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8.31. Pasted Graph Loses Some Details

Applies to:  @RISK 6.x

From my graph, I clicked the Edit and Export icon at the bottom and selected Copy Graph or Copy Graph and Grid, then pasted it into my image editor. Some grid lines were lost, or some text was lost. The same thing happens if I paste the graph into an Excel worksheet and then print it as a PDF.

The issue is with image formats in Windows. When you copy an image to the clipboard from Excel or @RISK, it's in Windows metafile format. If you paste it into a program that understands metafiles, such as Excel, it's still right. But if you paste it into an image editor that doesn't understand metafiles, it has to be converted and some detail may be lost in the conversion. Exactly what is lost depends on the graph itself and the program you're pasting into.

If you paste into Excel, everything should look fine. But the image is still a metafile, so if you save the worksheet or image as a PDF then it has to be converted, and again details may be lost.

In @RISK 7.x, the copy command uses a combined format that will paste correctly in these situations. If you're eligible for the upgrade, that is the best solution.

The solution for @RISK 6.x: Don't copy to the clipboard. Instead, from the Edit and Export menu select Save Image File, and choose any format except metafile. The conversion will be done by Excel and should be accurate. You can then open it in your image editor, convert it to PDF, etc.

Additional keywords:  Copy and paste image

Last edited: 2015-08-07

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