OFF98: WMF/EMF Pictures from Office 97 Converted Incorrectly

ID: Q180095

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition, if you open a file created in any of the Microsoft Office 97 programs and the file contains a Windows Metafile (WMF) or an Enhanced Metafile (EMF) picture, any of the following problems may occur:

  • The picture is changed to a red "X."

    -or-


  • The picture is converted as you expect, but it is printed as a black box.


CAUSE

This problem may occur for either of the following reasons.

Case 1: The Picture Is Not Read into Memory


When you open a file that contains WMF or EMF pictures in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition, the file is not completely read into memory until you scroll through the entire document and view each picture. If you do not scroll through the document, the pictures are not converted to PICT format, and the program changes them to a big red "X" when the document is saved.

Cause 2: The Graphic Filters Are Not Installed or Are Corrupt

Your graphic filters in the "Microsoft Office 98:Shared Applications:Graphic Filters" folder are either missing or are corrupted.


WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

After you open the document in the Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition program, scroll to the end of the file so that all the images are displayed before you save the file. This process converts the images from WMF or EMF format to PICT format.

Method 2

Reinstall the graphics filters. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Open the "<hard disk>:Microsoft Office 98:Shared Applications:Graphics Filters" folder, where <hard disk> is the name of your hard disk.


  2. If there are any filters in this folder, drag them to the desktop.


  3. Place your Microsoft Office 98 compact disc (CD) in the drive.


  4. Double-click the CD icon on the desktop. Double-click the Office Custom Install folder.


  5. Double-click the Microsoft Office Installer icon to start the Microsoft Office installer.


  6. Click Custom Install, and then click Install.


The installer then copies the filters that are required to view files that contain graphics.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.


MORE INFORMATION

PICT is a raster format specific to the Macintosh operating system. Windows Metafile (WMF) is a raster format that can contain vector data that is specific to Microsoft Windows.

This problem may also occur when you convert WordPerfect 5.x documents to Word 98 Macintosh Edition.


REFERENCES

For more information about importing graphics, click Contents And Index on the Help menu (or on the Balloon Help menu if you are using a version of the Macintosh operating system earlier than 8.0), click the Index button in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

graphics, importing
and then click Show Topics. Select the "Graphics file types Microsoft Excel can use" topic, and click Go To. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.

Additional query words: error printing output chart wd98

Keywords : kbgraphic kbconversion
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbbug


Last Reviewed: May 25, 1999
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