OFF98: Microsoft Office 98 Graphics Filters and Their Limitations

ID: Q185922

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition
Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition
Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

This article describes the limitations of graphics import filters that are included with Office 98.

MORE INFORMATION

You can insert many popular graphics file formats into your document either directly or with the use of separate graphics filters. It is not necessary to install a separate graphics filter to insert the following file formats:

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Interchange Format

Macintosh Picture (PICT) or Macintosh Paint (PNTG)

Portable Network Graphics (PNG)

Windows Bitmap (BMP)

However, you must install a graphics filter to insert most of the graphics file formats that are listed below. You can determine if the required filter was installed when you installed Word. To do this, follow these steps:

Point to Picture on the Insert menu and click From File.

Click the List Files Of Types arrow.

If the filter you need does not appear in the list, run the Microsoft Office Installer and install the filters. To do this, follow these steps:

Insert your Microsoft Office 98 compact disc (CD).

Open the Office Custom Install folder on the CD.

Double-click the Microsoft Office Installer icon.

In the upper-left corner of the Microsoft Office Installer window, click Custom Install.

Clear all check boxes.

Click the triangle next to Converters And Filters.

Click the triangle next to Graphic Filters.

Click the check box for each filter you want to install.

Click Install.

When the installer program is finished, click Quit.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) Filter

The Encapsulated PostScript graphics filter (EPS Import) supports the Adobe Systems Encapsulated PostScript Specification versions 3.0 and earlier. The filter supports Encapsulated Postscript images with Macintosh PICT embedded previews. The filter also supports embedded previews in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and in Windows Metafiles (WMF) format.

If an Encapsulated PostScript graphics file contains an embedded Macintosh PICT, TIFF, or WMF preview, a representation of the image appears on the screen. The quality of the preview depends on the resolution of the Macintosh PICT, TIFF, or WMF image that is embedded in the Encapsulated PostScript file when it is created. Low, medium, and high resolutions are generally available for creating an EPS file. The higher the resolution of the preview image, the larger the EPS file size will be. Because these previews are intended to be used primarily to position images on the page, resolution is usually low. A high-resolution preview is not necessary because it is discarded when the EPS file is printed to a PostScript printer.

If an embedded Macintosh PICT, TIFF or WMF preview is not included in the Encapsulated PostScript graphic you import, the graphic displays a message instead of a preview of the graphic in your document. However, the graphic is printed correctly to a PostScript printer. If you print an EPS graphic to a non-PostScript printer, the preview is printed as it appears on the screen.

Encapsulated PostScript graphics are designed to be printed to a PostScript printer.

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) Filter

The Graphics Interchange Format filter (GIF Import and Export) supports file format versions GIF87a (including interlacing) and GIF89a (including interlacing and transparency). The GIF filter is also used by the HTML converter to export pictures in a Word document to GIF images that are linked to an Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) page.

The GIF filter has the following limitation:

Only the first image of a multiple image GIF is imported.

JPEG File Interchange Format (JPEG) Graphics Filter

The JPEG graphics filter (JPEG Import and Export) supports version 6.0 of the JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF). You do not need the JPEG filter to insert a JPEG file directly into a Word document.

The JPEG filter has the following limitations:

The filter does not support JPEG Tagged Interchange Format (JTIF) files.

The filter does not support cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) JPEG files.

Macintosh Picture (PICT) File

You do not need a graphics filter to insert Macintosh PICT graphics or Macintosh Paint (PNTG) files.

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Filter

The Portable Network Graphics filter (PNG Import and Export) supports files that conform to the Portable Network Graphics Tenth Specification (version 1.0). You do not need the Portable Network Graphics filter to insert a Portable Network Graphics file.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) Graphics Filter

The Tagged Image File Format graphics filter (TIFF Import) supports all image types and compressions that conform to TIFF Specification Revision 5.0 and 6.0, Part 1: Baseline TIFF. These types include monochrome, grayscale, palette color, and RGB Full Color images. The filter correctly handles a single 8-bit alpha channel stored with an RGB Full Color image. The TIFF filter also supports the TIFF Extension for CMYK images.

The TIFF filter has the following limitations:

Only the first image of a TIFF with multiple images (subfiles) is imported.

The filter does not support multiple alpha channels (stored as subfiles) or alpha channels that don't have 8 bits per pixel.

Windows Bitmap (BMP) File

You do not need a graphics filter to insert bitmap files.

Windows Metafile (WMF) and Enhanced Windows Metafile (EMF) graphics file

The Windows Metafile (WMF) and Enhanced Windows Metafile (EMF) graphics filters (Metafile Import) support both the Windows Metafile format and the Enhanced Windows Metafile format. Colors in graphics are preserved based on the color support provided by your Macintosh computer. If your Macintosh computer supports only black and white, colors in graphics are converted to the ImageWriter standard colors. The graphics appear in black and white but are printed in color to a color printer.

REFERENCES

For more information about graphic filters in Word, 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 MS Word Help, type the following text

graphics filters

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

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbdta offmac
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbinfo