How to prevent Xara from “optimizing” bitmap on paste?

In the 3D modeler Rhino3D, with the ViewCaptureToClipboard command, I can create a screenshot of the current viewport. According to a Rhino developer, “the ViewCaptureToClipboard command copies a raw, uncompressed, device-independent bitmap (e.g. DIB) to the Clipboard.”

Now, when I paste into Xara Designer Pro X11, JPEG compression artifacts are clearly visible. In the bitmap gallery the names of the pasted images are something like for example: Bitmap185 (Optimized)

Is it possible to prevent Xara from “optimizing” on paste?

I put optimizing in quotes because it’s in fact doing the oposite: The result is not optimized, it’s unusably bad.

Go to Utilities/Options/View and select "Import at dpi specified in the image file."

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Originally Posted by Boy

Go to Utilities/Options/View and select "Import at dpi specified in the image file."

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That has no effect: The compression artifacts are still there. The problem is that Xara converts to JPEG on paste, and a JPEG with a high compression rate. Not nice.

Any other suggestion?

is it a jpeg if you paste it into another program?

it may be that xara defaults to a jpeg format if the native format on the clipboard is one it does not support

I'd try pasting it into photoshop and see what happens there

I'm not really sure what'is going on. Perhaps you can post your screenshot. The link you provide mentions that you can choose which format you want to use for export.

Is your zoom higher than 100% in Rhino 3D? Because then your screenshot will look pixelated when viewed at 100% in another program.

Perhaps it's also good to take a look at "Importing Photos" in the Help file and scroll down to "Optimization on import".

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Originally Posted by handrawn

is it a jpeg if you paste it into another program?

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When pasting into Paint, then the image is clean, i.e. without artifacts. Paint beats Xara in quality! ;)

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it may be that xara defaults to a jpeg format if the native format on the clipboard is one it does not support

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Quite possible. I just wonder if this behavior can be changed. Maybe there is a setting in the Registry?

ok so you can, of course, save it from another program in an uncompressed format and then inport it into xara - bit of a hassle, maybe

xara has suffered of late from becoming jpeg oriented on account of the web/photo focus - maybe just my opinion, but nothing I use would ever 'be better converted to a jpeg' becauseif I wanted jpeg it would be a jpeg in the first place

... as it happens there is a registry key:

AllowPasteAsDIB

you could try changing the value to 1 and see what happens

its in software/xara/..../options/clipboard

[I'm assuming you know your way around the registry]

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Originally Posted by Boy

Perhaps you can post your screenshot.

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Here you go:

Attachment 112802
Attachment 112801

Images have been scaled up 200%. Notice the compression artifacts in the left image. First pasting into Paint and then copying from there is a workaround, although tedious.

Update: Just noticed that the forum software converts the above graphics to JPEG, but the difference in artifacts is still visible. Also I added the xar-file.

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Originally Posted by handrawn

AllowPasteAsDIB

you could try changing the value to 1 and see what happens

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Thanks, this kind of works: Now when I paste, Xara asks if I want to paste as Device-independent Bitmap or as Bitmap. When choosing the first option, it pastes without conversion to JPEG. With the second option, behavior is like before.

I say kind of works, because when pasting as Device-independent Bitmap, then the dimensions of the image are not correct. I have to scale it up.

At the moment, the Paint workaround still seems the best option.

ok well as it is a screenshot maybe setting xara utilities/options/view tab to 'import all photos at 96dpi (1:1 at 100% zoom}' would be best - worth a try

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Originally Posted by handrawn

ok well as it is a screenshot maybe setting xara utilities/options/view tab to 'import all photos at 96dpi (1:1 at 100% zoom}' would be best - worth a try

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Thanks for the suggestion, but it does not work. The pasted image is still too small. Weird.

pity :(

Why not "ViewCaptureToFile". This option seems to allow you to save the bitmap in different formats:

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Steps
Choose the location, file type, and name for the bitmap file.
BMP, JPG, PCX, PNG, TIFF, and TGA formats are supported.

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Why not "ViewCaptureToFile".

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Slows down workflow. Just copying and pasting is simpler. That being said, ViewCaptureToFile does offer some additional options such as the capability to create a screenshot with higher resolution than displayed.

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Slows down workflow.

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Surely not that much to matter. Just save it as a png to your desktop, Drag and drop into Xara.

I must admit that looks bad. I tried it with several images on my machine and do not get that problem. Could it be that your image was saved then that same imaged saved again as a jpg, each one degrading the image further. That can happen and eventually it is totally washed out.

I'm not sure, but is this to do with the document type?

I would expect bitmaps to be optimised when pasted into Web documents because the expectation is that they will later be published online but I would not expect automatic optimisation in non-Web documents.

You could also try the "Help / Info Popups / Turn all on" menu item to ensure that you are given all the relevant options when pasting.

Phil

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Originally Posted by wizard509

Could it be that your image was saved then that same imaged saved again as a jpg, each one degrading the image further.

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No. As I wrote before, the image is stored as a device-independent uncompressed bitmap in the clipboard. If pasted into Xara, it’s compressed to JPEG. If pasted into Paint, it retains its full quality. The discussion is starting to repeat itself.

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Originally Posted by PhilM

I'm not sure, but is this to do with the document type?

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Happens also when pasting into an A4 sized document for printing.

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I would expect bitmaps to be optimised when pasted into Web documents because the expectation is that they will later be published online

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Even then Xara should not convert to JPEG automatically: A simple line drawing on white background, for example, can be better compressed as PNG than as JPEG.

This might also come in handy; look in the registry under the hive HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Xara\XtremePro x64\<version>\Options\Filters. There are numerous keys to fiddle with. The ones that you could definitively change are BitmapCompression and ImportJPEGQuality. But be aware and know what you're doing !

(Oh, and I rediscovered this older tip considering bitmap size on import: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...gistry+options)
and digging deeper; a hint from Handdrawn: options/filters/optimiseJpegfrompng - set to 0 (from: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...ght=ImportSize)

Thanks, Michael, all that looks very interesting!

Just checked with Designer Pro X: The issue is still there.

It would be great if someone updates this thread once Xara has a fix. That may motivate me to update to the latest version.

Are you using UHD monitor or better as I have similar issues on many applications. Maybe world is still not quite ready for higher resolutions and software needs to catch up first.

For example screen grab looks very good on Paint, but in Windows 10 image viewer it looks like crap and comes out much bigger. It will look better if if scaling is put to 100% from the recommended 150%, but everything will be pretty small after that.

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Originally Posted by theinonen

Are you using UHD monitor or better as I have similar issues on many applications.

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No, and that’s not the issue. As detailed elsewhere in this thread, Xara automatically JPEG-compresses certain bitmaps on paste. Behavior depends on the data format that a bitmap is stored on the Windows clipboard.