My help projects are set up in RH8 HTML, and I use linked MS Word 2007 source files to generate Webhelp output. After some troubleshooting on getting the images in my Word files to show up in the RH project files, I determined that a simple copy/paste (or Insert Picture without linking to file) is the best way to pull images from the source files into the help build. RH then creates its own image files/names in my help project, and it updates them appropriately when we modify them in the source files.
The problem is that the images come into the RH project files at a low resolution--very pixelated and grainy, and they retain this appearance into the help build. I have read other forum posts about options in Word to remove compression when saving files, but it hasn't seemed to make a difference. RH takes the images from the Word file and creates either .jpg or .gif images that are between 2KB - 25KB, even when the image source is at least four times larger than that.
I have tried inserting images by using the Word option Insert Picture > Link to File. That was actually my preferred method originally. But there's a whole separate problem with that. It does indeed produce much better image quality in the help build. But the RH project files end up displaying the first image everywhere else that an image is linked into the file.
I'm mainly wondering if there is a setting in RH to avoid compressing images when it creates its project files from the Word source files. Is there a way to force RH to create higher quality images rather than these 2KB jpgs and gifs? I cannot find an option for image compression within the RH project properties or in the Webhelp properties.
Or...is there a setting in Word that I'm missing? I followed the recommendation to select Save As and then navigate through the Tools drop-down to the Compress Pictures option. I unchecked the item to compress images upon saving. I even removed all the images from a file and copied new ones back in after changing that compression option. But RH still created the grainy image files in my help build.
I appreciate any suggestions that the forum has on this issue.
Best regards,
Athena