Adding Pictures to Help Files

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Mon, 08/01/2016 - 11:02 am

How do I add images to Igor help files?

I am trying to add a picture to an Igor Pro help file (.ihf) and can't seem to get it to load into the .ihf document.



Background


I building a help file to accompany a set of procedures starting with the Igor Help File Template.ifn located in Igor Pro Folder\More Help Files folder.

I have been referencing displayhelptopic "Creating your own help file" as I attempt to do this.

Attempts


I can copy-paste an image from other help files (such as from displayhelptopic "charts") into the new help file. But I can not figure out how to change this picture.

I have also tried to copy-paste my image.PNG directly into the help file (I also tried the .JPG extension). This results in a "Load Image" dialog but does not add the image to the help file.

In both instances, the ruler was set to "picture" at the location I was attempting to paste the image.

Any ideas on how to do this?

Thanks
-Aubrey
If you have either a jpeg or a PNG on the clipboard, you should be able to simply paste the picture into your formatted notebook (you have to edit the help file as a formatted notebook).

If you have opened your new help file as a help file, you must hold down the Option or Alt key while closing the help file window in order to make Igor close the help file. Then, if you select the help file from the Recent Files menu, hold down the Shift key to get a dialog where you can elect to open the file as a formatted notebook. Otherwise, Igor will think it's a help file, and help windows are not editable.

Does that solve your problem?

John Weeks
WaveMetrics, Inc.
support@wavemetrics.com

August 1, 2016 at 11:39 am - Permalink

Assuming that your help file is open as a notebook, you can choose Edit->Insert File. This displays the Open File dialog. Choose Graphics Files from the popup menu in the Open File dialog, select your image.png file, and click Open.

Alternatively you can open image.png in a graphics program, copy it to the clipboard, and paste it into the help file which you have opened as a notebook.

For details on editing help files:
DisplayHelpTopic "Creating Your Own Help File"

August 1, 2016 at 12:04 pm - Permalink

I was able to insert the picture by using the Edit->Insert File method. The file was open as a notebook for all attempts.

I am still unsure why I was unable to copy-paste or drag-and-drop the image into the help file (open as a notebook). However, now that you have given me a method that works, this concern is mitigated.

It is worth noting that the version of Igor on this machine 6.21. I don't know if there were any known issues with this version pertaining to this or if there is some issue on the local machine preventing the process. I did not try it out on another machine with a newer version of Igor.

As always, thanks for the prompt, informative replies.
-Aubrey

August 1, 2016 at 12:41 pm - Permalink

Quote:
I am still unsure why I was unable to copy-paste or drag-and-drop the image into the help file (open as a notebook).


Drag-and-drop is not supported.

Copy-and-paste should work so long as what is in the clipboard is a format that Igor supports, such as PNG, PDF on Macintosh, EMF on Windows. This depends on the program in which you are copying.

Quote:
It is worth noting that the version of Igor on this machine 6.21


6.21 is ancient.

August 1, 2016 at 12:49 pm - Permalink

johnweeks wrote:
I wonder if you are a victim of the problem described (not succinctly) here: http://www.igorexchange.com/node/3428#comment-1

You need to scroll down a ways before you get to where the actual problem has been discovered.


From that thread, it sounds like the issue could be from Inkscape, Gimp, or Teamviewer. Teamviewer is on this machine. An older version may have left some files behind that are causing issues. The main thing is the work around.

Due to curiosity: there are no issues on another machine (Win 7) with version 6.36 (not always available). The 6.21 machine does the job normally.

August 2, 2016 at 01:46 pm - Permalink