Graphics in FM

[Combs, Richard]

Deirdre Reagan wrote:
 
> In my documents, we use black and white line drawings exclusively.
> 
> I've been cutting and pasting 200 pixels / inch bitmaps.  FM scrolls
> through them very quickly.
> 
> My colleagues import 300 pixels / inch jpgs.  Their jpgs are better
> quality but FM works very very slowly when scrolling past a page with
> a jpg.
> 
> I just imported a PDF-ed graphic that was made from a 600 pixels /
> inch jpg.  It has the best resolution and FM scrolls through the page
> very quickly.
> 
> So here's my question:  is there any downside to using the PDF-ed
graphic?

None at all. IMHO, PDFs are a great way to import graphics into FM.

But here's a question back to you: Where are these line drawings coming
from? 

See, any graphic format described in terms of pixels or dots per inch
(dpi) is what's called a bitmap (or raster) image -- that includes BMP,
JPG, PNG, and GIF. Its resolution is limited to whatever it was created
at (200, 300, 600 dpi). If you resize it (or zoom in), you lose
resolution. 

But line drawings are by nature vector images. That means they're not
defined in terms of a fixed resolution, but in terms of vectors -- lines
and arcs -- that can be scaled to any size without loss of resolution.
If you're starting with a vector drawing (like from Adobe Illustrator or
Corel Draw), it's best not to turn it into a bitmap. 

Instead, make a PDF from the original vector drawing, and it will still
be a scalable vector drawing in PDF form. You'll really see the
difference if you zoom way in (say 800%) on a bitmap version and a
vector version of the same drawing. 

HTH!
Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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