Font Smoothing & Image Scaling

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve,

LMAO

I must be in a funny mood or something 'cos I'm giggling away here and I
don't even know what you're on about.

Tuftoids - what a name.

Edward Tufte is something of a demi-god in the field of presenting information.
A man with a PowerPoint presentation apparently dropped his laptop on Tufte's
toe or something; whatever the reason, he's now got it in for PowerPoint and
has managed to accumulate all SORTS of press for his "PowerPoint is Evil"
rants. Google PowerPoint and Tufte and you'll get the smell of it.

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Steve,

... hmmm. Member of the Tuftoids, eh? ;-)

Before I knew what you were on about I was speculating and came up with the
following:

Tuftoids definitions:
Young member of the Tufty club - relevance unclear
Squirrels and where they store their nuts - relevance to Tufty club
Cat fur clumps - relevance to hair removal

Now I see the light.

The answer to your question is no. I googled and couldn't believe the utter
cr*p (imho) that this guy is spouting. Do people actually buy into this
rubbish? Rant started... ...and curtailed.

Zig

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Tuftoids definitions:

Young member of the Tufty club - relevance unclear
Squirrels and where they store their nuts - relevance to Tufty club
Cat fur clumps - relevance to hair removal

Ah, those tuftoids. With four housecats and the occasional stray sneaking in,
we get those often.

The answer to your question is no. I googled and couldn't believe the utter
cr*p (imho) that this guy is spouting. Do people actually buy into this
rubbish? Rant started... ...and curtailed.

The sad thing is that he has a lot of valid accusations, but he blames the
tools instead of the guilty carpenters.

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Steve,

The sad thing is that he has a lot of valid accusations, but he blames the
tools instead of the guilty carpenters.

I actually spent about 10 mins typing in my rant on exactly those lines then
discarded it as off-topic.
You've summed it up in one sentence. Very eloquent.

Can you send me a set of these things to play with?

Done

Cheers

Zig

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks for the files.

So that the Group Mind can chew on this (what a lovely mental image THAT
summons):

All files were PNG. I played with the one oddball that comes in smaller than
the others, saved as TIF at 72dpi and lo, it came in at the same size as the
rest.

I don't have an app that will let me set DPI in PNGs but from some
conversations here in the past, it seems that some programs allow that.
Apparently by design or not, that's what's going on here.

Rightclick the files in Windows Explorer and choose Properties.
On the Summary tab, it lists the size and dpi of the files.
Windows must be counting from zero instead of one 'cause it tells me the
oddball file is 95dpi while the others are all 71dpi. Intel Inside and all
that. We'll call it 96 and 72 respectively.

So normally when PPT imports images, it looks at the number of pixels, divides
that by some default value (varies by PPT version, 72 or 80 in recent ones) to
get the size in inches. Or cm if your dimensioning system is better thought
out than ours.

BUT

If the image has size/dpi information (as these apparently do), PPT tries to
respect it. Now and in the morning. 100 pixels at 80dpi? Certainly sir.
That'll be 1.25 inches, coming right up. 100 pixels at 96dpi? Just a shade
over an inch for you, sir. Fries with that?

Now as to why Fireworks gave you different DPI ... not a clue. Try opening and
saving again, perhaps? Maybe some default value's changed.

In any case, since you KNOW that the pixel count's the same for each image, you
can always just resize Tiny to match his heftier brethren and cistern and heave
a great size of relief.

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Steve,

Many thanks for your efforts, the bottom has well and truly been reached.
Looks like I need to go back to the drawing board with Fireworks, s'funny I
don't remember resampling.

Cheers

Zig

 

[Kathy J]

Zigzag,
You may not have done the resampling. I know that under certain
circumstances PaintShop Pro will adjust the DPI settings. I have never been
able to figure out why or when, but I do know it happens. I am not surprised
to hear that Fireworks might do it too.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

 

[Echo S]

I just wanted to say that I've really enjoyed reading this thread.

Thanks for the entertainment (and good questions and comments), Zig. Hope to
see you back.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve,

Many thanks for your efforts, the bottom has well and truly been reached.
Looks like I need to go back to the drawing board with Fireworks, s'funny I
don't remember resampling.

I don't think you did. They're all the same size *in pixels*. Just the dpi
setting is different. Did you know that "dots per inch" is "hcni rep stod"
spelled backward, and "hcni rep stod" means "hogwash" in several Central
American dialects?

Smart folks, those people.

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Kathy,

You may not have done the resampling.

Phew, thank the Lord for that. I can stop trawling through the family
history for cases of insanity - or was it inanity?

I'm glad about this 'cos the cat's, (there is one, honest), been out in the
garden and is leaving muddy pawprints all over the birth, death and marriage
certificates (she's reading out the names while I do the background check).
I should be ok to wash them because by law I think they have to be written
in indelible ink although looking at some of the writing I think they've
used illegible ink. I could never be a registrar, I get inky fingers typing
on the keyboard.

The cat must have a reputation for getting dirty, I often hear the
neighbours say "It's that muddy cat again" and "Cooking fat's back". Oops, I
think I've offended her, she's gone off to run herself a bath.........

......... now you know I'm lying.

Must make a (mental) note to get that info off to you this weekend. To be
honest, after you've run through the slide show for the hundredth change,
you don't really notice the lack of font smoothing. It just sort of hits you
the first time you see it. I could 'understand' it during the actual
animation but not before and after when the text is stationary. I think this
is where your workaround comes in. It's not ideal but I can live with it.
Needs fixing though, really.

