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Jpeg showing as greyed out cross ...


John_in_NZ

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As a Vectorworks noob, I'm having some problems, and would be grateful for a bit of assistance.

 

So lets cover the basics:

Win 7 Ultimate x64

AMD FX-8320

16GB Ram

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

 

I know the old workhorse is getting a bit long in the tooth (other than the graphics card), but it was either buy a new PC, or buy Vectorworks 2018 ...

 

Yesterday, I downloaded the latest version of VWX, and came up with the first "wrinkle".  WinRar reported a corrupt zip file, but extracted the install file without other issue.   I have read elsewhere that WinZip and WinRAR can throw up the occasional error message when extracting perfectly valid archive files, so on to stage 2: Downloaded the install file again, but this time extract with 7-Zip.  That didn't report any errors. 

 

The same issue manifested itself with the install of the trial version, if that's significant, but I needed to do some real work, rather than resolving software issues.

 

My Vectorworks guru (and client) suggested upgrading the graphics card driver, and disabling the anti-virus software before trying to install Vectorworks, and with that done Vectorworks installed without issue.

 

However, when I open a file that a client has given me to develop, the company logo is greyed out with a black cross through it.

image.thumb.png.321106588e44380339fd3686b8cb1c30.png

My guru's first reaction was that is was a class or design layer visibility issue, so I used the shotgun approach and switched everything on ... no change.

 

So I tried to import a new version of the logo, and was presented with this ...

image.thumb.png.49c75d10ca373dd97c3b161c6cdb5138.png

... helpful, eh.  Especially when Windows is telling me that I've got plenty of physical RAM available.

image.thumb.png.21f21d68d01cad0643d54f04b8f77b60.png

When I was using the trial version of Vectorworks, and experiencing the same problems, I did manage to import a graphic, but only as a pdf version ... I don't know if that's relevant here.

 

Also, something strange is going on when I quit Vectorworks ...

image.thumb.png.94e3b6c6e6c67a95c064c93353c45765.png

... consistently, every single time.

 

I've tried a fresh install of Vectorworks, and reinstalling Vectorworks over the top of the previous install, all to no avail, so, suggestions please.

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, Art V said:

What jpeg format is the logo?  It could be that there is a feature being used that Vectorworks might not be supporting at the moment.

Thanks Art,

The strange thing, the file came from my client who (the guy who persuaded me to buy Vectorworks),  and all is well on his Vectorworks 2018, Win 10 setup ...

 

As for finding the format of the image, I can't even locate the image in Resource Manager to investigate to format.

 

In the short term, I've managed to attach the logo, but only by importing it as a pdf, which strikes me as a bizarre work around (I must have had a few glasses of wine the evening I came up with that idea), but I can't help but think that there is something fundamentally "wrong" with the install ... >:(

 

Again, thanks for the suggestion


 

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1 hour ago, John_in_NZ said:

Thanks Art,

The strange thing, the file came from my client who (the guy who persuaded me to buy Vectorworks),  and all is well on his Vectorworks 2018, Win 10 setup ...

 

As for finding the format of the image, I can't even locate the image in Resource Manager to investigate to format.

 

Is the image referenced? If it is and the original was moved so VW can't find it that may also be the problem. There's a couple of ways to tell if it is -

 

- click on the actually image by editing the title block. It will say Bitmap-Referenced at the top of the OIP when you select it.

- look in the References pane in the Navigation Palette. Its name will appear in red in the list if its referenced and the link is broken.

- if you're running Fundamentals you would need to go to Tools>Organization  and click on the References tab to check for a broken link (Fundamentals doesn't have the Navigation Palette).

 

Kevin

 

 

Edited by Kevin McAllister
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14 minutes ago, Kevin McAllister said:

 

Is the image referenced?

 Thanks again Kevin,

 

As a long time Autocad user, my first reaction was that there was a broken link, but until now I haven't known how to check it.  Also, my apologies, but I should have said at the very beginning that I'm using Vectorworks Architect, so I do have access to the the Navigation Palette.

 

However, when I check the References pane, there's nothing showing.  Does the image below throw any light on the subject?

 

image.thumb.png.72dbc0650b19c29edfcb919cb640c0ee.png

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I did some testing and it turns out if a referenced image is within a symbol (eg. title block) it will not show up in the References pane. Have you gone into the title block and selected the image? I'd be curious what the OIP shows.

 

To do this, select the title block and choose Edit Style from the Style dropdown. Click on the Title Block pane from the left hand list and click on the Edit Title Block Layout button.

