Send Report to Outlook = ugly JPEG compression

[zeroaccess]

Hey all,

I have a great report going and it prints well, but on sending to email, the generated .pdf uses jpeg compression and it looks pretty bad. The images (a couple of logos) look low resolution and are surrounded by artifacts.

I have tried both the macro and the VBA methods and they appear the same. Any idea how to control pdf quality?

 

[GinaWhipp]

Probably not the answer you were hoping but I switched to PNG's and have not had that issue since.

 

[zeroaccess]

Probably not the answer you were hoping but I switched to PNG's and have not had that issue since.

Good thought, but they are PNGs! Something during the generate PDF stage is uglifying them.

 

[GinaWhipp]

Hmm, odd. Are you using the Image Control on your Report? And do you have it set to to Zoom or Clip? I use Clip.

 

[zeroaccess]

One of them is a clip, the other is a zoom. Both have the ugliness on the pdf. I think its doing some downsampling and compression. I know when I save a PDF myself, I have the option to adjust that kind of thing:

I would love to find a way to set those options.

 

[GinaWhipp]

The best you will get is...

DoCmd.OutputTo method (Access)

Office VBA reference topic

docs.microsoft.com

It's just odd that PNG's eliminated that problem for me but not for you and I do nothing special.

 

[zeroaccess]

I just created two command buttons on the Report.

Using the macro ExportWithFormatting or VBA:

DoCmd.OutputTo acOutputReport, , acFormatPDF, "C:\Temp\Report.pdf", True, , , acExportQualityPrint

I get nice crisp icons. The key is the acExportQualityPrint. If I use the button with QualityScreen I get the ugliness. That is because it is using the lower quality settings as shown above during the save process (invisible to user).

There doesn't seem to be a way to set this switch with SendObject or EmailDatabaseObject. If you find a way, I would be grateful!

Otherwise, I suppose the workaround would be to use more VBA to open a new email, attach the saved PDF, and set the subject line. It doesn't make sense that we would have to do this, since we already have a function for it! I also do not know how.

 

[GinaWhipp]

I never use those buttons. I save the file to a predetermined path, attach to eMail and then delete once the eMail has been sent except where keeping a copy is required to hold revision information. Then you really don't have to open the eMail unless you want your Users to input some text.

 

[zeroaccess]

And I do. The user needs to chose who will receive the email (not the same each time) and input their own personal jingle in the body.

So you must have a command button with a routine that combines the best of both approaches? Save as high quality with DoCmd.OutputTo, then attach to new email and set the subject line? I'm curious about the VBA for the email part.

 

[GinaWhipp]

I do not need to include the extra part about image quality as I said before, do not have that problem. I have a button that opens a Form that shows the attached file and allows the User to select the Recipient and enter the body, Subject Line already entered, and send. I also have it so it just puts in a predetermined message and subject, attaches the file and sends the eMail. Hmm, plus a few other assorted variations.

Here is one that loops a recordset...

Access Diva Looping Records to Send eMail

Access-Diva provides custom databases using Microsoft Access utilizing SQL Server when called for.

www.access-diva.com

See is this works for you for the eMail part.