Oh, cat's out of the bath, I didn't realise she's so skinny.

Need to go to make sure she's rinsed the bath out properly and put the
loofer back in the holder.

Darn soap's covered in fur.

Regards

Zig

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Echo,

I just wanted to say that I've really enjoyed reading this thread.

Thanks for the entertainment (and good questions and comments), Zig.

We aim to please.

In fact I'm putting together a little show I hope will reach Broadway and
the West End.
It's entitled "The PowerPoint Monologues" and will have me sat on a chair
(with whisky stand) inanely waffling to a large audience. A large screen up
and behind me can be controlled by remote.

Bit like a presentation really.

mmmm....wonder if Prof. Tufte will accept an invitation as guest speaker? He
can give the remote to a member of the audience to ensure there's no tally
'twixt messages.

Hope to see you back.

I've got to go away first ;-)

Funnily enough I do have a few other idiosyncrasies that need explaining.
For instance..........

In the words of certain Austro-American governor, "I'll be back". Have no
fear.

Regards

Zig

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Steve,

Did you know that "dots per inch" is "hcni rep stod"
spelled backward, and "hcni rep stod" means "hogwash" in several Central
American dialects?

That's a funny way to pronounce gullible.

However, here is a truism:

Until 1976 London black cabs were required to carry a bale of hay to feed
the horses. It was a carry over from the hackney carriages and the law
wasn't taken off the statute books until 1976.

I asked an old cabby if he actually used to carry any hay in order not to
flout the law.
He said "nay".

They're all the same size *in pixels*. Just the dpi setting is different.

Erm, say again. If the constituent parts of the image are the pixels and
there are so many per inch thus giving the size of the image, what are the
dots? Is it a display/print thing or are we still cleaning the pig?

Yours gullibly

Zig

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I asked an old cabby if he actually used to carry any hay in order not to

flout the law.
He said "nay".

His name wasn't Ed, by any chance?

Erm, say again. If the constituent parts of the image are the pixels and
there are so many per inch thus giving the size of the image, what are the
dots? Is it a display/print thing or are we still cleaning the pig?

Pig? No, PNG. See the difference?

Pixels (dots, whatever you want to call 'em) are what make up the image file.
The image file is just data on the disk, it has no size and so the concept of
"dots per unit-of-size" is meaningless as well.

At least while it's still on disk.

But for some purposes, it's handy to be able to store some extra data about the
image in the image file. Like: "WHEN you display this thing on a screen, make
it 2 inches wide".

The DPI info in the file (and/or the size info if any) falls into this
sometimes-useful but always-fictional-data category. Just as happened in your
image, they can be the same size in pixels but with different fictional
dpi/size info, applications may treat them differently when sizing them.

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Steve,

The light shineth brighter & brighter, a veritable sun.

His name wasn't Ed, by any chance?

Could have been, didn't get to see his licence but it might have had Mr (E.
D)obbin on the door.

I can hear the groans from here.

Regards

Zig

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Could have been, didn't get to see his licence but it might have had Mr (E.

D)obbin on the door.

I can hear the groans from here.

What a way for two groan men to be spending their time, eh?

Whinnyver you're ready, we can stop.

 

[Kathy J]

Winnie the Pooh would love it if you would stop - especially if you are
going to stop by with some honey....

 

[Echo S]

What a way for two groan men to be spending their time, eh?

Whinnyver you're ready, we can stop.

I think you'd better -- assuming you want to continue the neighborly
atmosphere here, that is.

 

[Zigzag]

Bonjour Steve,

Enough of the horsing (foaling?) around now.

As the flag is slowly lowered to the haunting sounds of The Last Post and
the final shred of dignity lies shivering in the corner awaiting a caring
and nurturing hand, we say a tear-ridden, yet fond, farewell to a discourse
both amiable and instructive.
And as the last note fades, the folded flag is carried away and the crowd
silently disperses, we know, every one of us, that the memory will live
forever in our hearts.

Heaven help us.

Au revoir mon ami, et merci

Zig (and cat)

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

I think you'd better -- assuming you want to continue the neighborly
atmosphere here, that is.

<G> Good one!

 

[Zigzag]

Hi Kathy,

Winnie the Pooh would love it if you would stop - especially if you are
going to stop by with some honey....

What a sweet way to tell someone to shut up.

Only a lady of quality and refinement could express an unpleasant task in
such a pleasantly delicate way.

Dear Pooh, you silly old bear,
T.i.g.g.e.r, Eeyore, P-P-Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo and miself
greatfuly acsept yor kynd invitashun on condishun that Alice will let us
come.
We will bring plenty of Hunny and some milk for Roo and some haycorns for
Piglet and some thistles for Eeyore and some malt extract for T.i.g.g.e.r
('cos you know he hates Hunny) and some vegetables for Rabbit.
And we can lissen to storys from Owl, and play poohsticks with Roo and
bownse with T.i.g.g.e.r and you can rede some of yor poems and we can sing
some songs. And we can play 'pin the tail on the donkey' and then may be
even Eeyore will chere up. And we can invite Zig's cat 'cos she's fun and
allways muddy but not Zig 'cos he's old and weeard.

Your bestest frend
Christopher Robin

And they had a party at Pooh's house and it was the best party ever.

End of story, book closed.

Live happily ever after

Cat (and Zig)