Automatically resize picture/image in Word?

Question

I'm using Microsoft Word 2007. I have several large screenshots that need to be inserted into the document at various places. When I paste the pictures, I have to manually resize them to fit within the margins of the document. This takes up too much of my time. I tried batch resizing the images before inserting them, so they were the right size, but it appears Word uses a higher dpi when printing, so those pictures came out blurry compared to the ones resized within Word.

So what I am looking for is if there is an option that makes Word automatically shrink large images when I paste them so that they are the width of the page (with correct aspect ratio). I'm using "in line with text," though I could use "tight" if necessary.

Again, this isn't a life-or-death thing. I could always manually resize the 30+ images. But it seems like there should be an easier way. Has anyone come across this?

(TL;DR: I'm looking for a way to automatically resize an image larger than page width to page width when pasted in Word.)

EDIT: When I try making an image 96dpi and pasting into Word, it shows up very small (but prints clearly). When I upscale it, it retains this clarity. But it still isn't pasted in as the correct size initially, which is what I'm looking for...

Solution 1

From Default Picture Settings :

If you have a need to format quite a few pictures using the same settings, the easiest approach is to create a quick-and-dirty macro to apply the formatting settings you want. You could then paste the picture, select it, and then run the macro. You can create such a macro by following these general steps:

1. Paste the picture in your document.
2. Select the picture you just pasted.
3. Start the macro recorder.
4. Make the size and position changes to the picture, as desired.
5. Stop the macro recorder.

Your macro is now ready to use. Whenever a new picture is pasted in your document, select it and run the macro to apply the "default" settings.

See also Assigning Shortcuts to Macros in Word 2007 :

If you really want to get the most out of your commonly used macros in Microsoft Word 2007, you can assign buttons or keyboard shortcuts to them so that the process of running these macros is even more efficient.

Solution 2

I find that a quicker way to do this is to just use F4 (or Ctrl-Y). Note that on this page it says that F4 will Repeat the last action, but Ctrl-Y will also do the same thing. On the Mac version (Office 2011) F4 does not work, so Cmd-Y is the only option.

So, insert all your images without worrying about their size. Then right click on the first image and select Size and Position. Set the width as desired, then click OK. Then select each of the subsequent images (left click on them) and simply press F4 or Ctrl-Y.

This same trick can also be used to repeatedly apply other changes or effects in the Size and Position or Format Picture dialogs to different pictures.

Solution 3

Word uses 96 dpi for images so if you resize your images to the correct size based on this you shouldn't notice any blurring.

i.e. for an A4 portrait page with 1cm margins, body width is 19cm, so image at 96 dpi should be resized to 718 pixels wide (19 / 2.54 * 96)

Solution 4

What I do in this case is insert one picture, resize it and set any other options I like. I then copy-paste this picture at all places in the document where I need a different picture with the same formatting. Finally I replace the pictures one-by-one using the right-click "Change picture" function of Word 2007. One snag is, that this option disappears upon saving your document in another format than docx (e.g. doc).

Solution 5

the macros in 2010 for images don't work. Nothing you do to an image in record mode ends up in the macro. I don't program in vbasic so this completely sucks. and paste in line with text changes nothing. way to break stuff MS!

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Comments

[NickAldwin]

Does it display the images at 96dpi too? Because when I paste the 96dpi version into Word, it shows up very small (but prints clearly). When I upscale it, it retains this clarity. But it still isn't pasted in as the correct size initially...

[NickAldwin]

I had to manually write the macro, since you can't edit pictures while recording, but it worked. (code: pastebin.com/UJtukBqE )

[Martin]

This solved my problems perfectly. Changed from 72dpi to 96 and it worked.

[NickAldwin]

It wasn't working well for me either. I ended up writing my own code. Give it a shot: pastebin.com/UJtukBqE

[outsideblasts]

+1 for F4! Never heard of that one before- genius! Unfortunately I don't think it works in this situation.

[Snowcrash]

F4 just opened up the Dashboard on the Mac.

[Brandon]

@SnowCrash I looked around some, and it appears that ctrl-y will also repeat the last action if there's nothing to redo (i.e. you didn't perform an undo immediately before). So, give command-y a try and see if that works on the Mac. I don't have a Mac to try it out on.

[Snowcrash]

Cmd Y does repeat an action in MS Word on the Mac. F4 does not.

[majinnaibu]

Try Fn + F4. If you get the dashboard or launchpad it's not really F4.