Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 349)

Smoothing the Edges of Images during Export
To give you more control over map images when exporting MapInfo Professional maps, you can use
anti-aliasing methods. This is particularly important when you are saving maps created in MapInfo
Professional for use in other Windows-based applications, in particular in slide presentations or for web
pages.
We have added the ability to smooth or anti-alias images during the export process. You can use this
capability with all types of windows such as Map windows, layouts, legends, and graphs.
You cannot anti-alias images you are exporting to .EMF or .WMF format, because these are not
true raster formats. Note:
There are three smoothing options you can use to customize your raster image:
1. Smooth using a Filter value. You can set a flag that selects one of six filters that allow you to choose
the direction the filter is applied to the image from.
2. Smooth using a Mask value. You can select a value that indicates the size of the area you want to
smooth. For example, to create a 3x3 pixel mask value, you would enter a 3 in this field. This would
limit the amount of change in the color of the pixels. Typically mask sizes would be 2-3 pixels when
exporting at screen resolution. If you are exporting at a higher resolution, a larger mask might be
appropriate.
3. Smooth using a Threshold value. You can select a threshold value to indicate which pixels to smooth.
Each pixel in an image has a value based on its color. The smaller the pixel value, the darker the
color. Select this option to smooth all of the pixels above the threshold you enter in this field. When
you set this value to 0, MapInfo Professional will smooth all of the pixels.
You must either set a global preference for these anti-aliasing options or set them locally during the
export process (using the Advanced button).
To set the anti-aliasing preference for exporting images:
1. From the Options menu, select Preferences and Output Settings to display the Output Preferences
dialog box.
2. Click the Exporting tab to display the anti-aliasing options.
3. To use anti-aliasing automatically, select the Use Anti-aliasing check box and select from these
options:
• Smooth using a Filter value - Choose a filter for the smoothing you want to use. Select from
these filters:
• Vertically and Horizontally (Smoothes the image vertically and horizontally)
• All Directions (1) (Smoothes the image in all directions)
• All Directions (2) (Smoothes the image in all directions using a different algorithm)
• Diagonally (Smoothes the image diagonally)
• Horizontally (Smoothes the image horizontally)
• Vertically (Smoothes the image vertically)
• Smooth using a Mask value - Choose the pixel size of the mask you want MapInfo Professional
to use in this field. For example, to create a 3x3 pixel mask value, you would enter a 3 in this field.
This would limit the amount of change in the color of the pixels to the three pixels around the basic
pixel.
• Smooth using a Threshold value - Select a threshold value to indicate which pixels to smooth.
Colors are 0 for black and 255 for white (in an 8 bit image). Entering a low number changes the
look of your map by smoothing the darker colors and the lighter colors. Choosing a higher number
changes the way the lighter colors display.
To set the anti-aliasing options locally during export:
1. When you have completed your work on a window, select the File > Save Window As menu option.
The Save Window to File dialog box displays.
349 MapInfo Professional User Guide
Chapter 12: Stylizing Your Map for Presentations and Publishing