Image quality in Robohelp

[Guest]

I have a linked Framemaker book with images throughout. The image quailty in the finished Robohelp Webhelp html isn't very good.

What are the "best practices" etc. that will get me decent image quality?

Also, how can I get an image to spawn a larger version of itself when clicked?

Regards,

RP

[Guest]

Did you ever get the answer to this question? I am in the same boat.

[Guest]

No, I haven't heard anything on this.

[Peter Grainge]

I've moved the thread to the correct category hoping that will get you an answer. It might help to know the format of the images you are putting into FM, whether they have been scaled and so on.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

Follow me @petergrainge

[Guest]

I use gifs in my frame document and I import them by reference. My documents are full of screen captures of an application running under Eclipse.

My problem arises from the fact that to get a nice looking image in framemaker or robohelp the image needs to be set to 96 dpi. Often the images are so large at 96 dpi  that they won't fit unless I increase the size of the anchored frame destroying my margins (if printed) and sometimes even that doesn't do it.

The solution to my problem would be easy if I could select ALL images in my robohelp project and uncheck the "preferred size" checkboxes under Image>Size all at once. Then my images would display correctly online and allow my printed document to conform to its margins. This just blows my whole Single Source business out of the water. Now it looks like I will have to maintain a printed version and an online version. Something that the linked frame to robohelp scenero was suppposed to spare me. This is very frustrating.

[Peter Grainge]

Rick

I wonder if you have access to anyone who could write a RH8 script to do that?

Also try a search. Something is nagging me that someone did post such a script.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Guest]

Here is the solution to my problem.

To cause all the referenced images in your Framemaker document to display in Robohelp at their originally captured DPIs regardless of thier size or position within the Framemaker anchored frame, complete the following steps:

1. Go to: Robohelp>File>Project Settings>Edit Conversion Settings for Framemaker Documents>Image

2. Check the Do Not Re-generate Images box and the Perferred Dimensions>Scale box.

3. Set the Scale to 0%.

4. Click File>Update>Force Update All.

Now the images show up inside the Robohelp project in the resolution of the referenced image file itself and are not cropped by the Framemaker anchor frame.

I found this solution in Robohelps Help! (smacks forehead) Imagine that!

[Deborah_Sauer]

Rick

I am trying to debug this problem, too. I tried your suggested fix, but now all my images are gone from the help (even though they appear in RH). Ideas?

[Guest]

I just discovered that the images are gone from the generated help myself!

I don't know what the answer is. If you uncheck Do not re-generate images they still do not regeneate. The only way to get them back is to uncheck Scale.

Good Grief! Why would they appear in the html files of the Robohelp project correct and not even show up in the Generated Webhelp?

Surely we are not the first people to run into this. What is the answer Adobe?

[Guest]

I think this is a bug. In RoboHelps Help we read the following:

"Preserve converted images
RoboHelp converts the images and anchored frames in the FrameMaker documents each time the topics are updated or generated. You can skip updating the images if the corresponding images or SWF files from the corresponding anchored frames are already present in the RoboHelp project. Use this option in the following cases:
You want to avoid regenerating the images each time the FrameMaker document is updated
You have edited the images in the RoboHelp project using another image-editing tool, and want to prevent overwriting of the edited images
You want to preserve the earlier generated image in the RoboHelp project even though the image in the FrameMaker document has changed
If the order in which the images appear in the document or the image name has changed, you should clear this option and allow RoboHelp to update the images.

In the Image tab of the Conversion Settings dialog box, select Do Not Re-Generate Images"

From reading that I think you should be able to uncheck Image>Size>Preferred Dimensions and check "Do Not Re-Generate Images" in File>Project Preferences to get the images to remain at original resolution.  Am I reading that wrong?

[Deborah_Sauer]

I agree.Sounds like a bug.

[Guest]

There is a script that resizes all the images in your project that can be found at

http://forums.adobe.com/message/2128548#2128548

However ...the images do not appear in the generated WebHelp!

I have to get this working, needless to say.

[Guest]

I just filed a bug report on this 'feature'. Hopefully someone will get back to us on a work around or a patch soon.

[Guest]

Did anyone from Adobe get back to you on this bug?

Now that TCS3 is out there, did they fix it?

Do you know how we can find out the status of this and other issues with Adobe?

We have been very disappointed with TCS2 and if Adobe hasn't fixed known issues from that version, I wonder if they will in TCS3...or ever? Flare is looking pretty good at this point.

