Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked images?

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NisusUser
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Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked images?

Post by NisusUser »

Is there a way to automatically tell NWP to import all the images that are currently linked to that file? I have a .rtfd file I'm preparing. As I prepare it, I'd rather link the images and see how they look, edit them from the Finder, etc. But once I'm sure each is OK, I'd like to embed them. Is there a way to do that? Or to select some of them and embed selected linked images?

I couldn't find anything about this in the manual. If this is not possible, would it be a useful enhancement for others?

I noticed there is a box that comes to life (become checkable) when you use "Link to File". It is "Include copy of image data in document". Would that do what I want? When does it get updated? Will someone else have the image files in the .rtfd or .rtf file if "Include copy of image data in document" is checked?

(I noted that in the manual, image 166 does not seem to be up to date. 2.0.7 also has a dialog box for Reference Type, which is not in that illustration.)

Thanks!

(NWP 2.0.7 is what I'm using on OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard)
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greenmorpher
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by greenmorpher »

I would be nice too if we could specify which program would open images.

Good grief, looking at the help file on this image stuff, which I don't use but am thinking I need to get into, I'm amazed at how far advanced NWP has sneakily become!

Why didn't someone TELL me about this stuff coming on like this? Oh, you did? But I didn't read it? Oh. Hmm. Doh! :)

Cheers, geoff
Groucho
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

By the way, NIsusUser, if you are using .rtfd you can edit the images without having them out of the file and linked. Just locate the file in the finder, right-click on it and select Show Package Contents. The images are there.

Greetings, Henry.
NisusUser
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by NisusUser »

Groucho wrote:By the way, NIsusUser, if you are using .rtfd you can edit the images without having them out of the file and linked. Just locate the file in the finder, right-click on it and select Show Package Contents. The images are there.
Yes, Henry, that's right, and I was aware of that. But I want to keep the "real" graphics files in another folder.

Thanks, Eric
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martin
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by martin »

NisusUser wrote:Is there a way to automatically tell NWP to import all the images that are currently linked to that file? I have a .rtfd file I'm preparing. As I prepare it, I'd rather link the images and see how they look, edit them from the Finder, etc. But once I'm sure each is OK, I'd like to embed them. Is there a way to do that? Or to select some of them and embed selected linked images?
I was going to suggest using a macro to do this conversion, but unfortunately even that does not seem possible.
I couldn't find anything about this in the manual. If this is not possible, would it be a useful enhancement for others?
I think this would be a useful enhancement. I'll file the request– thank you.
I noticed there is a box that comes to life (become checkable) when you use "Link to File". It is "Include copy of image data in document". Would that do what I want? When does it get updated? Will someone else have the image files in the .rtfd or .rtf file if "Include copy of image data in document" is checked?
That checkbox "Include copy of image data in document" may achieve your goals, depending on what you're after exactly. If you turn on the option to include the image data in the document then it will be used as a fallback, in case the original linked image file is no longer available (ie: the file is gone, no longer resides at the expected location, or you transfer the document to another computer).

Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Groucho
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

NisusUser wrote:Is there a way to automatically tell NWP to import all the images that are currently linked to that file?
I have experimented with a .rtfd file. I haven’t found a way to import all the images at once, or one by one. Maybe there is a way using the macro language but I don’t know, sorry.
NisusUser wrote:I noticed there is a box that comes to life (become checkable) when you use "Link to File". It is "Include copy of image data in document". Would that do what I want? When does it get updated? Will someone else have the image files in the .rtfd or .rtf file if "Include copy of image data in document" is checked?
No, it doesn’t get updated, not that I know. If you include a copy of the image and then edit the original file in the finder, only the latter is updated. Embedded images are not affected. You will have to re-import them. It’s not that dramatic unless you change the size.

Best, Henry.
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by martin »

greenmorpher wrote:I would be nice too if we could specify which program would open images.
Nisus Writer just asks OSX to open the image on its behalf, so whatever application you've set in the Finder for the particular image type will be used, ie: the "Open with" option in the Finder's File > Get Info dialog.
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martin
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by martin »

Groucho wrote:If you include a copy of the image and then edit the original file in the finder, only the latter is updated. Embedded images are not affected.
That's not true unless you didn't turn on the "link to file" option. If you insert an image and turn on both "link to file" and "include copy of image data", then when you reopen the document this is what occurs:

1. NWP uses the file path to see if the image file still exists. If it does, the image is updated to use the latest data from disk.
2. If that linked image no longer exists, then NWP falls back to using the last copy it has available (ie: the data it included in the document the last time the image was inserted or automatically updated).

So editing the original via the Finder/etc will update the image in the document, even with the "include copy of image data" option turned on. It's only if the image file is deleted or goes missing that NWP falls back to the old/stale image data.
Groucho
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

martin wrote:That's not true unless you didn't turn on the "link to file" option. If you insert an image and turn on both "link to file" and "include copy of image data", then when you reopen the document
That’s what I missed. I did not reopen the document. Glad to know that.

Henry.
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

By the way, Martin, what’s that “Reference Type: Alias” for? I mean the drop-down in the image import dialog. The manual was not updated on that.

Thanks, Henry.
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martin
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by martin »

Groucho wrote:By the way, Martin, what’s that “Reference Type: Alias” for? I mean the drop-down in the image import dialog. The manual was not updated on that.
That option controls how NWP locates the file used for the image. The first three options record some kind of file path that's later used to locate the target file. As you may know, file paths specify exact folder and file names. So if the target file moves, or is renamed, the path will no longer locate the file. That's where aliases come in: they are used to track a file regardless of where it resides or what it's named.

Aliases were introduced in Classic Mac OS, but still serve a useful purpose on OSX (though internally they've technically been superseded by something called "bookmark data", which has the same role). You can read more about Mac aliases on Wikipedia.
Groucho
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

Very clear, thanks.

Henry
Vanceone
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Vanceone »

What I think NisusUser is looking for is one of the major features of the classic Mac OS that never made it to OS X: publish and subscribe. Nisus has recreated something like that with "link back", unfortunately it never really caught on and I think GateKeeper and the Sandbox have obliterated it.

Still, it would be useful. For much more than just updating image data.

As per the original question--could you do something with applescript and watched folders perhaps? An rftd file is just a package which is just a folder, after all. (as an aside--I wish there was more applescript support for Nisus Writer. Do Macro is wonderful, no doubt, but then you are mixing Perl and applescript together, which is a demon of a script)
Groucho
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Re: Linked vs. embedded images; auto embedding of linked ima

Post by Groucho »

You can open the rtfd, make aliases out of the images and put them wherever you want. I tried and it works. The only problem is icon preview doesn’t work on an alias. But Quick Look does.

Henry.
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