Exporting chromatograms to Microsoft Word

[lindas]

Hi,

I'm having trouble exporting chromatograms and mass spectra to Microsoft Word for editing. When I copy the window, or if I use the CLIP command, the chromatogram that gets pasted onto my Word document does not exactly resemble the one I see on the screen. For example, the labels on the y-axis are different, and the resolution of the graphics also seems a bit poorer. Has anyone ever encountered this problem and successfully resolved it?

Thanks a lot

[GasMan]

Which data system are you using?

Gasman

[Dan]

As GasMan noted, you need to tell the forum what your data system is for us to troubleshoot if the problem is with it.

However, you may be having the problem in MS Word.

After you use whatever graphics copy command in your data system. You would then paste into Word. But do not use the "paste" command. When you use "paste", Word will recognize the file type for the image but it cannot dsiplay it correctly as the data system software is not part of Word.

In Word, use the "paste special" command and select to paste the image in as a picture. This way, Word will convert the image into a format that Word can display properly.

Try this. If it doesn't work, then your problem is in the manner that you are copying from your data system. We need more information to troubleshoot that.

Regards,
Dan

[lindas]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention that I'm using an Agilent GC/MS so I'm working with Chemstation version D.

I've tried both just pasting and the "paste special" function, but both give me the same problem. I have also tried this with both WordPad and Microsoft Word.

The problem with the axis labels does not consistently occur. It occurs only when I zoom in on the chromatogram. However, it occurs frequently enough to be a problem. Contacting Agilent has so far yielded no help whatsoever, unfortunately.

[Dan]

lindas,

I just wanted to double check about the use of the 'paste special' command.

When you used the "paste special" command in MS Word, did you select an option other than the default one shown by Word? If you leave the default option selected, then the 'paste special' works exactly the same as the 'paste'. You need to change the paste special option to picture (windows metafile), picture (JPEG), Word Object, etc.

If you already haven't done so, then try the paste special with various options, usually one of those options will work.

Of course, if these Word options do not work, then you need to return to the ChemStation to see if the problem can be resolved there. I am not familiar enough with this software to know all of the copy command options. However, there should be a simple 'copy' or 'copy graphics image' command.

Regards,
Dan

[lindas]

Hi Dan,

Yes, our paste special option is now an enhanced windows metafile.

we are using the simplest copy window command, which doesnt copy exactly what is on the screen... it's strange...

[moino]

if the screen resolution is OK for you, you could take a screenshot (PRINT key), then paste it into Word and crop the area of interest (e.g. graph).

[GasMan]

Lindas,

I work with the GC ChemStation and I have to prepare many manuals in MS Word where I need chromatograms. I use the following procedure, which will need MS PowerPoint.

Copy the chromatogram to the clipboard.

Open up PowerPoint with a new blank page. Paste in the chromatogram, using 'Paste Special'. Paste in as a Picture WMF.

Resize the picture so that it fits on your page and then right click on the picture and then choose 'Grouping' and then 'Ungroup'. You will get a popup asking you if you wish to convert to a drawing object. Answer yes.

You may notice that peaks that were off scale and were cut off now appear full size. You will deal with these later.

Again right click and choose 'Grouping' and 'Ungroup'.

You may now change anything you need to on the chromatogram, fonts, font size, color of chromatogram, remove or add detail, etc.

When you have finished everything, click on 'Edit' in the menu bar and then 'Select All'. Right click on the picture and choose 'Grouping' and 'Group'.

Click on 'File' and 'Save As' and save the picture in a temporary directory as a picture, .bmp or .wmf for example.

Delete the drawing that you have in PowerPoint and then load the picture back into PowerPoint using the 'Insert' menu.

Right click on the picture and choose 'Format Picture' and select the 'Picture' tab in the resulting window. You can now crop the picture and remove the peaks off scale and the excess 'white' margins.

When finished , select all, copy and then paste into Word. I recommend pasting in as a picture.

Hope this helps.

Gasman

[lindas]

Hi Gasman,
Thanks for your very detailed reply. I tried using PowerPoint as you described, but I believe the problem lies in the copying step. By just copying and then pasting, the pasted picture I get is already not exactly the same as what I see on the screen, regardless of whether I paste it in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Do you know of any other way to copy chromatograms out of Chemstation?


Printing screen is an option, but our axis labels lie very close to the edge of the window, so when cropping out the chromatogram, the axis labels often get chopped off in the process so the resultant chromatogram is a little unprofessional-looking..

[GasMan]

Maybe we are talking at cross purposes.

When you say that it is 'not exactley like the screen' when you paste. what are you expecting. I can get a chromatogram, which as a chromatogram is correct, but the overall picture is not the same as a screen shot.

Are using GC ChemStation or the MSD ChemStation

Gasman

[lindas]

I am using the MSD Chemstation.

Here are some examples of "not exactly what I see on the screen" :

1) For example, on the chromatograms, the y-axis labels are 0, 5000, 10000, 15000 etc. However, after copying and pasting, the picture that is pasted has y-axis labels of 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000,5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000, etc, making the y-axis look cramped.

2) For a mass spectrum, for example, on the screen, the mass spectrum shows that the m/z ions of 57, 95 and 108 are labelled, but when I paste it, I see that same spectrum with some ions being labelled but not others, perhaps 57 and 95 will be labelled but not 108.

I'm not sure why I can't get the exact replica of what I see on the screen...

[GasMan]

I am not familiar with the MSD ChemStation, so I am afraid that I can not help you on this point.

However, if you follow my earlier instructions you should be able to remove the extra labels on the axis and add the peak labeling that is missing.

Gasman

[Bruce Hamilton]

I've never used MS version of Chemstation, but are you saving the report ( and image ) on the screen to the hard disk before you try to export?. It's posible the export software is grabbing the file from the hard disk, not the screen.

It almost sounds like you are exporting an image that has default integration parameters, rather than the version on the screen. It may also be that your screen version of the report is being saved elsewhere, and the software is grabbing the file from a default directory.

Bruce Hamilton

[mbicking]

I have encountered similar problems with some versions of the standard GC and LC ChemStations. When you zoom in or change the size of the orginal, the pasted image is not always the same.

I think this is just a problem with the copy feature in the ChemStation. It really only wants to copy the "standard" display format. The "copy" process is not a simple screen capture; the program is actually assembling the picture and placing the data in the clipboard. That's why it will paste back as a meta file, not a bitmap.

If you have to have things displayed just as they are on the screen, then buy a graphics program that will do a screen capture. (I use Paint Shop Pro from Corel. Cheap and easy to use for captures.) Of course, your actual resolution will be limited by what is on your screen, so the printed version may not always look as nice.

[moino]

I completely agree with mbicking, however there is no need for an additional software: Just press the "PRINT" key (usually above the numpad), then paste (e.g. Ctrl-V) into your application.

(there are also a number of freeware tools for simple image manipulation like cropping, adjusting brightness, converting to other file formats etc. A good one is IrfanView http://www.irfanview.net/ , but any other should work, too). If I want to save it as a file, I just paste it into Irfan and save it as PNG (not JPG: smearing of contours).