USING GRAPHICS
• Paint Objects
• Picture Objects
• Web Graphics Placeholder

USING THE WEB GRAPHIC PLACEHOLDER

There are various ways of getting a graphic image into ToolBook and this is just one of them. Of the various way to add an image into ToolBook this is the only method which will result in your DHTML exported image looking identical (pixel for pixel) to the one you added to ToolBook.

It would seem logical that any method of adding an image would result in an identical looking DHTML exported image, but unfortunately that is not the case. Picture Objects, Paint Objects, and Resource images all go through an Image Export process to give you the DHTML exported image. This export process can cause colors shifts in your image.

The image in the Web Graphic Placeholder on the other hand does not export the image, but rather copies the original from from its source location on your hard drive. This way your 20k .JPG file will remain a 20k .JPG file once exported. Normally I create a MEDIA directory in my project folder and place all of my GIF and JPG files that I want to use in my project. I then point my Web Graphic Placeholders to the various files in this media folder.

You can use this Web Graphic Placeholder in almost every place you would normally use a Paint, Picture or Resource image. For example if you want to use an image as the Background of your page, normally you would assign a Backdrop image to the background. Instead, simply put one of these placeholders on the Background layer and assign the image you want to see. Be sure to use the Send To Back option in the Draw | Layer menu to ensure your placeholder is sitting behind all other objects.

The one distinct place you cannot use this placeholder would be when adding images into a Text Field. Images inside of a Text Field have to be Resource images.

You will notice that when using this placeholder, the image will not be resizable. If you need to resize your images, it is ALWAYS a better idea to edit your image in a professional image editing software package. Those specialized applications know how to manipulate your images in such a way as to provide the best overall results. ToolBook does a horrible job trying to stretch or shrink images...but then again it was never designed to be a professional image editing program.

For all the images on this site and all my daily graphic manipulation needs I rely on a program I have used for years called Paint Shop Pro from http://www.jasc.com. It is an inexpensive package which does everything I need and more.