The limitations of graphics import filters in Word 2003 and in Word 2002

This article describes the limitations of graphics import filters provided with Microsoft Word. This information is also available in Microsoft Word Help. (On the Help menu, click Microsoft Word Help. In the Answer Wizard or the Office Assistant, type graphics file types, and then click Search.)

You can insert many popular graphics file formats into your document, either directly or with the use of separate graphics filters.

Graphics File Types That Are Built into Word

You do not need a separate graphics filter installed to insert the following graphics file formats:

• Enhanced Metafile (.emf)
  
  The Enhanced Metafiles graphics filter (built-in) supports the Enhanced Metafiles (EMF) format.
• Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
  
  The Graphics Interchange Format filter (built-in) supports file format versions GIF87a (including interlacing) and GIF89a (including interlacing and transparency).
  
  When you save an animated GIF image as HTML, the image retains its animation. You cannot perform certain types of edits, such as cropping, grouping, or changing the fill, border, or shadow on an animated GIF image. Make these changes in an animated GIF editing program, and then insert the image again.
  
  The GIF filter has the following limitation:
  • Only the first image of a multi-image GIF is imported.
• Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, .jpeg)
  
  The JPEG graphics filter (built-in) supports version 6.0 of the JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF). The filter supports cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) JPEG files.
  
  The JPEG filter has the following limitation:
  • The filter does not support JPEG Tagged Interchange Format (JTIF) files.
• Portable Network Graphics (.png)
  
  The Portable Network Graphics filter (built-in) supports files conforming to the Portable Network Graphics Tenth Specification Version 1.0.
• Microsoft Windows Bitmap (.bmp, .rle, .dib)
  
  The Windows Bitmap graphics filter (built-in) supports Windows and OS/2 bitmaps, Run Length Encoded (RLE) bitmaps, and device-independent bitmaps (DIB).
• Windows Metafile Graphics (.wmf)
  
  The Windows Metafile graphics filter (built-in) supports the Windows Metafile format.
• Tagged Image File Format (.tiff)
  
  The Tagged Image File Format graphics filter (built-in) supports all image types and compressions that conform to TIFF Specification Revision 5.0 and 6.0, Part1: Baseline TIFF. These types include monochrome, grayscale, palette color, and RGB Full Color images. The filter correctly handles a single 8-bit alpha channel stored with an RGB Full Color image.
  
  The TIFF filter also supports the following:
  • Multiple alpha channels (stored as subfiles) or alpha channels that do not have 8 bits per pixel
  • Transparencies
  • The TIFF Extension for CMYK images
  The TIFF filter has the following limitation:
  • Only the first image of a TIFF with multiple images (subfiles) is imported.

File Types That Require a Separately Installed Graphics Filter

You must install a graphics filter in order to insert all other graphics file formats that are listed as follows. If you did not install the filter that you need when you installed Microsoft Word on your computer, you can run the Setup program again and add the graphics filter.

• Computer Graphics Metafile
  
  The Computer Graphics Metafile graphics filter (Cgmimp32.flt) supports Version 1 of CGM 1992. The filter handles all three encodings and interprets and supports all elements, and will correctly handle all valid .cgm graphics files.
  
  The major industry profiles of ATA (Air Transport Association) and CALS (Continuous Acquisition and Life Cycle Support) are fully supported by the Computer Graphics Metafile filter. The filter has been certified as ATA-compliant and CALS-compliant by testing administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
  
  If you install the filter during Setup, the following files are installed:
  • Cgmimp32.flt
  • Cgmimp32.fnt
  • Cgmimp32.cfg
  • Cgmimp32.hlp
  This filter has the following limitation:
  • CGM 1992 Versions 2, 3, and 4 are not supported.
• CorelDRAW graphics filter
  
  The CorelDRAW graphics filter (Cdrimp32.flt) supports .cdr, .cdt, .cmx, and .pat files from CorelDRAW 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, and 9.0.
  
