wmf clips disappear

[Marlene]

Pub2002- and I've been using this for a very long time. But now, when I
insert a clip and then 'ungroup' it, the whole thing disappears and I'm left
with an auto-shape. Why can't I ungroup them?

 

[Mary Sauer]

Read the third FAQ here:
http://ed.mvps.org/Static.aspx?=Publisher/FAQs

 

[Marlene]

Neither suggestion worked. And I do have a new computer- never been touched
before, but there were problems even with the old computer:
1. Starting years ago, GIF. pictures viewed and printed choppy (I used 2
different monitors and printers)
2. Within the last year, all wmf. pictures looked choppy until I ungrouped
them. Their parts then all looked fine.
3. Now, when dragging or inserting a wmf. picture, or inserting it as an
object, the picture tool-bar pops in. When I try to ungroup it, it doesn't
simple stay there, it disappears (it loses all its insides), leaving the
auto-shape. I do get the group/ungroup icon; it's still in the 'grouped'
setting. Nothing happens when I try ungrouping it again.

 

[Mary Sauer]

I had to reinstall Publisher 2002 this morning to see if I could duplicate your
issue. The very same thing happened to me. My workaround was to copy the image,
paste special as an .emf (Enhanced Metafile). I haven't figured out why this is
happening, but I am working on it.
Meanwhile I hope this helps for now.

 

[Marlene]

This does work; thanks for your help.
The choppy GIF. problem has been going on since before 'PictureIt!' Piano
Guy became MVP John. And more graphics problems continued to develop. I've
re-installed graphic filters (going through Common/ Shared, etc. and renaming
each file) but that didn't help. I've Uninstalled the whole Publisher2002
program and re-installed it (I don't remember if I ever took a tweezers to
the registry, to pluck out any remaining bits and pieces). I've Uninstalled
PictureIt! 2000 (PictureIt! Publisher Platinum made a mess on my old computer
with a tiny hard-drive, conflicting with just about everything). I never had
a graphics problem with Publisheer 2000.
mvp
john

 

[Mary Sauer]

I remember when John was the Piano Guy.
I haven't worked out why the .wmf disappears. You can re-install Publisher 2000,
just put the program in its own folder. I have every Publisher (now) on my
computer, starting with 2.0. I have 1.0 but I can't think of a good reason to
install it. Publisher 2000 does create much larger files.

Choppiness is a video problem rather than a filter issue. Bitmaps become choppy
when enlarged.

There are service packs for Office XP, do you have them all?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdate/CD010224911033.aspx

 

[DavidF]

Mary,

I find myself wondering about something Ed said the other day about images
being stored internally as PNGs, which is perhaps how Pub 2002 and 2003 file
sizes end up smaller than Pub 2000. But I too have found examples of images
degrading after saving some Pub 2000 files in Pub 2003 format. And it also
seems that all the problems with video drivers also started about this time.
Do you suppose the conversion to PNGs internally has anything to do with
either of these things? Perhaps Ed could also speak to this?

DavidF

 

[Ed Bennett]

I find myself wondering about something Ed said the other day about images
being stored internally as PNGs, which is perhaps how Pub 2002 and 2003 file
sizes end up smaller than Pub 2000. But I too have found examples of images
degrading after saving some Pub 2000 files in Pub 2003 format. And it also
seems that all the problems with video drivers also started about this time.
Do you suppose the conversion to PNGs internally has anything to do with
either of these things? Perhaps Ed could also speak to this?

PNG is a lossless format, so I'm pretty certain that the internal
conversion would not degrade quality, unless it were rather badly written.

However, I'm not sure whether Publisher 2003 also tries compressing as a
JPEG when importing a Pub2k file. If that's the case, then you might get
JPEG artifacts.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Hello David.
I think it is only web images that convert to .png. I have publications that I
created way back with Publisher, I haven't found degradation of the images. Even
the .pcx and .cgm images are stable when converted to Publisher 2003. I think
the video problems will arise when a document is graphic intensive. More RAM
could be helpful too.

 

[Ed Bennett]

I think it is only web images that convert to .png.

No, all images are converted internally; that is how Publisher 2002 and
2003 decrease filesizes from Publisher 2000 files.

I have publications that I
created way back with Publisher, I haven't found degradation of the images.

PNG shouldn't cause image degradation; it's a lossless format.

 

[DavidF]

Ok, my observation about the image degradation may be unique to how I use
images, but what about the video driver issues? Perhaps it is my
imagination, but I just don't remember people having many video driver
problems with Publisher prior to Pub 2002. I think that I remember you also
saying that PNG is not very well supported by all internet browsers, is it
possible that is why Publisher has become so finicky about video drivers?
Just curious, as there isn't really much that we could do about it...

DavidF

 

[Ed Bennett]

Ok, my observation about the image degradation may be unique to how I use
images, but what about the video driver issues? Perhaps it is my
imagination, but I just don't remember people having many video driver
problems with Publisher prior to Pub 2002.

I didn't use the older versions that much, so can't really comment.
Publisher 2002 was completely overhauled w.r.t. Publisher 2000, so
something probably changed to cause video driver issues. I doubt it's
the PNG, though.

I think that I remember you also
saying that PNG is not very well supported by all internet browsers, is it
possible that is why Publisher has become so finicky about video drivers?

Very doubtful.

 

[Marlene]

My JPEG. pictures started degrading with Pub200 years ago, but I always
thought the problem was with my computer. Horizontal blocks of lines of
various sizes would be streaked with vibrant colors. Saving as PNG. works
fine.

 

[Marlene]

I meant to say PUB2002 is when my jpeg's started degrading.

And I increased the RAM in my old computer but it didn't help. I haven't
saved any jpegs yet with my new computer, but it's got 1GB of RAM and a 250GB
hard drive. Two Display Adapters are RADEON X600 256MB HyperMemory and
RADEON X600 256MB HyperMemory Secondary.