nYou can see the picture whenever you work in the topic file.Pictures placed directly in a topic appear like pictures on a page in a book. To place the picture in a topic, you import the bitmap directly from the Clipboard into Word for Windows, and then paste the picture where you want it in the topic. You can format the topic text so that it is positioned below or alongside the bitmap. When you save the topic file as RTF, the pasted-in bitmap is converted and included in the Help file.
The advantages to using this method are:
nYou can see the picture whenever you work in the topic file.
nYou don’t have to tell the compiler where to find the bitmap files when building the Help file.
The disadvantages are:
nUsing the same picture more than once will increase the size of the Help file.
nBitmaps pasted directly into Word for Windows cannot exceed 64K. If they do, the Help topic will cause an out-of-memory condition during the build, and the compiler will abort the build.
nYou can use only inline bitmaps (those treated the same as a character) in a Word for Windows document, which limits how you can display text and graphics in your Help file. For example, you cannot wrap text around an inline bitmap.
nPictures inserted directly into a Word for Windows document affect performance, especially when scrolling or saving documents.
nYou cannot change the picture inside Word for Windows. Instead, you must modify the picture in your graphics application and then re-import it into Word for Windows.
nYou cannot use graphics with multiple hot spots in your topic files. For more information, see Chapter 11, “Creating Hypergraphics.”
nOnly Word for Windows lets you include bitmaps directly in the topic file. So, you cannot use a Macintosh word processor, such as Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, to create any of your RTF topics.
Placing Bitmaps in Word for Windows
Word for Windows treats bitmaps as a single, very large character. How a bitmap displays on the screen, however, is determined in part by the printer you select. The bitmap sizes shown in the Format Picture dialog box are based on the pixel size Word for Windows associates with the printer and its printing resolution. Generally, if you insert a bitmap and select Display As Printed (version 1.1) in View Preferences (or Line Breaks and Fonts As Printed in version 2.0), the actual ruler size of the bitmap is the same as that indicated by the dialog box.
If you cancel Display As Printed, change printers, or change the display resolution (from EGA to VGA, for example), the size in the Format Picture dialog box changes. When Display As Printed is canceled, Word for Windows assumes the pixels are screen pixels. Distortions in the displayed bitmap may result from the difference in size between screen pixels and printer pixels.
In Word for Windows, every bitmap has a frame around it. The frame is invisible, however, unless you select a border from the Format Picture dialog box.
A bitmap that is visible in the topic file often appears as a blank box while you are typing. Similarly, as you move through the topic file, picture frames are blank to speed scrolling and typing. When you pause, Word for Windows fills in the picture(s).
Importing Bitmaps into Word for Windows
After creating your bitmaps, you can copy them to the Clipboard and then paste them into your topic file using Word for Windows.
To insert a bitmap into a topic file
1.1.Copy the bitmap from your graphics program to the Clipboard.
2.2.Position the insertion point where you want the bitmap to appear in the topic file.
3.3.From the Edit menu, choose Paste.
Or press SHIFT+INS.
Selecting Inline Bitmaps with the Mouse
Before you can do anything with the bitmap, you have to select it. To select a pasted-in bitmap, click inside the picture frame. When you select a bitmap, eight sizing handles appear on the picture frame: one on each side and one on each corner, as in Figure 10.x.
Once you select a bitmap, you can use the sizing handles to change its size by scaling it. The handles move both toward and away from the center of the bitmap.
To scale a pasted-in bitmap
1.1.Select the bitmap.
2.2.Hold down the SHIFT key while you drag the sizing handles to change the scaling of the image.
When you drag the sizing handles, scaling information appears in the status bar. Measurements are in percentages of the original image size.
Formatting Inline Bitmaps as Hot Spots
You can do more with bitmaps in your Help file than simply display them. Windows Help lets you use bitmaps as hot spots. You can create graphics, such as icons or buttons, and use them as jumps to particular topics or as hot spots for pop-up windows or Help macros.
To format an inline bitmap as a hot spot
1.1.Select the bitmap in the topic file that you want to format as a hot spot.
2.2.From the Format menu, choose Character.
3.3.Select the Double Underline check box, and then choose OK.
Or select the Underline check box if you want to create a pop-up hot spot.
4.4.Position the insertion point to the immediate right of the bitmap.
Leave no spaces or characters between the bitmap and the insertion point.
5.5.From the Format menu, choose Character.
6.6.Clear the Double Underline check box, select the Hidden check box, and then choose OK.
Or clear the Underline check box if this is a pop-up hot spot.
7.7.Type the context string of the destination topic for the jump.
Or type the context string assigned to the pop-up topic.
Or type an exclamation point (!) followed by the macro and its parameters if you want Windows Help to execute a macro when the user chooses this hot spot.
8.8.From the Format menu, choose Character.
9.9.Clear the Hidden check box, and then choose OK.
Figure 10.x shows three bitmaps formatted as hot spots.