PUB2000: Inserted Images Lose Resolution When Saved as HTML

When you save your Microsoft Publisher publication as a web page or use the Web Page Preview command, inserted pictures may appear grainy, change color, or appear at a lower resolution than they do in your Publication.

When you save a Microsoft Publisher publication as a web page, inserted graphics are resampled at a lower resolution. This behavior is designed to make your web sites download more quickly over most internet connections.

It is possible to insert and display high-resolution graphics in your web site; however, large graphics will make your web site download more slowly. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your original high-resolution picture is either in GIF or JPEG format.
2. Link the picture to your publication instead of embedding the picture.

Check your Picture Format

Typically, web pages can only display JPEG or GIF images. Any other image, linked or embedded, must be converted by Microsoft Publisher into either the JPEG or GIF file format before it can be incorporated into a finished web page. This conversion process will rerender the image at a lower resolution. Therefore it will be necessary to format any other image types into either the JPEG or GIF file format. Microsoft PhotoDraw is capable of exporting images in the JPEG and GIF file format. Here are some things to consider when choosing the better format:

• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) - The GIF file format can contain a maximum of 256 colors (8-bit). A GIF is somewhat smaller than a similar, uncompressed JPEG file. The GIF file format supports transparency and animation. If your picture file contains less than 256 individual colors, or contains transparency, consider this file format.
• JPEG (JPEG File Interchange Format) - The JPEG or JPG file format can contain over 16 million colors (up to 32-bit). Optionally, a JPEG can be compressed smaller than a similar GIF; however, this compression is "lossy". Lossy compression means that JPEG will distort the picture to a certain degree to improve file compression. This reduces quality. The JPEG filter that ships with Microsoft Publisher does not support transparency or animation. If your picture file contains more than 256 colors, or is extremely large, consider this file format.

Link the Picture File to your Web Page

To insert your picture file(s) into your web page publication, following steps:

1. On the Insert menu, point to Picture, then click From File.
2. Browse to the desired GIF or JPG image, and click to select it so that its preview is visible.
3. Click the arrow on Insert and then click Link to File.

If you embed any type of picture into Microsoft Publisher, the result will be a smaller, resampled picture when you save the publication as a web site.