Import from Frame - images look like cr*p

[pdxwordsmith]

Frame7, Flare 4, Distiller/Acrobat 7.

One issue remains in my conversion from Frame to Flare to WebHelp...

I have many many images in my Frame source. They are all created in Powerpoint (I know, I know) and imported by reference. I've set up Distiller as specified. In the WebHelp output, the images look horrible.

I've gone into the temp directory while Distiller is churning away and opened up the PDFs - and they look just fine. So, it seems something is happening in the conversion from the generated PDF image files to JPG.

I've combed the forums, but haven't found any solutions. I even exercised my support contract, but haven't heard back after uploading my sample files (on 12/2).

This setup works just fine in WebWorks 7, by the way. The images (output to .chm, WebWorks Help, Simple HTML, and Eclipse help) look great.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Hanna

[GregStenhouse]

We have the same problem. It appears you have little (no?) control over how Flare generates graphics when needed. The callouts in our graphics look particularly small & blurry.

You mention PowerPoint, but what format are the actual graphics as referenced in FrameMaker?

The only workaround, if graphic quality is important, is to use GIF/JPG/PNG images, one per anchored frame & no callouts, and set Flare to not resize images. That way Flare will copy across the images and not generate new ones, and the quality will be as good as they go into FrameMaker. For one graphic with callouts I actually created a 3-column borderless table, with one graphic column 1 and another in column 3, and the text in column 2. That worked quite nicely with Flare copying across the graphics and leaving the text as text.

I remember reading somewhere (wish I could locate the link) that this is a limitation of Distiller, and WebWorks got around this by using their own printer (WebWorks Rasterizer).

[pdxwordsmith]

The graphics (mainly screenshots) are .jpg pasted into .ppt. I import them into Frame using Import Object. It works so well because you can then edit the referenced object (the ppt) by right-clicking the object - and PPT is easy for adding callouts, etc.

So how do you import the gif/jpg/png into Frame. Import > File and then specify a DPI? I thought I saw some problem with custom DPI (or maybe that was in a previous version of Flare).

Thx,
Hanna

[pdxwordsmith]

So, I did a little test - I saved a PDF (with a graphic and callouts) from Acrobat 7 as a JPG and it looks great. What up with that?

[GregStenhouse]

Check the source code of the output. Is Flare adding a Width= and Height= to the img tag?

[pdxwordsmith]

Yes. But the problem is in the jpg source created by Flare. If I look at the jpgs in the output directly, they look all blurry and crappy.

[GregStenhouse]

I hear ya, it's frustrating that you can manually distill from Frame, and save the PDF as JPG and the end result is far superior to what Flare does automatically. I think your only option is to to head away from your PPT referenced objects.

If re-importing all your PPT slides into Frame as JPGs isn't an option, the following might work for you:
1) From PowerPoint, Save As GIF (or JPG), and select to export every slide.
You will get a bunch of images named Slide1, Slide2, in a folder named as the PPT filename, e.g. "Presentation".
2) Copy that whole folder to your Flare "Content" folder
In FrameMaker (assuming you want to keep the original PPT 0bjects for print, editing etc):
3) Apply a PrintOnly condition to the existing images (or map the para tag to a Display:None "p." style class)
4) For each image, set up a PassThrough marker with the following text:
<img src="../Presentation/Slide.jpg" />

[KevinDAmery]

If you haven't already, I would definitely report these issues as bugs.

http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx

Just to add to Greg's point, you can also use PNG as an image format. The only caveat with PNG is that if you want to use transparency Internet Explorer 6 doesn't display transparent PNGs. IE7, Firefox, and pretty much all of the other browsers out there display them correctly, and in my experience they work in CHM files as well, but IE6 does not.

[pdxwordsmith]

Thanks for the info. I submitted a bug and referenced my Case #.

I think I might keep the PPT in the FM, conditionalized as PrintOnly and then Save As JPG for online. Then I can easily update the images and reimport the JPG into Frame. The only problem is that it's a huge undertaking to convert all (200+) these images. This is most annoying.

I appreciate your input on this. Thanks again.

[GregStenhouse]

The only problem is that it's a huge undertaking to convert all (200+) these images. This is most annoying.

That's why I suggested SaveAs from PPT, and use PassThrough markers in Frame. Due to the default naming convention (Slide1, Slide2 etc) it should be easier to copy and edit a PassThrough marker than reimport a whole bunch of images. And even easier if you use a plugin like IXGen.

[pdxwordsmith]

Ah, OK. I'll try that out. Thanks for the tip.

[pdxwordsmith]

Hey! I finally got a chance to test it and...your suggestion worked great - I think it will also significantly reduce subsequence import times. Thanks so much!

Hanna