 

Kevin

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45 minutes ago, Kevin McAllister said:

I did some testing and it turns out if a referenced image is within a symbol (eg. title block) it will not show up in the References pane. Have you gone into the title block and selected the image? I'd be curious what the OIP shows.

 

To do this, select the title block and choose Edit Style from the Style dropdown. Click on the Title Block pane from the left hand list and click on the Edit Title Block Layout button.

 

Kevin

Sorry Kevin,

I'm not following you.  I did say I'm a noob ... ;)

 

After having a look about, I can't find any Style dropdown menu, so I'm not able to work through your options.

The only way I can find to interrogate what's going on is to select the Titleblock from the Resource manager, right-click > Edit 2D Component, then edit the Group which contains the Image.

 

After all that, when I select the image, OIP shows me this ...

 

image.thumb.png.6d40c312deb7fd94bb3d9f0ab1179e27.png

Am I on the right track?

 

[edit] Going on from the above, and taking an Autocad approach to things, I've tried to export the offending titleblock to a new Verctorworks file.

 

Right-clicking the titleblock in Resource Manager, then selecting the Export option, browse to my desktop and give the file a name, but I'm presented with this error message ...

image.thumb.png.831ce49855613647d71a5dd7957838e0.png

 

I think the rabbit hole is getting deeper ... [/edit]

 

Edited by John_in_NZ
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1 hour ago, John_in_NZ said:

Sorry Kevin,

I'm not following you.  I did say I'm a noob ... ;)

 

After having a look about, I can't find any Style dropdown menu, so I'm not able to work through your options.

The only way I can find to interrogate what's going on is to select the Titleblock from the Resource manager, right-click > Edit 2D Component, then edit the Group which contains the Image.

 

After all that, when I select the image, OIP shows me this ...

 

image.thumb.png.6d40c312deb7fd94bb3d9f0ab1179e27.png

Am I on the right track?

 

Are you using VW2017? From what you describe I think you are. The way Title Blocks work changed in VW2018 which is what I've been testing in.

 

1 hour ago, John_in_NZ said:

Right-clicking the titleblock in Resource Manager, then selecting the Export option, browse to my desktop and give the file a name, but I'm presented with this error message ...

image.thumb.png.831ce49855613647d71a5dd7957838e0.png

 

I think the rabbit hole is getting deeper ... [/edit]

 

 

My understanding is that you can only "Export" a title block into an existing file. The export function from the Resource Manager won't create a new file.

 

I'm sure what else to advise. Hopefully someone else here knows more about this issue. It may be a problem with your install.

 

Kevin

 

 

 

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Thanks again for all of your suggestions Kevin.

 

The other thing that I should have mentioned is that today is a public holiday in this part of NZ, so I can't even call the supplier to get their assistance.

 

As I said in the initial post, there's something unusual going on, and I think the image display in Vectorworks is just one aspect of it.  Also, as i suggested, the old work-horse PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, and I've been thinking about upgrading things for quite a while now.

 

For now, I'm going through the process of ensuring that Windows is fully updated, and if that doesn't improve the situation, I'll re-format and reinstall Windows, then put on a fresh install of Vectorworks to see what happens.

 

The other problem is that after Friday, I'm out of the country for a month, so I've obviously got deadlines to meet before I go ... fun and games, eh ... 9_9

Once I get back in March, I can consider my options for new hardware, but right here, right now ... dunno ...

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6 minutes ago, John_in_NZ said:

Thanks again for all of your suggestions Kevin.

 

The other thing that I should have mentioned is that today is a public holiday in this part of NZ, so I can't even call the supplier to get their assistance.

 

As I said in the initial post, there's something unusual going on, and I think the image display in Vectorworks is just one aspect of it.  Also, as i suggested, the old work-horse PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, and I've been thinking about upgrading things for quite a while now.

 

For now, I'm going through the process of ensuring that Windows is fully updated, and if that doesn't improve the situation, I'll re-format and reinstall Windows, then put on a fresh install of Vectorworks to see what happens.

One other thing you might try is going into the VW preferences (Tools>Options>Vectorworks Preferences), clicking on the Display tab and setting your Navigation Graphics to Best Compatibility. This may help with issues associated with your older hardware.

Kevin

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Woo-hoo ... get the flags out, it's time for a party ... B|

 

Don't ask me why ...it might have something to do with it, but I've got no idea if Vectorworks actually makes use of DirectX anywhere along the line, but allowing Windows 7 free reign to update itself, I can now see the images, as intended ... :)

However, thanks a bunch to Kevin and "Art" for taking the time to make suggestions, they were very much appreciated ... :)

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