Gif won't stay in background

[mericat]

Dear All

I am compiling my newsletter and have a nice .gif to put in the background, only it won't stay in the background and blocks out coloured text boxes (headlines), although it is not blocking out the main text.

Have tried all the element to back, element to front stuff and it's not working.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received as my deadline is v soon.

Many thanks Please excuse my relative stupidity

 

[mericat]

Also, I'd really like to know how to get some more fonts (preferably costing nothing). Any ideas? Please excuse my relative stupidity

 

[carlow]

hi,
mericat a gif is not a good file to place in Pagemaker. Why don't you open the gif in photoshop and save it as a tif. By the way gifs are low in quality, so you will have a very pixelated print.
hope this helps
grillhouse

 

[mericat]

It does except I don't have Photoshop (don't gasp in amazement like that). Or in fact, any graphics editing software at all. Sigh, they do know how to make life difficult for me! Getting a thing about blues and purples

 

[Eggles]

Irfanview (available free to download here

http://www.irfanview.com/english.htm)

is able to convert graphic file formats, including converting GIFs to TIFs.

This *may* solve your problem.

 

[Pixelchik]

I don't know if this would work or not, but maybe try puting the GIF graphic (after converting it to a tif) on your master page in the background.

 

[mericat]

Thanks both. I'll give the download a try first and then the background, but as a newbie, would appreciate any more step by step info you could give me on how to accomplish it. Thanks again. Getting a thing about blues and purples

 

[Eggles]

mericat

Do you want this graphic to appear on every page?

If you place it on the master page, this is what will happen unless you choose to 'turn off' master page items on any one of your pages (or both pages of a facing pair if that is the way you have laid it out).

Re: fonts. Most free fonts on the web (and there are zillions if you do a Google search) are OK for in-house printing, but if you intend to get your publications printed commecially, they are a bit of a no-no, because most are not postscript fonts.

How are you 'putting' the graphic in your layout? You should always use File>>Place, never copy and paste. And don't embed, just link.

Have you been able to successfully convert your GIF to a TIF?

 

[carlow]

Hi mericat,
I saw in your profile that you also use Coreldraw.
Corel has also a program, I think it is called photo Paint. This gives you also the ability to change the gif to a tif..
If that doesn't work, just sent it to me and I'll do the trick for you.
carlo.w@mail.be
grillhouse

 

[viol8ion]

mericat,

When placing a graphic into PM, use File>Place. Do not copy/paste, that will cause the graphic to not stay where you placed it. Also, make sure you have pointer tool selected when placing graphics. And I concur with the rest that posted here that you should convert image to Tiff.. only use TIF and EPS for graphics in PM. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[mericat]

Hi guys, thanks for all your help. I now have loaded Coreldraw and Ability Photopaint (cheapo but will do fine) onto the system. Converted image to .tiff using freeware suggested previously and I did file and place (have redone it to make sure) and it still won't stay in back ground. What is this master page stuff? Not come across it so I don't know how to set a master page in Pagemaker.

Would like to know for future editions, I have bungled it for this one as it has already gone to print.

Thanks Grillhouse for your kind offer btw. Getting a thing about blues and purples

 

[viol8ion]

mericat,

If you look at the bottom of the window you will see the pages of your document, and to the left you will see 2 pages alone.. they are your master pages. these are default, and you can add more and selectively apply them.

I generally advise against using TIFs on master pages because of numerous reports of probelms when bookleting, or "save for service provider" and "preflight" when these pages have images. But some people have no problem at all. Any graphic element on the master pages will always be in the background.

BTW - this is all described on page 70 - 76 of the PM65 user manual.

I don't know why your images will not stay in background, but you can send the image to back by clicking Shift Ctrl [.

Ctrl L will Lock the position of the element. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com

 

[Nohjekim]

Place your tif file and position it in your document and select it.

Then go to Element / Arrange and click on send to back.

Now go to Element and click on Lock Position that should keep it in the back unless you send something else to the back.

Usually the latest thing added is on top.

You can click to select things that are underneath something else by holding the Ctrl Key and clicking until the level you want is selected.

You might want to consider getting Photoshop Elements it only costs about $100 and will probably do any thing you need to do.

Mike

 

[viol8ion]

>>You might want to consider getting Photoshop Elements it only costs about $100 and will probably do any thing you need to do.<<

Elements is good, and will do all you need except for CMYK, which you would use for anything going to prepress. If you plan on doing prepress work, you should consider the more expensive Photoshop, or another app that can do that such as Corel Photopaint. When in doubt, deny all terms and defnitions.

http://www.wuli.com