How do I convert word files to picture files?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sharon Hatswell on September 12, 2009 at 19:15

Hi Melina,
I am happy to help you on your way. But first can you tell me what Graphics Program you intend to use - eg: PhotoShop , PhotoPlus.
Then I can tailor my answer accordingly.

Cheers,
Sharon

Permalink Reply by Melina MIchelle Magdalena on September 12, 2009 at 19:22

Hi Sharon,
ummmm.... first of all thanks for replying. I've just been googling this question and it only leads to more questions!

I won't be using PhotoShop, but maybe the PhotoPlus. I'm not sure what format the images should be in when I make the digital story - if they are pdfs will they be suitable? I can convert word documents to pdfs with whatever is on my computer.

I started using PhotoStory once during a teacher's PD workshop and it was easy and fun. The images were all jpeg photos. So that's why I'm unsure what kind of files to use.

Did that answer your question?
Thanks!
Melina

Permalink Reply by Sharon Hatswell on September 14, 2009 at 19:58

Hi Melina,
Yes – it can overwhelming – but keep at it – it is very worth it.

To help you on your way I have attached a jpg & gif of your files from Word.

What is the best format to use? Pls see link:
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/08/03/gif-png-jpg-which-one-to-...

But to fill you in - I followed these steps:
1. I opened your Word doc image showing the whole image.
2. I then selected Print Screen on my keyboard.
3. Then I opened my Graphics Program (in my case PhotoShop.).
4. I created a New File (Set the width dimensions to 720 pixels and the height to 576 pixels.)
5. Then I selected Edit >Paste fro the File Menu which pasted the image into that new document.
6. I cropped out any unwanted areas.
7. I then selected Save As – as saved firstly as a jpg and then repeated the process & selected .gif on the second time round.

NB- It is always good form (upon Pasting into a New document) to immediately save your file as that Program’s native file.

What is a ‘native file’?
Well in PhotoShop it’s a .psd
In MS Word it’s a .doc
In MS Excel is a xls.
It is essentially the ‘rawest’ of files created by the program that you are working within.

Why save as a Native file?
Because if you make a mistake or want to alter that file it is (as mentioned) the ‘rawest’ of files within that program. Which - in the case of a Graphics Program there is no image quality lost.
You can save as a jpg, gif, or whatever file you like. But at the end of the day – you have that ‘preserved’ native file to go back to.

I must admit I have not had any experience with PhotoStory – but will try to get around to having a look.
Has anyone else had experience with PhotoStory ?? pls let us know.

In the meantime Melina – if you have a moment check out PhotoPlus – and let us know how you go 

Cheers,
Sharon

Attachments:

• home_sweet_home.gif, 107 KB
• home_sweet_home.jpg, 157 KB

Permalink Reply by Marc on September 13, 2009 at 22:56

I'll be back at work and using Word tomorrow. I'll have a fool around and see what I can figure out. Will post here about lunch time. M

Permalink Reply by Marc on September 14, 2009 at 12:42

Hey Melina,
I've had a poke and a fiddle and, much as I suspected, Word doesn't have a facility to save the entire word .doc as an image file such as .jpg. Now, I'm very familiar with Word but I would not claim to be the final authority so there's a chance I'm wrong and it does have such a function, but I'm fairly sure I'm right. To avoid the loss in quality you'd get printing and scanning your document, I can only suggest using a screen capture to select the whole page as a single image. I know Apple's picture manager has a screen select & capture function. I'll have a look around on this PC and see if it has something similar. Will let you know.
Cheers,
Marc

Permalink Reply by Marc on September 14, 2009 at 12:46

Oh, if you have Adobe Acrobat, you should be able to save your .pdf files as jpegs. I should know the definite answer about MovieMaker and iMovie using .pdfs but right now I'm not sure - off the top of my head I don't think they do. They definitely do work with jpegs though.
M

Permalink Reply by Melina MIchelle Magdalena on September 17, 2009 at 8:58

Yay! Thanks Marc and Sharon. I've played around with the pdf facility and YES I managed to save a picture as a jpg. Think that will solve my problems for now.
m.m.m.