Clipboard

[AlanP]

In windows XP I used to copy Family Trees out of my FTM Software onto the
clipboard & paste them into Microsoft Photo Editor (MPE) to create a JPG
image. In Vista the clipboard does not appear to be available to MPE and
pasting to Paint generates such a poor quality image as to be unreadable on
even one level of zoom from it's original size.
Is there any way to improve the quality of the copy / paste images.
I've tried the Clipping Tool (slightly better but still not good enough).
Some of my Family Trees are only viewable on A3 sized paper, which gives a
clue as to what level of zoom I require.
I welcome any constructive suggestions on achieving this lost functionality
without resorting to a change of the Operating System.
Alternative Software?
Regedit Patch?
Any ideas please?
Thanks, AlanP

 

[Bob]

Have you tried any of the free photo editing software?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+photo+editing

 

[Dave]

AlanP,

Doesn't FTM have an option to print to Acrobat PDF? This would be a much
better option than capturing a screen shot. Or are you wanting to edit the
file?

I use RootsMagic, and it has the option to print charts to .pdf.
If FTM doesn't offer print to PDF as an option, you can use a PDF writer,
like Cute PDF. It installs as a printer, and when you print to it, it
creates a .pdf file.

http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

 

[AlanP]

Yes, they all scrape the screen with the same quality as the Vista Snipping
Tool. I want to be able to control the Pixel quality of the scrape or at
least get as good a quality as Windows XP Copy/Paste achieved.

I will answer the second reply here also.
I generate JPG images to view away from home on an Archos DVR when I am
researching my Family - hence PDFs will not get me where I want to go.

 

[Dave]

I did some searching for a "print to jpg" utility....
You might take a look at PDF Creator..
http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator
in addition to PDF files, it can "print" to PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP PCX, etc.
formats

I just downloaded it and tried it... it says it's not fully Vista
compatible, but it worked for me..
I was able to print a 6 gen pedigree chart to a jpg with no problem.

 

[AlanP]

Dave, thanks for the research. PDF Creator gets me around the problem
providing I output to a Page size that gets the image on one page -
PDFCreator allows A0 paper size, so that gets me past the post.
I found some problems on Installing it in Vista.
If the download is run with Administrator Priviledges then it seems to work
some of the time (nothing seems to work all of the time in Vista) except the
WMI error at book up.

 

[AlanP]

Dave,
I've always been able to output to a PDF format from FTM, which is fine for
web pages and my laptop. The problem was getting an output to JPG that was
of sufficient pixel quality to allow a zoom of up to 800%. Vista clipboard &
other screen savers can generate JPG but not of good enough quality.
I mentioned in an earlier answer that I used an Archos to hold the JPG
Ftrees for easy lookup when I'm away at Archive Offices doing research.
Looks like PDFCreator is the only way I can get what I want but using it to
create JPGs and not PDFs.
Thanks for your help!