This help file contains topics about selected dialog boxes in your PhotoImpact package. You can access these topics through those dialog boxes or by navigating through a main help file associated with one of the PhotoImpact programs.


GIF Save Options dialog box

Color table Displays the color palette of an image. Click on the color you wish to make transparent when the image is placed as an object.

Transparent color Displays the color that appears transparent when placed as an object into another image.

Save in Interlaced format Check to open the image progressively when viewed on-line. This may increase file size.


TIF Save Options dialog box

Format Choose to save the file for use on an IBM PC- compatible or Apple Macintosh system.

Compression Choose the compression method to apply to the file.

Strip size Try the default setting of 8 first. If you need a smaller file, increasing the strip size may help.

Tile size If varying the strip size still does not produce adequate compression, try varying the tile size.

Horizontal differentiation If your image contains large solid-colored areas (not dithered), horizontal differentiation can improve the compression. If the image is mostly random or widely dispersed colors the advantage is minimal.

Include preview Saving a preview makes the file a little bigger but allows some programs to display the image without actually opening it.


IFF, PSD, & TGA Save Options dialog box

Choose Run Length Encoding (RLE) for a smaller file size. If you have problems save it again without compression.


UFO Save Options dialog box

Compression Choose JPEG for a smaller file size. If you have problems save it again with RLE or no compression.

Advanced Select to save the vector (or path) information of the image.


RAS Save Options dialog box

Compression Choose Run Length Encoding (RLE) for a smaller file size. If you have problems save it again without compression.

Byte order Try Most Significant Byte (MSB) first.

Color order Try BGR first.


JPEG Save Options dialog box

Quality Lower quality results in smaller files at the cost of image quality. The default setting offers good compression without significantly affecting the image appearance.

Progressive compression Check to enable the file to open progressively. This also places preview information in the file which enables some programs to view the file without actually opening it.


PIC Open Options dialog box

Pen Select the pen you want to assign a color to.

Color Select a color for the currently selected pen.

Width Set the desired width in pixels for the image.

Height Set the desired height in pixels for the image.

Default Click to restore the Width and Height settings to 400 and 300 pixels respectively.


Photo CD Open Options dialog box

Resolution Choose the image resolution for opening PCD files.

Data Type Choose the data type for opening or viewing PCD files.


Photo CD images can be displayed at the following resolutions (pixels):

128 x 192

256 x 384

512 x 768

1024 x 1536

2048 x 3072


Photo CD images can be displayed using the following data types:

RGB True-Color

Indexed 256-Color

Grayscale


EPS Save Options dialog box

Format The ASCII format is more widely accepted but results in a larger file size. Binary EPS files are about half the size of the same ASCII files.

Clipping path Set low to trace object shapes more accurately in the EPS file. This may be useful if you wish to add text on a path in another program.

Save Preview Saving a preview makes the file a little bigger but allows some programs to display the image without actually opening it.


BMP Save Options dialog box

Choose whether to save the file as an MS-Windows or OS/2 bitmap.


PNG Save Options dialog box

Interlace Check to allow images to open progressively when viewed on-line. This may increase file size.

Description Assign a brief description, key words, or other text message to store with the image.

Compression method Choose Compress more for the smallest possible file. Choose Compress faster to enable faster opening when viewed on-line.

Background color Click the color square to choose a color that appears as a background to the image.


A compression setting of 0 results in very little space savings and most accurate reproduction. A 100 setting produces the smallest possible file, but result in a less detailed reproduction.

Note: This setting is inversely related to the Quality setting for some other JPEG image editing programs.


The benefit of choosing this option depends on the image.


Color JPEG compression images use a color mode based upon brightness and color values for each pixel. But the brightness has a much bigger influence on the final outcome of the image when displayed. So a good way to make files smaller is to discard some color information. This is called sub sampling. Using 4-1-1 subsampling discards 75% of the color information while 4-2-2 discards 50%. None retains all the information.


When using compression, larger strip sizes offer higher compression ratios. However, some programs may not be able to read TIF files with large strip sizes.