#Q1027 - Linking Images to WorkingArtist.

Many users find it helpful to be able to view their artwork when looking at their artwork records. Accordingly, in View Artwork you can display an artwork image. The actual image is NOT stored in the WorkingArtist application. It is stored in a folder on your hard drive. WorkingArtist only stores the "path" to the image. The path is a description of the folder/file location on the hard drive. For example, if you store the image in a folder called "Slides" on your C Drive, the path will be "c:\Slides." When you page to an artwork record, WorkingArtist links to the image file using the path location of the file.

It is good practice to store your image files in a well-named folder. Many people create a subfolder in the "My Documents" folder to store their slides. Storing all of your critical files (Word documents, Excel spreadsheet, Quick Books Pro data file, etc) in the My Documents folder makes it easy to backup all those critical files, because they are all in the same folder (My Documents).

For example, if you create a new subfolder called "Images" in the My Documents folder, the path to an individual jpg file in this case would be:

"C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Images\MyPainting.jpg"

We do not recommend storing your image files in the Desktop folder. Instead, create a shortcut to the My Documents folder and place it on your desktop. To create a shortcut from the desktop to a folder, please do the following:

1. Right click anywhere on your desktop.

2. Click on New, then Shortcut.

3. Click on the Browse button and locate your New Folder (Image folder).

4. Click on Next

5. Type in a Name for the shortcut.

6. Click on Finish.

Linking an image to an artwork record.

1. In View Artwork, click on the Browse button beneath the image area. This will display a browse dialog "Select Artwork Image File" where you can locate your image folder and select a specific image. In the upper righthand corner of this dialog is a View Menu icon that allows you to select the "Thumbnails" option and view your images as visuals.

2. In View Artwork, you can click on the Change Default button to change the default folder to the name of the folder you have created for your image files. Click on the Browse button in the Change Default dialog to locate your image folder. When you select it, WorkingArtist will automatically enter the path of the folder into the Image Path field. Be sure to enter the default file extension in the File Extension field (jpg, bmp, etc).

3. In View Artwork, click on the Change Folder button to change the image folder of the "Path" to your default image folder. You can change all of your Artwork records to the new "Path" by clicking on the Change Folder for All Images" button.

Errors:

1. Error message: "The path to this image file is invalid" indicates that the file path from an image to WorkingArtist is incorrect.

2. Error message: "WorkingArtist does not support the file type you have selected."

When attempting to link a JPG or TIF image, you get a message saying that WorkingArtist does not support this file type.

There are three known reasons for this error message:

1. The image file is not valid.

Locate the image file and double-click on it. If the file does not open, it is probably not a valid image file.

2. You do not have Microsoft Office Graphics filters on your computer.

WorkingArtist is shipped with a default setting for Microsoft Office Graphics filters.

If you are not using Microsoft Office, you may need to change the stting in WorkingArtist.

You can check to see if the Microsoft Office Graphics Filters are installed on your machine by doing the following:

a. Go to Start/Find/Files or Folders;
b. In the "Search for Files" field, type in: jpegim32.flt
c. In the "LookIn box" select: c:\
d. Click on Find Now;
e. If the File jpegim32.flt does not exist, you do not have the Microsoft Office Graphics filters.

You can install the Microsoft Office graphics filters from your Microsoft Office or Microsoft Word setup disks. Choose the Custom Install. The option that you want to install is called Filters and Converters.

If you do not have Microsoft Office Graphics.

a. Open WorkingArtist;
b. Click on Artist Info/Options;
c. Click on the Artwork tab;
d. Select "Alt Filters" from the Image Display Method Box.

The "Alt Filters"generally work just as well as Microsoft Office Graphics filters.

3. The image file is too large.

We recommend using images files that are under one hundred KB in size. This is a good size for linking to applications and uploading to your website.

If you have larger images, we recommend the following:

a. Create a folder for your large image files. These files can be used for high quality printing;

b. Make copies of the large image files and place the copies in a second folder;

c. Using software, such as Photoshop, resize the images so that they are smaller (under one hundred KB). Photoshop has a "Save for Web" option;

d. The smaller images in the second folder can be used to link with WorkingArtist or for upload to a website.

e. For batch resize of your images, check out http://www.digitalphotoslideshow.com

This inexpensive utility has a function that will resize an entire folder of images.

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Copyright © Ron Gafron dba Aspen Ridge Arts. 1999-2010 All rights reserved.