Common Image Problems
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FF&EZ's approach to images tries to produce the most efficient use of images and of your disk space. There are a few problems that you may encounter in understanding how this approach works, and if you encounter any of these, the following will help you understand what might have happened:

  • I went back to another project and the images I set up have changed!  This may be an indication that you manually entered the Spec ID as the final image name when attaching the image.  When you do this, FF&EZ saves the image in the image library as requested.  However, when you later use the same Spec ID in another project, FF&EZ will replace the first image with a new one if you give the new image the same Spec ID as an image file name.  However, it warns you of this by displaying the existing image below the new one you have selected.  Solution: Never use the Spec ID by itself as the final image name.  Best: Select the vendor and enter the spec's unique "Catalog/Model #" (or a key word like "CUSTOM") first and let FF&EZ name the image for you when you attach it. 
  • Instead of the image printing, I see a large icon with the file name below it.  This may be caused by using an image format that is not supported for printing or which has an incorrect format.  The formats that FF&EZ can print are GIF, PNG, JPEG, TIFF and BMP, in order of best balance of quality and size (however, the GIF format is not ideal for photographs). Note that as of version 3.2.127, FF&EZ converts BMP and TIFF images to JPEG as part of adding them to the image library.
  • The report crashes after it seems to be printing data and displays an error message about a file or image format. This is a sign that one of the images is corrupt or its file extension (.jpg, .png, etc.) has been changed without changing the file's true format. This can be a difficult problem to solve because the report does not crash until it hits the bad file. Unfortunately, the printing engine is more sensitive to bad images than the screen display.

    The key is to remember that, within the report's sort order, the last image that printed is the one before the problem image. If the report is a long one, try setting the page range on the report to 1/10 of the total expected length and previewing it. If the preview displays successfully, keep trying the next page range segments until the preview crashes. Then print that same segment to a printer. Although the crash will still occur, the last page (or image) that printed will give you a big clue as to which image would have printed next. Open that image with an image editor. If it cannot be opened, replace it. If it can be opened, try using "Save as..." to create a new version with the expected image type (JPEG or PNG). 

    Don't forget that if you fix one image, it does not mean that others have the same problem. If you get another crash, start with the most recent segment of pages and keep testing. 
  • The image prints but is "pixelated" or blocky.  This indicates the use of a low-resolution image, which is typical if you download a thumbnail image from a website instead of the primary image to which it links.  Solution: Return to the web site and click on the image you downloaded to see if it links to a better quality image.  Then download the better image and either 1) save it on top of the original in the FF&EZ Images folder (that is, with the exact name) or 2) go back to the spec, remove the image with the Clear option and attach the new one (you will be asked to confirm replacing the older one). The latter option may be better, because it allows FF&EZ to evaluate the new version of the image when you save the spec.
  • In a large PDF report, images begin to appear distorted (mostly common: images displayed at only a fraction of the correct vertical dimension or "squashed"). This can occur if FF&EZ begins to run out of available memory for processing large images.  You can prevent this by avoiding high-resolution images—except when including a shop drawing or other image that needs good line quality. FF&EZ normally optimizes images that are attached to specifications, but there may be a limit on really large reports (more than 200 pages). If you have problems like this, try using the Image Optimization Utility to further compress the images for the project.