Inserting GIF, JPEG, and PNG files

You can insert GIF (both static and animated), JPEG, and PNG files into a template. When inserting image files, you have the option of scaling the image so that it fits into a defined space or leaving the image at its original size.

You should be careful when using these Generator objects with the Online Generator. Animated GIF and JPEG files can be very large when decompressed and can significantly slow the performance of the Online Generator when an image must be recompressed. Use this template command only when you must insert a bitmap image from an external file and cannot use other solutions such as inserting a symbol or Flash movie.

Also, be aware that performance slows when you select a single frame other than frame 1 from an animated GIF file.

Insert GIF, JPEG, and PNG objects have the following properties in the Generator inspector:

File Name specifies the file name, relative or absolute URL (HTTP and FTP), database connection URL, or Java class URL from which Generator will obtain the image data.

Scale To Fit determines whether or not the image is scaled to fit the object box or positioned at its original size.

Export As compresses the image (JPEG) or preserves as much image detail as possible (Lossless).

JPEG Quality specifies the compression level if you set Export As to JPEG. Values can be from 0 to 100. A value under 50 results in a very compressed image that has low quality but a smaller file size. A value over 80 results in an image that is less compressed and preserves more detail but has a larger file size. A value of 100 allows inserted JPEG files to pass through without first decompressing and then recompressing the image data.

Frames (GIF only) specifies the frames to retrieve from an animated GIF file. You can specify All, Single, or an integer representing the frame number to retrieve. Single retrieves the first frame of the animated GIF.

Instance Name identifies the instance of the object so that it can be used with actions such as Tell Target and Set Property. See Using variables as parameters for Flash actions for more information on using this parameter.