Missy

[RoboAsh]

HI Missy,

          the issue in quality of images conversion (from FrameMaker) has been fixed in RH9 (TCS 3), please download a trail of TCS 3 and evaluate it yourself, as far as I have seen the images are coming our to be good in TCS 3

It does not even require any script support to do any post processing, the imported image quality is much better now

Ashish

[Guest]

No, I never got an answer to the problem. I see now that the answer is to give them anothre $700. Great.

We have also been very disappointed with TCS-2 and its support therefore we have no intentions of purchasing TCS-3.

[jeff_g]

Seems the RH developers would rather you manually import every file a second time after you

parse it into an RH project. I have never been able to import from any source and retain image quality - that's not allowed.

[NicPervy]

I have the following software versions:

Robohelp 8

Framemaker 9

I have made many tests on a documents in which several figures are inserted. The results are the following:

1. Never insert PSD figures inside framemaker: results in Robohelp are very bad (very low resolution),

2. I have inserted the same capture screen inside several anchored frames using different formats: best is BMP, but very close to JPG. Thus, it is better to use JPG as the file is lighter.

3. The very bad situation occurs in the most popular configuration: a graphic image (for example jpg) with annotations in the same anchored frame. The result is VERY BAD, NOT USABLE!  In fact, this mix produced an excellent annotations resolution but very bad image (bitmap) resolution.

I have tested it in all possible configurations: all graphics format in FrameMaker, all format by importing to Robohelp, and also using the "group", "ungroup" annotations and image from FrameMaker ....  results are the same ....

Who has a new idea to make the graphic mix (framemaker annotations + image bitmap in FrameMaker anchored frame) usable in RoboHelp ?

[Gloria_Mc]

Hope that the following helps (well,maybe...). The RoboHelp 8 Help states:

To maintain the original quality of images, insert them in FrameMaker documents by reference. RoboHelp copies the referenced images directly from the source if the complete image is visible inside the anchored frame. Similarly, if the images are large, insert them in the source document by reference.

This is working for me with FM 8.0p277 and RH 7.0.3.001. All of my original image files are copied into the Help folder and are used.

However, the unstated message is that if you have graphics created in FM, or not imported by reference, or partially cropped by an anchored frame, you won't be able to maintain the original quality. Whether it would be worth it to people with those situations to create new graphic files and import them by ref. into their FM files is going to be an individual call based on several project factors. 😞

--Gloria Mc

[NicPervy]

Thank you for your answer.

In fact I always import the images by reference. Usually FrameMaker is mainly used for technical manual and in this, the image (technical photos or capture screens) are used with the writer comments. These comments are, of course, made directly from the FrameMaker layout. The sad situation is that the results to RoboHelp is not usable: the comments are well transfered but the image has a high resolution loss.

You will find, on the attached file, an example of this situation: even on a capture screen (from RoboHelp result) you will immediately see the difference. I precise that both figures (identical software capture screens) have been inserted to FM9 by reference.

Who has find a solution ?

[Gloria_Mc]

Until/unless Adobe provides better graphics processing capability, the only solutions I know of are to a) find another Help tool that does a better job (both WebWorks and Flare import Frame files; do not know how their graphic quality is for this situation), or b) create your graphics in a graphics program that will properly create a combination of screen capture and callouts (lines, text, etc.) into a single .gif, etc. graphic (even simple PowerPoint or RoboCapture do decent jobs), then import that graphic.

[Guest]

Well, oddly enough the reset all images.jsx script appeared to reset all my images in Robohelp to the original resolution. Since the images didn't show up in the generated webhelp I updated and put the images back to thier confined dimensions. Now when I run the script it isn't working. I'm at a loss as to what I could have done to cause this.

[Guest]

This same thing happened to me. I posted on every available forum and no one could offer a solution. I think it is definately a bug. The only thing that brought my images back was to open a new project. Make sure to save your settings in the original project first and load them into the new RH project.

Missy

[Guest]

Oh, I forgot to add...The only acceptable format for me in both FM and RH is .png.

[Piyush_B]

HI Rick Poole,

May you please provide me with the detailed workflow or steps so that i can try to reproduce the issue at my end. How are you creating the FM document? Are you using Anchored Frame? Are you using Text Frame tool to create Text Frame over the image? And how are you bringing that document into RH?

Please provide as mush details as you can as it would help me in my research on this.