Troubleshooting problems with exporting TIFF images from Prism

This article explains the basics of exporting to TIFF.

If you are having problems with TIFF export, here are some possible causes, with their solutions:

I can't choose the 'enable compression' option with TIFF
Prism Windows (4 or 5) won't let you choose 'enable compression' with high resolution tiff output, when you use CMYK encoding. This is because the library we use to create tiff files crashes with this combination. Use RGB color encoding instead, and you'll be able to choose compression. Prism 6 (Win or Mac) and Prism 5 Mac can use compression even with high resolution TIFF. 

When I view the TIFF file, text is rendered poorly with squished or stretched fonts.
This may be due to a problem with your video driver. Change to  XGA (1024x768)  resolution, and the problem may go away. To do this open the Display Properties control panel in Windows, and switch to the Settings tab. Also try updating your video driver. This problem is very rare, and we don't yet understand why some video drivers lead to poor appearance of text in tiff. The problem has occurred (very rarely) in Prism 4, 5 and 6. 

When I try to export a TIFF or JPEG file using Prism 4 for Windows, after choosing the format and file name of the exported file, I get a message "invalid file format."

Some other applications can change the places a computer looks for DLLs (dynamic link libraries) that are required for Prism to export tiff files. The first thing to do is update to 4.03 if you are using an earlier Prism 4. If the problem persists, try the following:

• Close Prism
• Locate the \Prism4\GraphicsExport folder. The default location is
  Program Files\GraphPad\Prism4\GraphicsExport
• Copy all of the files ending in .dll from that folder into the root \Prism4 folder. Now all the DLLs will exist in both places. This should fix the problem.

When I try to export a graph in TIFF format from Prism Mac, a message advises me to save the file to a new directory or disk.

Prism Mac 4 uses QuickTime when creating TIFF-format files. But unless you have the current version of QuickTime installed, Prism cannot make the files, and it gives unhelpful error messages. Go to Apple's web site and install the latest QuickTime files. Prism 5 uses Prism uses QuickTime only for exporting monochrome and RGB (256 colors) images, and PICT files, and uses the Cocoa framework for exporting other formats.

Using Prism 3 for Windows, nothing happens when I select "File...Export". No dialog comes up.

We discovered that "File...Export" in Prism 3.02 and earlier versions uses an older Application Program Interface (API) designed for Windows 3.1. We didn't detect this error because it worked fine with all versions of Windows (95, 98, ME, NT4, XP, 2000) until May 2002. Some updates in some versions of Windows won't work with that API, making exporting impossible with Prism 3.02 and prior versions. We fixed this bug in release 3.03.

Please update to version 3.03. If that doesn't solve the issue, read on.

One user solved the problem by deleting all the temporary files on his computer. Another deleted the file PRISM3.CNF from the \WINNT folder. After deleting those files, exporting worked fine. We cannot explain why. Please note that the PRISM3.CNF file can be hard to find. Most windows versions are confused by the CNF extension, and show this file as the "Prism 3 speed dial file" (even if you have told Windows to show all extensions). Search for "Prism3.*" to find the file. You might have multiple copies of Prism3.cnf on your computer. Find and delete them all.

Prism cannot export at high resolution unless you install the graphics export library. If you installed from a CD, this is automatic. If you downloaded Prism, the graphics export libarary was a separate optional download. You can download it free from www.graphpad.com/support. Prism ought to show the export dialog even without the export library, albeit with fewer choices. But perhaps Prism is confused in your case because the export library is missing. Install it and see if that restores the export command.

Finally, you can export via running a Prism script rather than using the command. The script can be very short, something like

GoTo G  2
   ExportWMF newgraph.wmf

See the Prism User's Guide for details on scripting. And read this additional information on exporting high-resolution TIF files.

I exported a graph in TIFF format from Prism, but now I can't open it.

When you double-clicked on the TIF filename to open it, your system looks to see which program, if any, is registered to open TIF files. If no program on your system is designed to do that, you'll see this, or a similar, message:

 

The document can not be opened. The document format is invalid or not supported.

You can open the TIF file within a Microsoft Word document to inspect it. From an open Word document, choose "Insert...Picture...From file..." and then choose your file.

I was exporting a graph in TIFF format when my system reported "Not enough memory".

You may have to reboot your computer to extricate yourself from the situation. And make sure that you are not trying to generate a larger file than necessary, either because the graph is larger than what will be needed, or because the resolution chosen is too high. Before exporting, reduce your graph to the size at which it will actually be published, or maintain the larger graph size and reduce the resolution setting proportionately. For example, if you export your graph at four times the ultimate publication size, the 300-dpi setting results in 1200-dpi resolution after reduction to publication size.

I can't open TIFF-format files exported by Prism 3 Mac in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator

TIFF files exported from Prism 3 Mac as Monochrome can be problematic.

There are two ways to work around this:
1. Double-click on the icon for the tiff file and it should open in the Picture Viewer. Choose "File...Copy", then open Photoshop and paste the TIFF into your document.

2. Open the Prism 3 project and export the graph again. This time make sure you select CMYK or RGB instead of Monochrome. Your TIFF will now open correctly.

When I ask Prism to export a TIFF-format file at a certain size, the file created is larger than it should be

Prism 4.02 for Windows consistently creates tiff files 22-23% larger than requested. (Prism 4.0b for Mac works correctly.) As a workaround, you can resize your TIFF images with PhotoShop. Alternatively, you can ask Prism to create files about 22% smaller than you really want. This should generate TIFF files about the size you want. Fixed in 4.03.

When I choose File Export from Prism 4 Mac, no file is exported (and no error message appears).

Prism Mac (version 3 and 4) uses the QuickTime program to export in tiff, jpeg, bmp and png formats (all but PICT). If the QuickTime program is damaged, you may find that no file is created and no message appears. To fix this, reinstall QuickTime which you can download free from:
www.apple.com/quicktime/download/