How can I avoid having to rescale linked screen shots

[Combs, Richard]

Andersen, Verner wrote:
 
> All my screen shots in Framemaker are linked .png. When I write a new
> version of the manual I simply replace all the changed screen shots
with
> with new ones with the same name and voila all screen shots in the
> manual are updated.
> 
> Alas, when I open Framemaker they often lloks distorted and I have to
> reimport or at least rescale them again. Is there a way to avoid this?
> 
> I know that I from the menu Graphics, Object properties can set the
> scaling to 100% and restart scaling but I hope that there is an easier
> way to handle linked graphics.

When you replace a screen shot with a new one of the same name, are you
making sure that the dimensions of the new one are the same as the
original (e.g., the window you're capturing is 600 x 400 in both cases)?
I believe FM will bring in the replacement at the same dpi setting you
specified when you imported the original, but only if the anchored frame
is big enough to hold it. If your replacement screen shot is wider than
the original and doesn't fit the frame, I think FM scales it to fit.

John is correct: don't rescale images after import. His suggestion of
sizing them before import is one solution. 

Stuart's advice is also important. After import into FM, never change
the size of a graphic by changing its scaling percentage. And never,
ever change its size with the mouse. Always specify a dpi setting. 

FM lets you select one of several standard dpi settings or enter a
custom dpi. It shows you the resulting image dimensions for each
standard dpi, so a little calculating in your head will permit you to
pick a custom dpi setting to achieve the on-page size you desire. (For
printing purposes, it's best to choose settings that are evenly
divisible into your intended printer resolution -- for a 600 dpi
printer, 300, 200, and 150 dpi are better choices than 250, 137, etc.)

So, (1) specify the dpi setting that sizes your screen shots properly
when you import them, (2) don't resize them after import, and (3) make
sure your new screen shots have the (or nearly the same) pixel
dimensions as the ones they're replacing.

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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