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byrdye
Known Participant
March 30, 2011
Question

Importing Graphics

  • March 30, 2011
  • 5 replies
  • 1462 views

FrameMaker 8 on Windows XP Pro.

(The client is on 7, and until they upgrade, I'm stuck using 8).

I have a screen capture of a table (duplicating it in FrameMaker would be a total nightmare). It looks fine in the Frame doc, but when pdf'd, it looks a little fuzzy. I'm capturing it in Snagit 9 and doing a copy and paste. I've tried saving it as a graphic and importing the file, but it doesn't look any different.

Suggestions?

Note: Neither graphics nor FrameMaker are my forte. I'm adequate at graphics, have a journeyman's skill level with FM.

Thanks!

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    5 replies

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 30, 2011

    ... screen capture of a table ...

    The ideal way to bring external tables into Frame is via PDF or EPS, saved or exported from the originating app, and NOT via screenshot.

    Although these imported objects will have coarse preview images, the rendered images retain the full vector precision of the borders, and the text remains text (including font embedding as needed).

    Don't use PDF import in Frame 6 or 7. It's unstable. Either convert the PDF to EPS in Illustrator, or "print" to file, with the EPS option selected deep in Mr.Bill's menus.

    If you tell us what the originating app is, we can probably provide more tips.

    I routinely bring LibreOffice/OpenOffice, Excel and Wingz spreadsheets into Frame with fabulous results, and have some tips for optimizing that process.

    B
    byrdyeAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 30, 2011

    [editd by host]

    Thanks, everyone, for the information. The original table is in Excel, and it's a boogerbear. No way it can all fit on one page, it HAS to be broken up. And, of course, the client decided, two seconds before the deadline (I'm exaggerating, but not by much) to reverse the information, the rows are now columns, and the columns are now rows. The fun just never ends.

    They may end up taking what they get this time around!

    I'm going to try the save as pdf and import. See what that does.

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 30, 2011

    You might want to edit that post to remove the redundant text and extra whitespace.

    The original table is in Excel - and it has to be broken up, no way it can possibly fit on one page.

    If it can open in LibreOffice/OpenOffice Calc, you can export Selections to PDF trivially.

    ... the rows are now columns, and the columns are now rows ...

    Most spreadsheets can do that fairly simply.

    L
    lsk2002
    Inspiring
    March 30, 2011

    If the table is in a Word doc, I have had great success in saving the doc as

    a RTF and opening it in FM. Just have to change the cells to the correct para format...ect.

    Have you tried that? Course, I don't know for sure what software the table was made in.

    ls

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 30, 2011

    I agree with the other responders who point out that the fuzzies are being introduced by subsampling and/or compression happening during save to PDF or during Distill.

    See also the earlier thread:

    Best practices for importing .png screen shots into FrameMaker 9?

    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/826266?tstart=0

    J
    JohannesKrueger
    Inspiring
    March 30, 2011

    I assume you have the table in its source format (Excel, Word or whatever).

    Make sure the table fits on a single page, and print or export the table as PDF. Then import the PDF file into your FrameMaker document using File > Import > File. The final result will most likely look better than a screenshot.

    Johannes

    A
    Anonymous
    March 30, 2011

    It's probably in JPEG format. Converting it to PNG format before PDFing it might help.

    Ron Tillotson

    Technical Writer

    B
    byrdyeAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 30, 2011

    I just did a copy/paste, so it probably is. When I tried saving it, it was in jpg format, too. I'll try the png.

    Thanks!

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