Office 2013 and Vector Graphics

Hola -

Office 2013 (both Word and Publisher) do NOT display (or print) vector graphics as vectors - it rasterizes them, and not well.  When I insert an EMF file into Word 2013 and zoom in on the image, the line art is pixelated.  When I insert the exact same file in Office 2010, the vectors are intact and the line art is smooth at any zoom scale.

Office 2013 discontinued support for CGM as well, but that's a separate issue.

As it stands, Office 2013 is useless for doing product documentation as the image quality is just terrible.  Is this a bug?  Or intentional?

TIA

September 24th, 2013 3:31pm

Hi

Check to see if information below helps you.

Follow these steps to configure Word to perform a better image quality:

1.Display the Word Options dialog box. (Click the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)

2.Click Advanced at the left side of the dialog box.

3.Scroll down until you see the Image Size and Quality section.

4.Make sure the Set Default Target Output control is set to 220 ppi.

5.Click OK.

When you perform these steps, Word converts any high-resolution images to the resolution you specified in step 4. If 220 dpi is not sufficiently high-res for your needs, then you should (in step 4) click the Do Not Compress Images check box. When set, this causes Word to ignore whatever you have specified in the Set Default Target Output control and, instead, include any pasted images at their original resolution. This results in the highest resolution (provided your images are higher resolution than 220 dpi), but it also results in the largest document file sizes.

Finally, whatever format you decide upon for your graphics, you'll want to use the Picture tool on the Insert tab of the ribbon to actually insert the image into your document. If you paste the image instead of inserting it, Word may convert the image to a bitmap version that is not the greatest for some purposes.

Sincerely

Tylor Wang
TechNet Community Support

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September 25th, 2013 5:45am

Tylor -

Thanks for the info, I have seen that mentioned before.  However, there is no such option in Publisher 2013 and that is where my problem is.  

Additionally, these are vector files - there is no reason to start dealing with resolution settings.  In fact, it is what I am trying to avoid by using EMF.

Regards

Peter Brown

September 25th, 2013 1:22pm

Bump
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October 14th, 2013 1:21pm

Any resolution at all regarding this critical issue?

January 15th, 2014 3:13pm

I'm also interested in this issue... any official comment?
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September 23rd, 2014 5:37pm

I'm also interested in this issue... any official comment?
Just silence, and it's been a year.  Unreal.
September 24th, 2014 3:37pm

So is that it? The answer to the rasterization of vector images is "use a higher resolution"?

Just how far behind the times is Microsoft, anyway?

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December 3rd, 2014 10:48pm

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous that it's 2014 and Word still doesn't have native support for modern vector formats. It's pretty much useless for scientific publications, and because it's the "standard" some people insist on it. Infuriating.

December 4th, 2014 2:02pm

I have found two different threads with this problem mentioned and no response form Microsoft. Hello????  Anyone there?
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March 11th, 2015 12:21pm

Hi

Check to see if information below helps you.

Follow these steps to configure Word to perform a better image quality:

1.Display the Word Options dialog box. (Click the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)

2.Click Advanced at the left side of the dialog box.

3.Scroll down until you see the Image Size and Quality section.

4.Make sure the Set Default Target Output control is set to 220 ppi.

5.Click OK.

When you perform these steps, Word converts any high-resolution images to the resolution you specified in step 4. If 220 dpi is not sufficiently high-res for your needs, then you should (in step 4) click the Do Not Compress Images check box. When set, this causes Word to ignore whatever you have specified in the Set Default Target Output control and, instead, include any pasted images at their original resolution. This results in the highest resolution (provided your images are higher resolution than 220 dpi), but it also results in the largest document file sizes.

Finally, whatever format you decide upon for your graphics, you'll want to use the Picture tool on the Insert tab of the ribbon to actually insert the image into your document. If you paste the image instead of inserting it, Word may convert the image to a bitmap version that is not the greatest for some purposes.

Sincerely

Tylor Wang
TechNet Community Support

Tylor -

We've been going around and around on this (see this thread: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/office-2013-and-vector-graphics/1183bf90-4996-4e9c-9a5e-23330ad65bed ).

Something is seriously wrong with Office 2013; does Microsoft have a response?

TIA

March 18th, 2015 1:02pm

Believe it or not, in this case Microsoft has actually moved BACKWARDS. They used to support vector graphics (EPS) in 97, 2000 and 2003. Then in 2007 someone at Microsoft had the brilliant idea to switch to an EPS import filter that discards the actual vectors and instead inserts the preview image. It's like they didn't even know how that graphics format works. EMF is a subpar format and degrades the paths of almost everything I convert into it, especially curves. Now that isn't even an option. Come on, Microsoft, you need to start supporting AI, PDF or SVG, or at least bring back the EPS importer that actually worked (97, 2000, 2003).
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May 23rd, 2015 11:27am

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