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Subject:Re: Frame vs. Publisher vs. ? From:"Cepek, Marta" <marta -at- M3ISYSTEMS -dot- QC -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 19 May 1995 16:22:01 -0400
Hi Grant!
>Specifically, right now I'm using Word. I'm creating various screen dumps
>using the "print screen" button. This creates bitmapped images, which are
>making the documents huge! I really would like to use Frame, as it handles
>large files so much faster, and much more elegantly than Word. Maybe Word can
>do it, but I don't know how.
I have no answers about Frame, MS Publisher, etc., as we don't use DTP where
I work. But I also use Word, and I use a lot of bimaps in my documents.
There are several tricks to using BMPs efficiently so they don't swell the
document size and so they don't slow your computer to molasses (Windoze does
that already).
1) Crop the captured screens *before* putting them into Word. This will
make a large difference in file size, particularly if you have a
high-resolution display. I use Paintbrush (comes with Windoze in the
Accessories folder). I just use the <Select> tool to drag a box around the
window or dialog box I need, then use the <Edit> menu's <Copy to> option to
copy to the same filename.
2) Save your bitmaps in 16 colors (most VGA cards now default to 256 colors,
yours may actually be set to 32 million or something. This dramatically
affects the .BMP file size. Again, I do this in Paintbrush.
3) Link the .BMPs into the document rather than embedding them. This not
only keeps .DOC file size down, but if a dialog box changes (they *always*
do), you don't have to open the document, find it, and replace it. All you
have to do is overwrite the old file with the new file and update links in
Word when you want to print.
4) You can greatly speed up Word if you don't need to actually display the
BMPs while editing. In the <Tools> menu select <Options>. In the <Options>
box select the <View> tab. Select the <Picture Placeholders> check box.
All graphics will seem to disappear, but you will see a box that holds the
space that they take up. Graphics will print normally even if you've got
placeholders on.
Hope this helps. You may *want* to go with a DTP anyways, but these are
just things I do that make one unnecessary for me.
