

It should get over written. If you're using Windows Explorer to copy the files over, you should see a pop-up about overwriting an existing file. If you get the pop-up, then you've overwritten the .props file (well, assuming you click Yes).

Could that be why Capture won't let me edit the picture? (Or perhaps it's still looking for the original props file?) If I deleted the original image file and props file and then add them, would that help?

Capture doesn't know the difference between one .props file and another. It uses whatever matches the name of the image (i.e. image file = image.png; props file = image.png.props). There's nothing in the .props file that identifies it as being the "correct" file. Now, if it's possible that the original .props file that was created with the image didn't get copied to the folder where the image is being stored and then the image was edited so a new .props file was created, then all you would need to do is to copy the original .props file over to the same directory as the image file to be able to edit those call outs. However, if you made any changes that are stored in the second .props file, those would disappear. Though, considering the fact that the .props file is in an ascii-text format (i.e. it's not a binary file so it can be edited in a text editor), if you're brave enough to try it, you could possibly copy and paste any additional shapes or variables from the second .props file into the first to preserve them. After all, the shapes are just overlaying the image, not actually a part of it in the .props file. If you try that, I'd recommend making a copy of the original .props file so if you mess up, you can always revert to it. I know to some people, the idea of editing the .props file like that scares them silly. However, if you're use to working in raw HTML or XML, then editing the .props file isn't much different.

In the original response to this post, Nita said that she does move her image files and props files, and is still able to edit them later.
I'm not sure this accounts for our whole problem, but could it be that, at least for images that have been replaced, there's an issue with Flare trying to read the "wrong" props file?

Like I said before, the only reason you'd have problems editing the image file would be if the .props file doesn't contain the necessary data and that only happens if the image file gets edited when the original .props file isn't in the same directory. Once you edit the merged file, there's no unmerging that information (unless you found the original .props file and started over). Like Nita, I've created and edited images in Capture outside of a Flare project, moved them and was able to edit them again.

[htran]

Thanks, everyone, for your input and help.

From the information and suggestions you've shared, and from our follow-up, I think we've determined that this issue must be a result of damaged props files, maybe from moving or renaming? We'll never know for sure how they were damaged, but we do know some things to be aware of in the future.

Heidi

[RiverMonster]

Hi,

FYI... I have just reported a similar issue as Heidi was having to MadCap. It ALWAYS happens whenever starting out with a blank canvas (File > New) and then adding a screenshot. Any objects added get flattened into the image when the file is reopened. Clearly a bug.

Adrian