Container - Rotation is cropping!

[gephry]

I am perplexed! I have a few layouts to print CD Jewel labels from a container field. These layouts differ in the rotation of the container field (which holds main content of the case label). I.e. the field is not rotated on one layout, and in another the field is rotated 90degrees depending on how the graphic was scanned.

The problem is that on the 90degree rotation it is drastically cropping the edges of the graphic! (See attached screen shots.) Both are exactly the same record, exactly the same field, exactly the same data. I even copied the container field from 0degree layout over to the 90degree layout, rotated it and tried it again --- to preserve settings, graphic or other. It is still cropping!

Any suggestions? Is this container rotation a known issue in FM10? I used these same layouts in a FM8 database and it worked 100% fine.

Thanks!

[Matthew F]

Do you have the Layout: Format > Graphic... set to 'Crop image to fit frame'?

[gephry]

No, the container field is set to "Reduce or Enlarge" to fit the field.

I've run a few tests and am having the same problem. I created a new database with one table with only a container field. On the layout, I put the container with rotation at 0degrees, and also at 90degrees. But I'm still having issues...this time with both orientations.

I did discover something, however. To preface this discovery, I should have mentioned -- people are copying PDFs and then pasting them into this field as a graphic, not as a file. I did the test with PNG, JPEG, and TIFF images---they work totally fine! No issues with cropping at all! PDFs are the only container graphic formats that don't display correctly. Strange. I've attached a file with a PDF and a JPEG of the exact same image.

I wonder how or why this is happening? Field setting or Filemaker bug?

Any ideas?

ContainerFieldTEST.fp7.zip

[Matthew F]

OK. I see what you're saying. There is an issue for me also, when I copy and paste a PDF from Preview into a Filemaker container. Interestingly, if you then copy it out of Filemaker back to Preview it is fine. I think the issue is that when you select a region in Preview it is not making a hard crop, but is just masking the Image. FMPro 10 seems to display the wrong part of the image.

[Matthew F]

P.S. A quick and dirty solution might be to perform a screen selection/capture with ctrl+shift+command+4. If your PDF is displaying an image that is already bitmapped and displayed at 100% magnification you probably won't lose any resolution.

[gephry]

Yep! It happens the same way for me. Going into FM is funky, but going back out it's fine. Sweet, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one having this issue. And it makes sense about the masking.

One of my clients is just now telling me that they had a similar issue with PDFs in FM8.5 back in the spring. So I wonder if this is not only a PDF vs FM10 thing?

I haven't had the chance to test it on older versions of FM. Wonder if it's another one of Apple's quirks, or if it's on Filemaker's end? The test would be to try copying portions of PDFs into Filemaker on a PC. (I have no PC. Bueller?)

Good call on the screen shot. Oh and it's actually easier than that; you don't need to press Control. It's just Command+Shift+4.

[Matthew F]

Good call on the screen shot. Oh and it's actually easier than that; you don't need to press Control. It's just Command+Shift+4.

Yes, that is true. If you also hold down the 'Control' button the screen shot gets copied to your clipboard so you can paste it directly into FM. If you don't hold down Control then you get a picture on your Desktop.