What if Import Does not solve Thumbnail Problem?

[GLMoore]

This issue about FP2002 Thumbnails not saving properly was recently posted:
========
After creating thumbnails using the 'Auto Thumbnails' tool, I attempt to
save the page, but the 'Save Embedded Files' box does NOT appear.
Therefore, the page is saved, but the thumbnails are not saved, and do not
appear next time I open the web after FrontPage has been closed.

I can see that the thumbnails are created in the
"/LOCALS~1/Temp/FrontPageTempDir" folder, as *_small.jpg, but FrontPage
doesn't ever create a permanent copy and the files are lost when FrontPage
is closed.
======

The answer given was:

=======
You need to import the images into FP prior to using.
=========

But I had the same problem with making thumbnails from images that had been
properly imported into the web via File>Import prior to making the
thumbnails. I have shut the web and rebooted the system, without any
improvement.

When re-open the page and I right-click on the place where the thumbnail
should be (where there is now the little red "X" in a box) and check Picture
Properties, the path indicates that the small versions of the images are
supposedly in the temp directory (here is the path for one of my thumbnail
images as reported in the Picture Properties dialog:
file:///C:/DOCUME~1/GL/LOCALS~1/Temp/FrontPageTempDir/angels2_small.jpg )

However, looking in that folder, I see the images are not listed under the
name shown in this path (e.g., angels2) -- everything in that directory has
a name beginning with "wpe" and then a number. Something about the Save
Embedded Files process has failed to complete.

Is there any cure for this problem? Thanks, if you can assist.

GLMoore

 

[GLMoore]

I should note that I have found two references to thumbnail problems in MS
KB:

292499: Image does not appear in Thumbnail View after upgrade to Office XP
306017: Thumbnail is blank except for red "x" -- this identifies the
WebsUnlimited Add-in Product JBots 2002 as the source of the problem

I don't have JBots 2002 installed on my computer, so assume this is not the
problem. I don't believe the Office installation on this XP PC was an
upgrade -- it was OEM, and I installed FP2002 from CD. Would that possibly
qualify as an "upgrade"?

Perhaps there are other issues out there concerning FP2002 and XP that my
search on the MS did not turn up. Are there patches or SPs that should have
been installed for this combination of s/w and OS?

Thanks for any help you can provide,

GLMoore

 

[E. T. Culling]

A tutorial:
http://www.eleanorstravels.com/frontpage_images/index.htm
Make sure that you have a web open, not just a page and that you IMPORTED
all the images before making the thumbnails! You don't want to use Save
Embedded Files!!!
Let me know if that helps, please.
Eleanor

 

[GLMoore]

Hi Eleanor...

Yes, all your conditions have been met: The web is open (not just the page)
and the full-size originals were imported into the images folder using the
File>Import function before the thumbnails were attempted.

Using "save embedded files" is less a matter of choice than what FP commonly
uses to save the thumbnail which has been created on the page (i.e., the
thumbnail doesn't a priori exist anywhere to be IMPORTED ... it is created
on the page from the full-size image that HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY IMPORTED.)
AFAIK, it's how FP tells itself to save the newly-created small image.

The functionality is broken, apparently. In another post, I indicated that
I had checked support.microsoft.com and had come across two different KB
references to broken thumbnail functionality, one of which did not apply to
me (involving an add-in) and the other one of which I wasn't sure about but
the cure involved editing the registry, which I have not yet done, and so
cannot comment on the effectiveness -- but it involved FP failing to "see"
gifs and jpegs in some circumstances.

I also have not applied either of the two SPs ... although only SP1 for
Office seems to really affect FP at all.

For the time being, the workaround was:
Using Insert>Picture>From File, I placed the full-size image on the page
Using CTRL+T, I made it a thumbnail
Using right-click and copy, I grabbed a copy of the thumbnail-size image and
pasted it into PSP
I saved the small image as "[file name]_small.jpg"
When I had all my images thus available, I imported them into my web using
File>Import (just as I had earlier done for the full-size versions.)
I then went to my gallery page and re-created the hyperlinks so they no
longer point to the FrontPageTemp directory (the path I quoted in my post to
the NG) but pointed instead to the *_small.jpg I had imported into the
images folder.

And so, everything is working OK now, but of course, having to go through
all that certainly gives one a finer appreciation for the value of MSs
automation of these processes, when the automation is functioning properly.

As I say, this is broken and I hope to get some feedback on it at some point
that doesn't involve someone suggesting that I import the images first,
since that is clearly not the issue in my particular case ...

Thanks for taking the time to offer a suggestion.

GLMoore