Importing Images

You can select a raster image file and then place it in a model for publication purposes. The Select Image File dialog box controls are analogous to those in the Open dialog box (see Open).

Importing an image saves the raster data in the DGN file. This is different than attaching an image file to a model as a reference using the Raster Manager dialog box. A raster reference attachment is a link between a model and an image file.

To import an image file into a model

From the File menu, choose Import > Image.
The Select Image File dialog box opens.

From the List Files of Type option menu, choose JPEG (JFIF) Files [*.jpg].

Select the file and then click OK.
The text contained in the file is displayed.

To position the image, enter a data point.
The image is placed.

Supported input formats

The following formats are supported for displaying images, importing images, saving images, and capturing screen images.

Format	Ext	Commonly used for	Bits see footnote 113	Compression
CALS (Type I)	.cal	Military/SGML conformance	1	CCITT Group 4
Img (X Window)	.p	X-Windows palette format	8	None
Img (24 Bit)	.a	X-Windows RGB format	24	None
Ingr. (Intergraph) CIT	.cit	Engineering drawings — highly compressed format used for large drawings	1	CCITT-G4
Ingr. (Intergraph) COT	.cot	Monochrome or continuous tone (grayscale) images; color trained	8	None
Ingr. (Intergraph) RGB	.rgb	Full-color images	24	Variable
Ingr. (Intergraph) RLE	.rle	Old standard for engineering drawings. Uses one-dimensional run-length compression. Prefer “.cit” over “.rle” for binary images.	1	Run-length
JPEG (JFIF)	.jpg	Joint Photographic Experts Group — used for grayscale or color photographs. Very high compression rates, but “lossy” compression. Requires careful use.	8 or 24	JPEG
PCX	.pcx	Popular PC format supporting binary, mapped and true color. Developed by ZSoft for PC Paintbrush.	1, 8, or 24	Run-length
PICT see footnote 114 see footnote 115	.pct	Popular Apple Macintosh format (Not supported by Raster Manager)	8 or 24	Run-length
PNG	.png	Web art, GIF replacement	Various	Many
PostScript	.eps	Encapsulated PostScript specification by Adobe Systems Incorporated (Not supported by Raster Manager)
Sun Raster	.rs	Sun-compatible format	8	Run-length
Targa	.tga	Popular PC format supporting binary, mapped, pseudo or true color. TGA and TARGA are trademarks of Truevision, Inc.	8, 16, 24, or 32	Uncompressed and run-length
TIFF see footnote 116	.tif	Tag Image File Format. Popular for desktop publishing	Any	Various
Windows BMP	.bmp	Microsoft Windows bitmap	8 or 24	None
WordPerfect (WPG)	.wpg	WordPerfect bitmap format (Not supported by Raster Manager)	8	Run-length

Setting the number of colors in exported images

The Mode setting controls the number of colors in exported images. The available Modes depend on the Format. For example, Intergraph RGB files must be 24-bit color, but PICT files can be 24-bit color, 256 colors, or grayscale.

Unless the image is used with a display that supports 24-bit color or is printed in color, using either 256 color or grayscale mode saves time and results in smaller image files with no loss of quality. This is especially true if the final output is monochrome.