You can import bitmaps from another drawing application directly into a picture. Once a bitmap is pasted into your picture, you can work with the image as you would any iFIX object. In fact, you have additional options for a bitmap. When you right-click a bitmapped object, you can select the operations listed in the following table.
|
Use this Operation... |
To... |
|
Animations |
Animate a bitmap using the Animations dialog box. |
|
Undo |
Cancel the previous operation. |
|
Cut |
Remove the bitmap from the picture and places it into the clipboard. |
|
Copy |
Copy the bitmap to the clipboard. |
|
Delete |
Remove the bitmap from the picture. |
|
Duplicate |
Create a duplicate copy of the bitmap and place it slightly offset from the original. |
|
Group |
Combine one or more bitmaps into one grouped object. |
|
Bring to Front |
Move the selected bitmap to the front or top of the picture. |
|
Send to Back |
Move the selected bitmap to the back or bottom of the picture. |
|
Load Image |
Load a primary or secondary bitmap, either from a file or from the clipboard, that can be displayed in your picture. |
|
Enable/Disable Transparency |
Enables or disables the Transparency property in the bitmap. |
|
Transparent Color |
Assign a color to the Transparency of the bitmap. If you have your display configured for true colors, transparent bitmaps may not display properly. This may be related to the type of video card in your PC. To avert this problem, change your Windows display settings to 65536. |
|
Button Styles |
Assign a button style (No Button, PushButton, or MultiState) to the bitmap. |
|
Edge Style |
Assign an edge style (None, Sunken, Raised, Etched, Bump) to the bitmap. |
|
Edit Script |
Open the Visual Basic Editor, which allows you to edit Visual Basic scripts. |
|
Property Window |
Display the Properties Window, which allows you to view and change property values. |
Let's say you want to import a bitmap, and then be able to easily view a different image related to the first. You can do this using the Load Image operation from the bitmap's pop-up menu as follows:
To use the Load
Image operation:
- In Classic view, on the Shapes toolbar, click the Bitmap button, if enabled.
-Or-
In Ribbon view, on the Format tab, in the Insert group, click Objects/Links and then click Bitmap.
-Or-
If the Toolbox is enabled, click the Bitmap button on the Toolbox.
- Select the desired directory and bitmap and click Open. The image is added to the picture with object handles.
- With the image selected, right-click the mouse and select Load Image - Secondary from the object's pop-up menu.
- Select the file from the Open File dialog box, and click Open.
- To switch from one image to another, right-click the bitmap and select Display Primary or Display Secondary from the pop-up menu.
Bitmaps can also be resized. To resize an imported bitmap, select it and then drag one of the sizing handles in any direction. Bitmaps can be resized with little or no loss in picture quality.
NOTES:
- You can copy another object as a bitmap and paste it into another graphics application such as Microsoft Paint, or copy and paste an existing object as a bitmap. You can also change the properties of a bitmap by selecting the bitmap, and then selecting a property from the Object menu.
- Bitmaps up to 24-bit graphics resolution are supported. If a picture contains a large 24-bit bitmap, there may be a short delay when opening the picture in iFIX.
