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Anonymous
March 31, 2011
Question

Optimizing images for Help and Print/PDF

  • March 31, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 796 views

i'm struggling with how to optimize graphics so they look good in both Help and print/pdf output.

I use Snag-it to Capture and save as PNG 300 dpi.

I often put the images in Vision and add callouts and save as PNG.

From RH I generate a printed output (Word) which I convert to PDF.

So with all the programs an image goes through (snag-it > visio > RH > Word > PDF) i'm not always sure what the best settings are.

Does anyone have guidelines/suggestions  ?

Thanks

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    1 reply

    K
    kmaddox1
    Inspiring
    March 31, 2011

    I've had very good luck going from a SnagIt capture to Robohelp to Word to PDF. I add callouts directly in SnagIt to save myself a step and save the files as a 24-bit (True Color) PNG. The graphics are very legible in the WebHelp output, in the Word document, and in the printed PDF.

    The only thing that doesn't work well, I've found, is when I reduce the size of a graphic in either SnagIt or Robohelp. Instead, to keep a graphic's dimensions manageable, I either shrink the s/w application window before I grab the screen, capture just a portion of the screen, or crop the screen shot in SnagIt.

    What problems have you been encountering?

    MergeThis
    MergeThis
    Inspiring
    April 1, 2011

    Visio's the culprit. I've had to conditionalize tables for Print because the Visio workflows are awful in Print.

    As kmaddox1 indicated, you can add callouts in SnagIt instead. However, make sure you save the file as .snag, and then as gif/jpg/png. That file's layers can then be edited over and over (adding,editing/removing callouts), and even pasting in a new version of the underlying screenshot, if needed.

    Good luck,

    Leon

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