Visio 2002 and Exporting PNGs: Incorrect Sizing

[Paul Moloney]

For use with DocBook, I need to export Visio diagrams as PNGs to the same
width as the original graphic, 15 cm.
I've verified that the page size in Visio is 150mm width.

However, when I try to save as PNG, either the graphic is oversized or I get
poor quality. In the PNG Output Options dialog box, I've set "Size" to the
value "Source".

* If I set Resolution to "Printer", the resulting PNG is enormous.
* If I set Resolution to "Source" the resulting PNG is the correct size but
crude looking; much more so than a GIF saved with the same settings. Text
looks especially bad.

Can anyone tell me what settings I should use to achieve the desired effect?
(A fixed size with a resolution suitable for printing)

Thanks,
--
-pm

http://oceanclub.blogspot.com

"The fiercest fanatics are often selfish people who were forced,
by innate short-comings or external circumstances, to lose faith
in their own selves. They separate the excellent instrument of
their selfishness from their ineffectual selves and attach it to
the service of some holy cause."

 

[Chris Roth [MVP]]

Hey PM,

I don't know what DocBook is, but can't you resize images inside of it?

Do you know at what resolution DocBook is printing or expecting images to
be?

In the Visio export, you can precisely set the pixels/cm. So if you export a
15cm drawing at 100 pixels/cm, then the resulting image file should be 1500
pixels wide. What DocBook does with that image is then out of Visio's hands.

--
Hope this helps,

Chris Roth
Visio MVP

Free Visio shapes:
http://www.visguy.com/category/shapes
Visio programming info:
http://www.visguy.com/category/programming/
Other Visio resources:
http://www.visguy.com/visio-links/

 

[Paul Moloney]

Hi Chris,

I don't know what DocBook is, but can't you resize images inside of it?

It's an open source documentation format using XML. Images are linked, so
unfortunately you can't resize them "inside" it.

Do you know at what resolution DocBook is printing or expecting images to
be?

It expects them to be a certain size to fit on your page; part of the
process involves using an application called FOP to convert the XML files
into a layout-type format called XSL-FO.

In the Visio export, you can precisely set the pixels/cm. So if you export
a 15cm drawing at 100 pixels/cm, then the resulting image file should be
1500 pixels wide. What DocBook does with that image is then out of Visio's
hands.

OK, I was confused since the export panel in Visio seems to allow you to
specify the actual size of the output PNG - it prompts you to select both
resolution _and_ size. I had assumed graphics have _both_ an intrinsic
resolution (pixels per inch or cm) _and_ an intrinsic size?

Thanks,

P.

--
-pm

http://oceanclub.blogspot.com

"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. Indeed - likewise
he who lives by the pen, he who lives by the word processor, he
who who lives by the fax machine all shall die by the sword.
Only he who lives by the tank shall remain immune."