using interface images in forms

[JonathanAnon]

I like to make the database look a bit more professional by creating an interface in Paint Shop Pro and then firing it in to the background of the forms. But they seem to be huge..

If I add a 20KB image to the form, the database increases by 1MB in size. Why are they bloating my database? Should I just link them instead of importing?

 

[CyberLynx]

If you insist on using Images in your Forms then I suggest linking to them unless you can create a very small Image which you can Tile to give you the effect you want.

Access bloats quite nicely on its own without Images Embedded or Linked...you may find yourself abandoning the idea altogether later on.

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[gemma-the-husky]

the only thing with linking is that you may get a msgbox pop up while access imports the image - i cant find a way to stop it.

i also struggled to identify the relative path a linked image uses, to allow the user to change his images. ie is it dbs folder, access folder etc - i just couldnt work it out

 

[stappawho]

What is a good method for linking images?

I have an entry form for users to add a couple images. Those images will then be on another form for viewing as well as a couple reports. Is there an easy way to put place holders on the form/report? So all the images fit in the spaces.

From a DB design standpoint and VBA for saving the images etc... I can handle. I'm just not familiar enough with access.

 

[CyberLynx]

As far as loading linked Images into MS-Access, the Loading Image popup Dialog is a definitely an ugly thing to behold. I personally can't stand the thing. Thankfully there is a way to stop it but, it requires changes to the Windows Registry to do it.

Microsoft Office uses this small Loading Dialog for all its Office applications so when it's turned off, it's turned off for all of them (good).

The Code I use to turn this Loading Dialog OFF and ON again utilizes Windows API function calls for Reading and writing to the Registry and a small DB table for holding the Registry Key locations. This code is not for the faint at heart.

If anyone is interested then I can send the code and Table to them.

You can of course manually change the Registry values if you like by changing the value for the ShowProgressDialog key which is available for all the Image types MS-Office can deal with. So, in other words, if you want to just stop the Loading Dialog from displaying for .jpg images then you merely set the value for the ShowProgressDialog key to No for the JPEG extension within the Registry. All other Image extensions would be unaffected.

When MS-Office installed, these Image extension are placed under two Major Keys, the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key. To be effective, you will need to make the change in both these areas.

** BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS - BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY **

The full Registry path to the Image extensions for the HKEY_CURRENT_USER is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Graphics Filters\Export\JPEG\Options

Change the Value for ShowProgressDialog to No.

The full Registry path to the Image extensions for the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Graphics Filters\Export\JPEG\Options

Change the Value for ShowProgressDialog to No.

To Turn the Loading Dialog back ON merely change the Value for ShowProgressDialog to Yes.

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