Missing images in RH8 with linked Word files

Question

RH8 HTML and MS Word 2007
The images from linked Word documents are not showing up in my RH8 project.
Here's how the project is set up:
The RH project is in its standard location: C drive, in a subfolder underneath My RoboHelp Projects.
All content is included through the Link > Word Document option in RH.
MS Word source files are in a network location (because several other writers are maintaining the source content). There are about 20 MS Word source files.
I have an "Images" folder set up on the network at the same level as the source files, and we link the graphics into the MS Word files from there.
Through my forum research, I have found several suggestions that have have made RH recognize the images in my linked files (previously, we were simply inserting the images into the Word source files, so in RH, the image was ignored and there was simply a blank line with no graphic indicator at all). So I am now selecting Insert > Picture > Link to File as the method for building images into the MS Word source file. I have also found the suggestion to ensure that the images are retained in the document, by selecting Office Button > Prepare > Edit Links to Files, and then checking the option for "Save picture in document" for each of the linked pictures.
When I follow those methods, I now see a red-bordered box where the images should be, and the image file name is displayed in the box. However, I get an error message that says the image files used in each of the project htm files are "outside of the current project and will not be shown in Project Manager."
I cannot figure out where to place the images so that RH's Project Manager recognizes them as part of the project. RH does not automatically create an Images folder within Project Manager. I've tried creating one myself and placing images there (and then even linking my source files to the images within the project folder). But still no dice.
I have tried a volume of troubleshooting options--placing the linked source files and graphics within the project folder, leaving the source files on the network and placing copies in the project subfolders that RH creates after I link the source files into the project, etc etc etc. I've looked for a setting in RH that allows me to set a default location for images (never found one).
Ergo, lots of troubleshooting, and still only half a solution here.
I'd greatly appreciate it if anyone can shed some light. I am doing my best to avoid importing the graphics directly through RH because I want the online help to pick up the exact structure & content of the source files. This obviously negates the option for importing the Word content vs linking it in. In older versions of RH, I was at least accustomed to RH importing generically named images into the project regardless of whether they were copied directly into the Word file, but I see that this is not even an option when linking the source files into the project.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Best regards,
Athena

Answer 1

Hi Peter,
Thank you for the recommendations. I want to be sure I’m understanding “embedded” the correct way. Do you mean to insert the images directly into the file—i.e., selecting the MS Word option Insert Picture > Insert? Or do you mean to insert them by selecting Insert Picture > Link to File?
Also, could you let me know where in Windows Explorer I should attempt to trace the images? The image source files are stored with the content source files on my company network, in a separate sub-directory for Images (I have tested the build with all the files on my local drive as well). When I link the Word source files into RH and generate the topics, RH does not bring any images into the project folder within the My RoboHelp Projects directory on my local drive.
I have searched through all the project files/directories that RH creates (top-level project folder, as well as subfolders it creates for each Word linked file), and there are no image files (except for one that I placed in my RH master page). I have attached a screenshot of the project folder (MainProjectFolder.png) and one of the linked file sub-folders (LogBookProjectFolder.png).
The problem seems to be that RH is not recognizing an image as an image. RH knows there are supposed to be images in the htm topics because it does have the red box “placeholder” where the images should be, and the image names are displayed in the red boxes (see attached RH_Project.png screenshot). I have gone into the properties for an image and used the Image Name field to manually map to the directory that contains the source image. When I do that, the image then appears in the top-level project folder with the gold & green RH image icon, and it does then appear in the topic. But at that point, if I update the linked Word file, I lose the image again. I have set the topics with images to where they retain the RH image modifications I’ve done, but then the topic shows as broken in my TOC when I update the linked Word file, and those topics do not appear in the build at all when I generate the WebHelp.
Since RH also does not automatically create any kind of Images folder in the project during the process of linking and generating the source files, I have tried copy/pasting the source images into the top-level RH project folder prior to even linking/generating htm topics from the Word source files. But when I go to a topic and view the properties associated with the image placeholder, RH still does not display any of the image files I pasted into the project folder.
I am happy to provide my source file so that you can investigate this further. Please let me know if you need the file with the images inserted directly or if you need it with them linked in (in which case, I’ll send the image files too).
Thanks,
Athena