JPG image quality on reports in print preview - has this been fixed? (1 Viewer)

[jacko6]

Many of us know that the later versions of Access have an issue displaying jpg images in print preview mode... image quality is terrible. In my case the images are on the file system and just referenced by path.

I know there is an Access property to convert all images to bmp on the fly and this "fixes" the quality issue in print preview, however I've also noticed that the bmp images are slightly darker and in fact the position of elements within the pictures change ever so slightly. I'm working with medical images so correct image representation is paramount.

Has there ever been a fix to this issue, or are we stuck with workarounds? Currently I output to a temp PDF and display the PDF within the browser control as a pseudo print preview.

Thanks.

 

[cheekybuddha]

I doubt it's been fixed (though I have no evidence). Access has always been terrible at displaying images that aren't .bmp or .wmf.

Your idea of using a browser control is a good one, but why bother with the extra hassle of converting to pdf. Browsers are designed to display image files natively!

 

[isladogs]

JPG images always look terrible in reports due to their lossy nature
However PNG images work fine for me in reports.

With regard to using a browser control, IIRC the old IE web browser control doesn't work in reports BUT the new Edge browser control does work

 

[cheekybuddha]

Eek, I missed the point that it was pee display of report images in print preview.

Do the jpg's print OK, either on paper or to pdf?

 

[jacko6]

I'm not sure about "Access always being terrible at displaying images other than .bmp or .wmf". In Access 2003 I never had jpg issues with print preview or otherwise. When I jumped from 2003 to 2016 this issue was apparent. I think it was introduced with 2013 or perhaps with the accdb format.

Yes, the jpg's look fine when printed.

Another reason for working with JPG's is that they are a healthcare standard for patient imaging.

I'll stick with my workaround for now. Another one I've played with is to use the dbpix activex control which appears to work well, but I haven't tried it in a production environment.

Thanks for your feedback.