Image Size

This option applies to bitmap formats only, and will show you information about resolution and color depth of the selected bitmap file. Sometimes you’ll see Image Size information for nonbitmap formats, but only when that format has a bitmap preview (such as EPS or PDF). The information reflects only the preview, not the file contents.

File Format

If you are using the Windows Explorer defaults, chances are you are not seeing file extensions when viewing files in Explorer or Explorer-like dialogs such as DRAW’s Import dialog. (In which case, that little discussion just above on sort order meant nothing to you!) Or, maybe a Mac-based colleague has given you a file which doesn’t have an extension (very common). Or, maybe you even goofed during a save or export and assigned a file the wrong extension (perish that thought). The file format information listed here will reflect the actual contents of the file by format. This can be a very helpful bit of information should you receive an error when importing a file using a specific filter. In this case, try switching to the All File Formats option or renaming the extension to match the information DRAW is reporting.

Notes

Some formats, when saved, allow the insertion of user notes along with the file content. If notes are present, they are reflected here. Refer to Chapter 30 to learn how to include your own notes in files saved and exported from DRAW 9.

OPI

No, that’s not a reference to the Sheriff of Mayberry’s red-headed son. OPI stands for Open Prepress Interface. Certain bitmap formats—TIFF, CPT, and others—can be used to create OPI links between low-resolution files and their high-resolution counterparts. Generally, your service bureau will supply you with the low-resolution file when performing drum and other scans. You can import one of these images into DRAW with the OPI option turned on. If you do, you are telling DRAW that there is another, higher-quality version of this bitmap that will be substituted at print time. The obvious advantage here is that you can design a layout using a lower-resolution bitmap and avoid the memory overhead of a high-resolution color bitmap that could easily consume tens of megabytes. However, your service bureau must have OPI software that will perform the substitution and must also have the high-resolution file stored on their system. Because there may be instructions specific to your own service bureau, we advise communicating with them before checking this option. For more on how to print with this option enabled, refer to Chapter 26.

Preview

Checking the Preview box will bring up a bitmap header representing the contents of the actual file, as you can see back in Figure 29.3. Some formats do not support previews, in which case this option would be grayed out and you’d see an × in the preview window. For other formats (including, finally, WMF), DRAW will build a preview “on the fly” by reading the contents of the file. Depending on the size of the file, this may take a few seconds. If you have already selected a file, you’re stuck. You’ll have to wait until the preview is built before you can uncheck this option. Finally, the presence of a preview in no way relates to the integrity of the actual file contents. Plenty of otherwise corrupt—and unusable—files will display a preview. This means only that during the last successful save, a preview was created and the file looked like this at that time. Sadly, oftentimes a corrupt file will still have a working preview. If this happens to you, you will never feel more teased and tantalized.

Full Image

This box does not have an official name, so we refer to it here by its default value. When importing bitmaps, three options are available in the drop-down list. Full Image, the default, has no effect on the image. Choosing either the Crop or Resample option will open another dialog, and we’ll detail those later when we discuss importing bitmaps. As the names imply, Crop allows various cropping options to be applied, and Resample allows resampling (redistributing pixels). Both of these options work on the bitmap before the file is imported, but you perform both actions after import, as well.

Options Button

The Options button is a simple toggle on and off for the bottom half of the Import dialog. When the arrows point toward the word Options (<<), the dialog is opened fully. When the arrows point away (>>), some of the dialog is hidden.

Link Bitmap Externally

With this option checked, a placeholder (or proxy) image is placed on the page after import, reducing file size overhead. The original bitmap file is externally linked, which means that any changes made to that file are tracked by DRAW and reflected automatically by the placeholder image. When printing, the original bitmap file is substituted for the proxy.

This was introduced in DRAW 8 and will surely be warmly received by Ventura Publisher users, who have been working with externally linked graphics for years. Just remember, however, that the original bitmap must remain in the location you imported it from, otherwise DRAW will have a cow. (Make a note...first time in six editions of this book that we used the expression “have a cow.”)

Combine Multi-Layer Bitmap

Another option new to DRAW 9’s importing function, you can now “flatten” layered bitmaps upon import. This option, which has no effect on the original source image, is automatically enabled when importing linked bitmaps.

Apply Embedded ICC Profile

Color management and ICC profiles are discussed in more detail in Chapter 27. Color profiles can be embedded directly into some file formats, including DRAW 9 CDRs, PHOTO-PAINT 9 CPTs, and Adobe PhotoShop 5 PSDs. If this new option is checked, DRAW will read the embedded profile and convert the values relative to DRAW’s active display options. Applying embedded profiles means accurate color reproduction across systems and platforms using the same profiles.

Extract Embedded ICC Profile

In addition to applying an embedded ICC profile, DRAW 9 can extract the profile and save it to disk. This option is also extremely useful when you are preparing artwork across multiple systems and platforms. One color profile can be used by multiple users, helping to ensure that What Everyone Sees Is What Everyone Gets.

Check for Watermark

Various third-party software will place a digital “watermark” in a file in an effort to protect against unauthorized use or outright theft of original works. With the easy access to a multiple of images on the Internet, digital watermarking is gaining in popularity. Enabling this option will scan the file for such a watermark. You can obtain information about the watermark by reading the embedded information.

Suppress Filter Dialog

Some file formats will open additional dialogs upon import into DRAW. If you always accept the defaults for these imports, you can safely enable this option, and the secondary dialogs will not appear.