single Images in word document display twice...

[mikelangelo]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel When I open a word document from others (using PC), images appear double. The image will display small, and then behind it (in the same image box) will be a much larger version of the image.

I can not separate them or adjust them in any way outside of scaling the overall image.

I've had this problem on multiple macs running 10.6.x and office 2008 from multiple sources.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[CyberTaz]

I haven't witnessed anything of this nature so I can't be sure. If someone
else has had to contend with it they may have a specific answer. Based on
other experience, though, I can tell you that it will be very difficult to
tell without having far more details than can be determined from your end;

What program produced the images,
What format were they saved I & what settings were used,
What method was use to insert them into the document,
What version & update level produced the document,
How was the document transmitted to you

The best you can do locally is make sure your installation of Office & OS X
are fully updated & that all is well on your system in other respects. You
might try Control/Right-Clicking one of the images, Save As Picture in an
appropriate format, then insert the new image file into a blank document to
see if it still looks the same.

Pure Speculation: My best guess is that the images were manipulated by the
document creator while Track Changes was active.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Not nice

That image is a .wmf file produced by using "convert to curves" to separate
the individual letters into separate filled curves (instead of producing it
with the letters as font letters).

Since it also has a bitmap placable header, you are seeing both versions.

WMF is not the right format for this task: you really need EPS or PDF.

The bottom line is that Word 2008's WMF import filter is not sophisticated
enough to handle that image, and there's nothing you can do about it, other
than change the file format of the logo to EPS (which I would do, because
WMF does not have the resolution to handle fonts rendered into curves at
that size).

I am confident that Office 2011 will resolve the issue for you when it
becomes available at the end of the year.

Hope this helps

I've posted an image with screen grabs of my issue here:
http://lpadev.learningpt.org/WordIssuesghostimage.jpg

At least, you'll be able to see the problem.

There is no way I can know how the images are created, saved, or inserted into
the word files. Best guess is they were flat graphics (i.e., jpg, gif, tif,
etc.) and inserted. I've received all files via email, to date.

I can replicated the problem on any of my macs with a couple of files.

I've also posted a word document here, with most content stripped out, but the
image in tact:
http://lpadev.learningpt.org/wordIssueShort.doc

I opened the file above on a PC and it still displays just fine. My problem
comes when I receive these files and need to work with them, not when I create
them.

I'll see if I can create some tests with regard to editing with track changes
on... but we do that a lot around here and I haven't seen this on any of those
projects.

Thanks in advance for any further thoughts...

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John;

Once again you beat me to the punch I'd quit using WMFs so long ago that
I'd forgotten all the reasons why. Consequently, that didn't occur to me
right off. Once I got hold of the file Mike posted & dissected it to see
that the image - sure enough - is a WMF it all came flooding back...
Obviously the "W" stands for 'Windows' & the "MF" speaks for itself ;-)

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[mikelangelo]

WMF file?? How did you determine the file type? Is there any way that I pull it out in an editable form with the mac?

I know you suggested to use eps or pdf (and I wholeheartedly agree), but I only have access t this particular file, so I don't have access to the original logo.

Out of curiosity... how in the heck does one create and/or use a WMF file? I've been in graphics for years and that's one format I've never heard of!! is it something created in Word?

Thank you John and CyberTaz... this has been very helpful!!

 

[mikelangelo]

DOODS!!! You guys are Brilliant!!! I was able to copy/paste the goofy/offending image into Adobe Illustrator and simply remove the offending parts and create a final EPS file.

Thank you!!

 

[John McGhie]

In your case, I simply saved the thing as .docx, then unzipped it. The
original image file is stored in the Media folder.

The majority of illustrations (as opposed to photos) produced in Microsoft
applications are either WMF or its 32-bit equivalent, EMF. So: 90 per cent
of "office graphics" are in that format.

I can't imagine how you managed to escape this format after spending years
in graphics: they're more common than the common cold

It's a meta file format: PICT is a similar format: they both grew from CGM.
WMF is a lot smaller, and ideal for simple images: EMF is capable of
describing much more complex curves (e.g. Serif fonts...) but it's larger.
Both will print at maximum resolution on any printer.

Cheers

WMF file?? How did you determine the file type? Is there any way that I pull
it out in an editable form with the mac?

I know you suggested to use eps or pdf (and I wholeheartedly agree), but I
only have access t this particular file, so I don't have access to the
original logo.

Out of curiosity... how in the heck does one create and/or use a WMF file?
I've been in graphics for years and that's one format I've never heard of!! is
it something created in Word?

Thank you John and CyberTaz... this has been very helpful!!

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

 

[mikelangelo]

How did I avoid these formats for so long? simple... I avoid MS Word like the plague... I usually create/provide all the graphics I need or my clients need and Word is 99% of the time only used to provide content... no graphics involved.

All my work is in PS, Flash, PDF, etc. It's only been recently that I've been given word docs to take graphics out of for team members.

Thank you both for the explanations AND the history lesson about the format(s). That's VERY helpful and won't be forgotten anytime soon.

 

[John McGhie]

Next time you need to get images out of a Microsoft Office document, insist
that they give you the file in XML (.docx, pptx, xlsx...)

From those, it's just a matter of unzipping them: they're a miniature web
site and the images are in the Media folder in their original format.

From the old formats, it can be REALLY difficult to get the image out
without pixelating it.

WMF is great format for supplying simple images to Microsoft Office
customers: it's quite compact, and it will print without disasters on any
printer from any version of Word.

However, it contains only an eight-bit colour table, and it cannot express
true curves: it reduces curves to a series of tiny straight lines. So it's
not suitable for complex images.

EMF is a much better bet: it will still print at full resolution to anything
Windows can print to, from any version of Word still in use. But it also
contains true curves and a 24-bit colour table: the result should be
indistinguishable from EPS. Of course, it's the same size as EPS

Cheers

How did I avoid these formats for so long? simple... I avoid MS Word like the
plague... I usually create/provide all the graphics I need or my clients need
and Word is 99% of the time only used to provide content... no graphics
involved.

All my work is in PS, Flash, PDF, etc. It's only been recently that I've been
given word docs to take graphics out of for team members.

Thank you both for the explanations AND the history lesson about the
format(s). That's VERY helpful and won't be forgotten anytime soon.

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

 

[mikelangelo]

Excellent tip. I will do that... thanks again!!