Although I'm a longtime MS Office user, I only yesterday discovered all the
clip art files on this site. I want to use them for hobby purposes, like
greeting cards and enhancing the presentation of my own home printed photos.
(I’m retired so I don’t have to do Power Point.)
Since PhotoShop Elements can't open a WMF file, I tried to convert them to
JPG and immediately ran into the black background problem discussed in
several postings.
I had already tried using "Fill" in Paint; that doesn't work because it not
only fills the background with white but also fills any black parts of the
art work that are contiguous to the background.
The problem does not occur if the clip art has a colored background, only if
it has a “white” background. It appears that Paint is not changing white to
black; it is changing clear to black. The background of the art work is not
white; it is no color. The second WMF clip art image I tried was a decorative
picture frame, where the central rectangle is intended to be clear. Paint
turned that section to black, put not the parts of the art work that were
intentionally colored white.
After about an hour of trial and error, I think I found an easy way to
convert clip art WMF files to JPG or other formats usable in photo editing
software. It’s important to NOT open these files in Windows Paint, because
you immediately get the black background, even before you try to “Save As”.
Likewise, do NOT use Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, which will open the WMF
file automatically if you click on the filename in Windows Explorer. Although
this program will allow you to view the WMF file and save it as JPG, BMP,
etc., the saved file will have the black blackground when you open it in your
photo editing program.
The following instructions are for MS Office 2003; the process is very quick
and simple after you do it once:
• On the Program menu, go to MS Office Tools and open MS Office Picture
Manager.
• On the left, you should have a pane with a list of all folders containing
image files. (If not, click the Shortcuts button in the upper left.)
• Select the folder where your WMF files are located. (If downloaded from
this site, the folder is Microsoft Clip Organizer.) Images in the folder will
be displayed, along with filenames and extensions.
• Click on the image you wish to convert.
• On the right side of the window is a pane called “Getting Started” (If
not, click on View-Task Pane to open it.) You will see sections allowing you
to Browse, Edit, and Share.
• Under Share, click on Export Pictures.
• The Export Task Pane gives you the option to select a new destination
folder, rename the file, and change the size, if desired. If working with a
WMF file, you must select a new file format; the available options are JPG,
PNG, TIF, GIF and BMP.
• When finished making selections, click OK. The newly created file can then
be used in your photo editing or other software that will not accept WMF
files.
The Picture Manager Share option also allows you send an image file,
including a WMF file, to the other Office programs-Word, Outlook, Excel.
Before you do this, put the cursor in the open destination file at the
desired location for the image.
The Edit option will allow some limited editing of image files, including
WMF files, e.g., rotating, flipping, enhancing color, changing size, etc.
Post by Mary SauerDownload www.irfanview.com a free program, get the plug-ins too. Open the .wmf
in this program, save as...
--
Mary Sauer MSFT MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://msauer.mvps.org/
news://msnews.microsoft.com
http://officebeta.iponet.net/en-us/publisher/FX100649111033.aspx
Post by JessicaI am having the same trouble with Holly (I'm on a PC though). I have
downloaded the images, and then when I try to open them in MS paint to
convert it to JPG or GIF, but it turns the image completely black. I need to
convert these images in order to put them on my website. How can I do this?
Thanks!
Post by Paul BallouAre you having the same problem as the original poster in the beginning of
this thread?
If you want email me a copy of the image you are having a problem
converting?
--
Paul Ballou
MVP Office
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/templates
http://office.microsoft.com/home
Control the things you can and Don't Worry about the things you can't
control.
Post by HollyWhen I try to use paint it turns the entire image black - I cannot open with
anything else - I have tried adobe products and everything I could think of.
Post by Paul BallouOpen the files in a drawing or image editing program such as MSpaint then do
a Save As from the file menu and in the save dialog change the file type to
the desired format of GIF or JPG.
WMF files can be opened on a MAC but most people may not have the necessary
program to open that file type
--
Paul Ballou
MVP Office
http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/templates
http://office.microsoft.com/home
Control the things you can and Don't Worry about the things you can't
control.
Post by Andy39Why am I unable to transmit clipart photos with GIF or JPEG extensions,
rather than the WMF exstension provided by MS? The recipient of these
clipart photos is unable to open, save, download, view or print them.
Why
was my GIF extension on the file changed to WMF extension? Is the WMF
extension not compatible with Mac computers? Pls. advise, thank you.