Resolution loss while copying image from Excel to Microsoft Paint

Question

Could somebody explain why there is resolution loss while copying picture from MS Office Applications (Excel/Word/Outlook) to Microsoft Paint?

To explain in details:

• I took a screenshot in Excel (Insert => Screenshot => Screen Clipping)
• I copied it to MS Paint
• I copied it back to MS Excel

The size of the new image (pasted from Paint) (height 2.04", width 4.71") is about half (or even less) the original size (height 5.11", width 11.78"). I have saved the two images in two different files and noticed that the file with the new image is 151 KB, where as the file with the original image is 287 KB.

To pinpoint, the resolution loss is occurring at the time of copying from Excel to Paint.

I am using Windows 10 and MS Office 2016. My laptop screen has 4k resolution.

I suspect this is an existing limitation in MS Paint as same thing doesn't happen if copied from Excel to Paint 3D (or from Excel to Outlook). MS Paint hasn't likely been adapted to the new 4k resolution standard, but there could be a solution to this which I am not aware of.

Also to be noted is that I don't have the same issue on my other laptop with HD screen resolution (instead ok 4K). I am able to copy an image from Excel to MS Paint and back to Excel without any loss in the image size.

Please advise.

Edit: as asked by @harrymc, the original image and the one pasted to MS Paint is attached below:

Original image:

Image after it was pasted to MS Paint:

More examples:

Based on comments, I think adding more examples can make the issue clearer. This time, I kept a smaller default canvas size so that there's no extra white space. If a larger image is pasted, Paint automatically enlarges the canvas size to fit the image.

Original image - size 41 KB - dimension 532 px x 222 px

Image, after pasted to MS Paint - size 8 KB - dimension 217 px x 92 px

Proof of size and dimension

Solution 1

If the problem is image quality :

The posted images are both of type JPEG. If this is the case, then every save in JPEG format will lose resolution. This format is lossy in the sense that every succeeding compression will cause some loss in image quality.

In addition, the two images are not of the same size, the second image actually larger than the first, so that pixel extrapolation will cause some further loss compared to the original.

If you wish for more accuracy, use a more evolved image editor than Paint, for example the free Paint.NET, and use a lossless format such as PNG (with or without compression).

---

If the problem is image size :

It is impossible that copy/paste changed the image size, so some other explanation is required.

The only explanations I can think of for the result of the above operation by the poster to be too small are:

1. The screenshot was taken of the image when it was displayed as zoomed-out, so smaller.
2. The paste was from a low-resolution image into a high-resolution one, which will make it look smaller.

In all cases, my advice is not to use screenshots for copying an image, but rather to export and import the image using the capabilities supplied by the products you are using.

Solution 2

Although I'm uncertain what causes this reduction in image size/resolution when copying from Excel, I was able to find a (somewhat hacky) workaround I thought it might be helpful to share. The key idea is that by digging into the file structure of the Excel document, we can retrieve the original image without having to pass through the clipboard.

1. Create a temporary copy of the Excel document you want to retrieve an image from. (Make sure your document is saved with a .xlsx extension.)
2. Change the extension of your copied Excel document from ".xlsx" to ".zip".
3. Within this zip file, you will find any images contained within the spreadsheet under the "xl/media" sub-directory. You can retrieve these images in the same way you would retrieve files from any zipped directory.

Comments

[Daniel B]

I don’t see how the issue is related to JPEG. It’s related to the clipboard transfer.

[harrymc]

The images you posted are in jpeg, although they may have been converted by imgur. But whatever the format, if you recompress images and in addition save them in different resolution, there will be quality loss. The clipboard is also not a good mechanism for transfer, since the format it uses internally is bmp, so the original jpeg (or whatever) is lost.

[Daniel B]

This isn’t about quality loss. It’s about the size in pixels of the visible image. The second image consists mostly of white pixels. The pasted part of the image is really small.

[harrymc]

@DanielB: Without some sort of manipulation, paste will not change the image size. It is possible that the screenshot was taken of a zoomed-out image so it was in effect smaller. Message to the OP: If this is the explanation, then do not use screenshots for copying images - rather export and import the images as-is.

[curious]

thanx harrymc for your post however, i tend to agree with @DanielB that the issue is related to the clipboard transfer. as i mentioned in my question, copying from excel to paint 3d n back to excel doesn't result in resolution loss. another pt - on my other laptop wch isnt 4k, i dont have any issue. i am able to copy from excel to ms paint n back without any resolution loss. i have updated my question with this finding

[jiggunjer]

This problem is obviously unrelated to image formats. The loss of visual resolution caused by jpeg does not cause actual data pixels to disappear. OP uses the word "resolution" to refer to the image size (pixel dimensions) which appears to change upon pasting into ms paint.

[harrymc]

@jiggunjer: No way that copy/paste changed the resolution. The only ways I can think of for the result to be too small are: (1) Screenshot of the image when displayed zoomed-out, (2) Paste from a low-resolution image into a high-resolution one will make it look smaller. The first one means user error, while the second one does relate to image formats.

[curious]

it changes resolution and as a result, the size of the image as well. if somebody can try on 4k, same result is expected. i have added more examples to the question to clarify

[harrymc]

A screenshot is no way to transfer an image and Paint is not an image editor. I understand that your problem is that Excel has no functionality to save images, so see these two methods.