Thanks all. I really appreciate your feedback -- you are confirming what I suspected but don't have enough knowledge to back up!
Here's my situation: I get the drawing package as a PDF file. I don't have AutoCad or Katia or any of the other drawing progams, so I can't access the original vector drawing. I've been turning the PDF into a bitmap file and copying and pasting it into my file. I copy and paste because the lead technical writer is adamantly against importing by reference. He also told me that I have to stop using bitmap because bitmap graphics won't work if we have to turn these documents into HTML (STML? XML? Some sort of web-based product) documents. So, based on what you all are telling me, bitmap is the best way to go (yeah!). And bitmapped graphics are just fine for web-based documents? Thanks so much guys! >From the fun factory, Deirdre On 10/9/08, Art Campbell <art.campbell at gmail.com> wrote: > Fred's on top of the graphic issues. Bottom line is JPG is the way > wrong format and is adding some bloat. > > However, its not clear from the OP message whether you're copying the > graphic file in, or importing by reference. > Importing by refrence is the preferred way to do it. Copying is not > the way to go. > > If you are copying them in, that would be a good reason for the slowdown. > > Art. > > > Art Campbell > art.campbell at gmail.com > "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 > Vincent and a redheaded grl." -- Richard Thompson > No disclaimers apply. > DoD 358 > > > > On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 6:06 PM, Fred Ridder <docudoc at hotmail.com> wrote: > > > > Deirdre Reagan wrote: > >> Anyhow, when I add jpgs to my Framemaker file (FM 8.0, Windows XP), > >> Framemaker slows way down when I scroll over the page with the jpg. > >> > >> The jpgs are 300 dpi, which they need to be for good print resolution > >> (they are black and white drawings). > >> > >> I import the file to an anchored frame, then resize the graphic to 80 > >> percent because it is usually too large for the anchored frame. > >> > >> I really don't know anything about graphics, so anything advice would > >> be most appreciated. > > > > To cover only a couple of the most basic issues: > > > > First and foremost, JPEG is *not* an appropriate file format for line art > > or anything containing text. JPEG was specifically designed for > > *photographic* images, which tend to conceal many of the format's > > shortcomings due to the continuous-tone nature of photographs. > > JPEG's area-based image compression algorithm inherently produces > > artifacts near abroupt color transitions, which is clearly seen as a > > kind of gray smudginess alongside lines in drawings or as a kind of > > cloud surrounding text. For line art you should be using a lossless file > > format like EPS, WMF (or EMF), or PNG (or GIF or TIFF or even BMP). > > The one file format you should *not* use is JPEG. > > > > Second, if you need to scale your graphics, you should use a vector > > file format (EPS, WMF, EMF) rather than a raster file format (any of > > the others mentioned). Vector images contain mathematical descriptions > > of the geometric and text objects in the drawing, which means that > > they can be rescaled over a wide range of sizes with no loss in quality. > > Raster graphics contain a pixel-by-pixel rendering of the image, and > > to rescale them you either have to change the pixel pitch or you have > > to resample them to throw away pixels or make up new pixels that > > don't exist. > > > > Third, if you do have raster images (screen shots, for example), the > > best way to change their reproduced size in FrameMaker is not > > to use the scaling command, but rather to change the dpi setting. > > Doubling the dpi will reduce the dimensions to 50%; halving the > > dpi will double the reproduced size of the image. If this approach > > is not acceptable for some reason, the other alternative is to use > > a tool like PaintShop Pro or Photoshop to resample the image, but > > this *always* causes a loss in quality. > > > > I'll leave any other issues to others to address. > > > > -Fred Ridder > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campbell at gmail.com. > > > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > > or visit > > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com > > > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > >