Graphics not displaying in Word output

[donnam]

A client needs a copy of our help in Word format. Everything looks fine except that the graphics are not displaying when I send the file to them -- they are only displaying in the Word version on my laptop. I've tried breaking the links and embedding the images in the Word doc as another posting here suggested, but still no luck. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you,
Donna

[Andrew]

- Ctrl - A in the Word doc to select everything.
- Open the Links dialog in Word (all the links should be highlighted already).
- Enable the check box that saves the pictures in the file (and click OK).
- Save the Word doc.
- Open the Links dialog again.
- Click the Break Links button, then click OK.
- Save again.

That should embed the graphics and then destroy the links. Works on 2003 and 2007. Is that the process you followed?

[donnam]

Yes, I'm following that exact procedure. I just discovered that the graphics are not all in the Resources/Images folder, so maybe that's what's causing the problem.

[Andrew]

Perhaps that's it. All my graphics are in /Resources/Images or a subfolder of it. I use the exact procedure I outlined, and I have no trouble.

[LTinker68]

Yes, I'm following that exact procedure. I just discovered that the graphics are not all in the Resources/Images folder, so maybe that's what's causing the problem.

It shouldn't matter, so long as you follow the embed procedure before moving the Word doc to a different computer. The links in the Word doc should be pointing to the correct location, regardless of where the graphic is stored in the project. You'd only run into problems if you moved the Word output file before embedding the images.

[Andrew]

That's a good point. Are you doing this procedure directly from the location where you built the Word doc?

[Nita Beck]

I've also had to do one additional step BEFORE breaking the links. For some of my long Word documents, I've had to first visit the last page in the document. That seems to ensure that all of the linked images are actually "loaded." Then I break the links as described above. When I haven't done this step, images appear correctly in the first handful of pages, but at some point, the images drop out.

[LTinker68]

Yeah, I remember doing that once, too. Otherwise it only did the first few graphics in the document.

[donnam]

Great advice from everyone. I did have to go to the last page of the doc because it's long, but after I did that and followed the other steps, it worked!

Thanks so much,
Donna

[LTinker68]

For some of my long Word documents, I've had to first visit the last page in the document. That seems to ensure that all of the linked images are actually "loaded."

I put in a request to have the KB article updated to mention that step.

[gmel999]

Nita,

I'm going to do your "visit the last page of a long Word doc before embedding links" trick - just in case. I'm not sure why it should be needed, since I was told to first do Edit - Select All, then do Cntrl + Shift + F9.

It's too bad that you can't do this in the props of the Word target. We only use Word outputs for review, but it would be more convenient that way...

Regards,
Mel

[wclass]

Hey, it's a feature not a bug

I think with long Word documents images are just not loaded until you need them, making opening time a bit quicker - the "feature" (but of course you really need a "just load 'em" button - the "bug"). I've found that sometimes you have to visit all the pages, not just the last one as well to get the timing right.

However, there are a few other things to try. When you have the Links dialog open and you have checked the Save Pictures button, click the "Update Now" button. When it has updated then break the links. You have to reselect all the images though - I have often gone into this dialog, selected all images and updated. The system then just selects the first image in the list so if you are not vigilant you'll break the link for just the first one.

There is a KB article that covers a lot of this:
http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/Content/Fl ... n_word.htm

I have also written a macro that does this - and it always embeds every image - happy to share if you want.

Ctrl-Shift-F9 will update/embed ALL fields, not just images, so if you included a date or something it will get embedded too.

And finally - I agree it should be an option in the Word target - you can submit feature requests here (I have made a request for this):
https://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx

[Andrew]

You have to reselect all the images though - I have often gone into this dialog, selected all images and updated. The system then just selects the first image in the list so if you are not vigilant you'll break the link for just the first one.

You shouldn't have to re-select anything -- before you go into the Edit Links dialog, Ctrl-A to select everything in your document. All the image links will already be selected, and should stay that way, even if you save, update, or break the links.

[Cecily]

I had this problem and couldn't solve it immediately, partly because the Knowledge Base article omits a crucial step that Andrew's post mentions (although his post didn't cater for my ignorance of where to find the Links dialog or stupidity in trying to edit the server version):

So the only procedure that worked for me was this:

1. Open the local version of the Word output.
2. Go to the end of the document, ensuring even the last image is visible.
3. Ctrl+A to Select All.
4. Click Office > Prepare > Edit Links to Files (or Edit > Links for Word 2003).
5. Tick "Save Picture in Document" and click OK, closing the dialog.
6. Save the document.
7. Ctrl+A to Select All.
8. Click Office > Prepare > Edit Links to Files.
9. Click "Break Link" (no need to click OK; the dialog closes).
10. Save and close the document.
11. To check it's worked before distributing to others, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the output folder for the Word target and delete or rename the Resources subdirectory.
12. Open the Word output and check the first and last images are visible.
13. Send the document.

[jbrock]

The Ctrl+A procedure didn't work for me. It may be because I'm on Word 2010. However, I was able to embed the images in the file by doing the following.

1. I went to the File > Info tab. On the bottom-right of that panel is an option to "Edit Links to Files." Select that.
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/downlo ... ew&id=1864

2. In the scroll window, you'll see all the image file paths. Hold down shift and press the down arrow to select all of them. Then click the checkbox for "Save picture in document" and select OK.
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/downlo ... ew&id=1865

3. Now you can save the file and send it. The pictures will be embedded.

[haideeleclair]

Thank you Justin for the Office 2010 instructions!!
I installed last week and am still adjusting.
Does anyone happen to know how to fix a new error where the header section is set randomly ? It's 45.7" in my Word output now.
I noticed also that authorit has a macro in their software that fixes the images embedding problem and retains the image sizes as well. I'd love that from MadCap!