Image Annotation Holy Grail

Nothing is perfect! This is where you can post your ideas and wishes for functions you'd like to see in Help & Manual. Current version only please (H&M7).

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itexnz
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Image Annotation Holy Grail

Unread post by itexnz »

For me, an absolute gamechanger would be something in H+M that allows me to have one version of an image, but be able to annotate it in multiple ways depending on the topic - a bit like the current hotspot feature, but on steroids. Something like these examples of using open source image annotation tools

http://bashooka.com/coding/jquery-image ... n-plugins/

No more editing an image in SnagIt and saving multiple copies with annotations, and then when the ever so lovely developers decide to change something at the last minute, having to recreate all these screenshots... :frustration:

Imagine if in addition to single source text content we could single source the image content too!!!

A boy can dream! :)
David Scott
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Tim Green
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Re: Image Annotation Holy Grail

Unread post by Tim Green »

itexnz wrote:A boy can dream! :)
This already exists in Help+Manual. 8)

All you need to do is create your images in Impict, save them in Impict's IPP format and activate the option to store the texts in a separate linked XML file. Then you can edit or translate the text in the image without even opening the image (provided the new text fits...) by editing the text in the XML file. In addition to this, saving your images as IPP reduces the need to redo your screenshots for other reasons, since all the objects are stored on separate layers, in the same way as in Photoshop. For example, if a dialog changes you just need to replace the screenshot of the dialog itself in the image, you don't need to redo any callouts, shapes etc.

You can insert IPP images directly in Help+Manual or keep them as an editing version and use Impict's Export feature to update the versions used in your project when you make changes.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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itexnz
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Re: Image Annotation Holy Grail

Unread post by itexnz »

Had little play ... almost what I wish for... but I can't see how a single .ipp file could have annotations in different places and text - e.g. consider:

H+M Topic1 (shows screenshot with annotations on a particular buttons or fields)
H+M Topic2 (shows the same screenshot but with annotations on different buttons or fields)
etc, etc.

It's kind of like I need alternative ipp.xml files that can be specified when an ipp image is inserted into the topic - e.g.

topic1 - insert screenshot.ipp but use screenshot.ipp.A.xml
topic2 - insert screenshot.ipp but use screenshot.ipp.B.xml

(and the xml file would need to be able to specify where the annotation is located, not just the text)
David Scott
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Tim Green
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Re: Image Annotation Holy Grail

Unread post by Tim Green »

No, you can't have different versions for the same file, sorry. That's not what this feature is for. It's designed to enable easy editing and translation, not conditional output. :?
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Martin Wynne
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Re: Image Annotation Holy Grail

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi,

An alternative approach which you might like to experiment is to use your Impict image as a table background. See this old topic: https://helpman.it-authoring.com/viewto ... 638#p20638

One detail not mentioned there is that for HTML-based outputs it's a good idea to set table-layout:fixed in the CSS for the table. This prevents the usual HTML re-sizing of cells if the content doesn't quite fit.

regards,

Martin.
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