Basic Working Procedures > Using Graphics > Editing, resizing and hi-res PDF printing

You can edit the properties of a graphic by double-clicking on it. You can also resize your graphics directly in the editor by selecting it and dragging its corners with the mouse or by double-clicking and entering a zoom factor. Although this function is primarily designed for high-resolution printing with PDF files you can use it for all your output formats whenever you need a quick resize. You may obtain slightly better quality if you resize in Impict or another graphics program, but this feature can be a great time-saver when you are in a hurry.

•	Just double-click on any graphic to display the Open Image dialog where you can edit the caption, alignment, spacing (empty space around the graphic) and hotspots (clickable links in the graphic).

•	You can adjust the size of graphics precisely with the Zoom % setting in the Open Image dialog. This does not physically resize the image until you compile and in PDF the full image resolution is used (see below).

•	You can also edit the properties and hotspots by right-clicking on a graphic and selecting from the Picture... options in the context menu.

Note that this resize function is really for PDF printing (see the instructions for hi-res graphics and PDF below). If you have the time it is generally better to resize your images physically in Impict or another graphics program.

•	Quick resize: Just click once on the graphic to select it and resize it by dragging the resize handles displayed at the edges. It doesn't matter which handle you drag because the height and width of the graphic are always resized proportionally.

•	Precise resizing: double-click on the graphic to display the Image dialog and enter a zoom factor in percent.

•	Undo resize: To return the graphic to its original size just double-click on it to display the Open Image dialog and select the Autosize option.

This function does not change the graphic file. Nothing actually happens until you compile your output. In all output formats except PDF (see below) the graphic is physically scaled and resized when you compile.

Resizing may increase the size of your output file:

This quick resize option can only be performed on TrueColor (65m colors) graphics so the files must be converted to TrueColor before being resized. If you resize screenshots with 256 colors or less you may end up with bigger files than when you started.

See Formats, Compression and File Size for important information on how file formats affect (and don't affect) the file sizes of your help.

When you print PDF files or view them at above 100% graphics can look "blocky" and "jaggy". You can solve this problem by using larger graphics and resizing them in the Help & Manual editor. The full-sized original image is then embedded in the PDF and resized dynamically when the PDF is used.

•	To use a high-resolution graphic just insert a graphic that is large enough to print well on a high-resolution printer and then resize it to the size you want to use in your document as described above.

•	This will increase the size of your PDF files because larger graphics are bigger. In other output formats the graphics are physically resized when you compile.

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Physical resizing when you output to formats other than PDF is automatic. However, if you want to create one PDF for printing and a compact version for on-screen viewing you can do this by inserting two versions of the graphic: One small graphics file that does not need to be resized and one large one that you resize. You can then use Help & Manual's conditional text feature to select which version you want to include when you publish your project.

For the best possible resize quality you can also resize your graphics files physically with Impict, the screenshot enhancement and graphics editor included with Help & Manual, or with any other graphics editor.

•	To edit a graphic in Impict just click on the graphic in the editor to select it and then select Image Editor in Project > Tools.

•	To resize the image in Impict right-click on it, select Edit Properties and then select Quality Resize.

•	After saving the new version in Impict (don't change the filename or location) just select another topic briefly in Help & Manual and then return to the current topic to reload the topic with the modified graphic.