  This filter has the following limitations:
  • Object and PostScript texture fills are replaced with solid gray fills.
  • Gradient fills are split into monocolored stripes.
  There is no support for the following:
  • CorelDRAW preferences, such as page size and orientation, units, grid, and guidelines
  • Lenses and powerclips
  • Pages, layers, and groups
  • OLE objects
  • Rotated bitmaps
  • Vector fills
  • Multi-area paragraph text
• Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) filter
  
  When you import an Encapsulated PostScript graphics file, the following occurs: A display preview is automatically created when you view the image in the Insert Picture dialog box, or when you view the image in your document. This display image is rendered from the PostScript data in the EPS file. Therefore, this display image does not use any preview graphics (Windows Metafile or TIFF) that may have been previously added to the EPS file.
  
  This behavior may differ from earlier versions of Office, depending on the version of the filters that are installed. The EPS graphic is still printed correctly to a PostScript printer. However, if you print an EPS graphic to a non-PostScript printer, the display image is printed as it appears on the screen. EPS graphics are designed to be printed to a PostScript printer.
• Hanako graphics filter (.jsh, .jah, and .jbh)
  
  The Hanako graphics filter is used for the Japanese language version of Microsoft Office XP.
  
  The Hanako graphics filter (Jshimp.flt, Jahimp.flt, and Jbhimp.flt) supports and converts .jsh, .jah, and .jbh files from Hanako 2.0 and 3.0 to the Microsoft Windows Metafile format.
  
  The filter has the following limitations:
  • Image data will be deleted when the files are opened.
  • Files with large amounts of data may take time to be converted or may not be converted. If this occurs, delete any unnecessary data or objects, or resave the file as multiple files, and then try reopening the files.
  • Complex text formatting or image properties that cannot be expressed in the Windows Metafile format will be deleted or simplified when the file is opened. This may affect the alignment of text or images.
• Macintosh PICT (.pct) file
  
  The Macintosh PICT graphics filter (Pictim32.flt) is used to import Macintosh PICT graphics. Rename your Macintosh PICT files with the .pct extension when you copy them to a computer that uses Microsoft Windows, so that Microsoft Office for Windows can recognize the files as PICT graphics. For example, if you have a graphics file named Bear on the Macintosh, you should rename the file to Bear.pct before you insert the file into a file for Windows.
• WordPerfect Graphics import and export filters
  
  The WordPerfect Graphics import filter (Wpgimp32.flt) supports WordPerfect Graphics Versions 1.0, 1.0e, and 2.0, which correspond to WordPerfect Version 6.x and earlier. For .wpg images created in DrawPerfect, the picture frame size is the size of the screen.
  
  This filter has the following limitations:
  • PostScript information is lost in Encapsulated PostScript images embedded in WordPerfect Graphics files.
  • WordPerfect Graphics files with large, embedded bitmaps may not appear correctly on computers that use the Mach series video drivers from ATI. If you think you have this problem, try running Microsoft Windows Setup, and changing your video driver to the 8514/a drivers supplied with Windows.

Install a Non-Installed Graphics Filter

To install a graphics filter that was not installed during Setup, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Microsoft Office programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
   
   Note In Microsoft Windows XP, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
4. Do one of the following:
   • In Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0:
     
     On the Install/Uninstall tab, click to select Microsoft Word 2002 (Microsoft Office XP), and then click Add/Remove.
     
     -or-
   • In Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP:
     
     With Change or Remove Programs selected, click to select Microsoft Word 2002 (Microsoft Office XP), and then click Change.
5. Click to select Add or Remove Features, and then click Next.
6. In the Features to install list, click to expand Microsoft Office.
7. Click to expand Office Shared Features.
8. Click to expand Converters and Filters.
9. Click to expand Graphics Filters.
10. Click the icon for the graphics filter that you want to install, and then click to select Run all from my computer on the shortcut menu that appears.
11. Click Update.