Hello Everyone,
I exported Excel charts as TIF to be used for a scientific publication.
This specific journal allows the upload of charts as either TIF or alternatively as PDF. Following the upload of files a PDF document is automatically generated for revision.
I would like to note, that this Journal cannot handle the TIF format the plugin creates (“Our apologies, but the file failed to convert to the appropriate pdf and/or html file for reviews”) . So I had to convert the TIF to a PDF for upload. But then another problem occured IrfanView was not able to open the TIF file (“Invalid or unsupported TIF file.”). Windows Paint and Paint.NET were able to handle the TIF file, so i was able to convert it to PDF and upload it.
Hi,
that’s strange, thanks for reporting it. The Toolbox uses a widely used code library (FreeImage) to generate the TIFF files. Sometimes TIFF files cause a problem because the order of black and white colors may be exchanged. But that the file cannot be opened? Even by IrfanView? This is serious. I’ve produced uncounted TIFF files using the Toolbox, and I always use IrfanView to open them, so I wonder what must have gone wrong in your case.
Is it possible for you at all to send me one of the TIFF files so I can examine it? Only if it does not compromise your privacy however! I don’t want to see unpublished data. You can e-mail to xltoolbox at gmx net.
Thanks
Daniel
I should add of course that you can also try the new ‘Next Generation’ series which has completely rewritten graphic export. It also uses FreeImage, but differently. You can have both 6.53 and 7.0.0-alpha side-by-side. The NG series is still developmental, but (single) graphic export works quite well on my systems.
I’m using the NG 7.2.13 version and having difficulty exporting a black-and-white graph using the TIFF, 600-dpi, transparent canvas option. The resulting figure has the colors reversed (white lines on black background instead of black lines on white background). You mentioned that this sometimes happens. Is there a fix or some other option that I can choose to get around this?
I’ve just discovered that the exported image appears correctly when viewing it in the directory or with the Windows photo viewer. It’s being reversed when it’s inserted into a Word 2007 document. Any idea why or of a workaround?
Figured out a workaround. Opened the TIFF file in Paint (colors OK), copied it, and then pasted it into Word (colors still OK). No clue why this worked, but as the original file appears to be correct, I shouldn’t have any problem when it’s time to submit the graphic file to the journal.
Hi, sorry for the delayed response. Different programs interpret TIFF data differently. If I remember correctly, I made the XL Toolbox behave most consistently with the TIFF specification (but I might be wrong). My usual approach when this TIFF inversion happens is to open it in an image viewer, e.g. IrfanView, press i to invert the colors, then copy/save it to where I need it.
Might be worthwhile to add an option the XL Toolbox to have the colors reversed automatically, for those users who experience this issue frequently.