In Word 2007, it was possible to have an image automatically scale to fit into a table cell when you pasted it, as long as the table was set to have fixed-size columns. This was extremely handy when doing software documentation, because I could grab a screenshot then just paste it into a table with no formatting needed.

In Word 2010, the image is pasted at actual size. This would lead to a ton of manual image resizing.

Is it possible to duplicate the Word 2007 behaviour in 2010?

If you set the table up with an exact row height and with the "Automatically resize to fit contents" box unchecked (Table Tools>Table Properties>Options), then an image that is inserted into the table will be sized to fit into the available space.

-- Hope this helps.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP,
dkr[atsymbol]mvps[dot]org
Posted via the Community Bridge

"Ian McLellan" wrote in message news:82023079-f911-4e23-9ac5-f2e0ae120826@communitybridge.codeplex.com...

In Word 2007, it was possible to have an image automatically scale to fit into a table cell when you pasted it, as long as the table was set to have fixed-size columns. This was extremely handy when doing software documentation, because I could grab a screenshot then just paste it into a table with no formatting needed.

In Word 2010, the image is pasted at actual size. This would lead to a ton of manual image resizing.

Is it possible to duplicate the Word 2007 behaviour in 2010?

I find that Word 2010 still behaves the way older versions did -- select a column or a cell, click Table Tools > Layout > AutoFit > Fixed Column Width, and any pictures inserted or pasted into that
column will automatically be scaled to fit into the column width.

On Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:01:58 +0000, Jay Freedman <jay.freedman@verizon.net> wrote:

I find that Word 2010 still behaves the way older versions did -- select a column or a cell, click Table Tools > Layout > AutoFit > Fixed Column Width, and any pictures inserted or pasted into that
column will automatically be scaled to fit into the column width.

My apologies. Word 2010 acts this way  only for pictures inserted through the Insert > Picture dialog. Pasted pictures come in at 100%.

Wonderful -- another useful feature broken. That's at least a half dozen now.

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.  Can you tell me the build number of Word you are using?  Also are you setting the Table Properties in your steps or are you setting the Column preferred width?

Also, are the results you are seeing is that larger images are not made smaller? The image appears concatenated within the cell?  Or smaller images are not resized to fit the column width?

Thank you for your time in answering my questions

Hi Adrian, thanks for checking in.

Version details:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
both Office versions are 32-bit:
Word 2007 build 12.0.6535.5002 (SP2)
Word 2010 build 14.0.4761.1000

Steps to reproduce:
1. Insert a 3x3 table in a new blank document (US letter, portrait) giving 2" column widths.
2. Select the whole table.
3. Click Table Tools > Layout > AutoFit > Fixed Column Width.
4. Select any single cell in the table.
5. In any other program (I'm using IrfanView), open a picture whose width would be greater than 2" at its current pixel count and native resolution. Copy the picture to the clipboard.
6. Return to Word and paste the picture into the cell.

Result in Word 2007: The picture is resized smaller so its width fits within the cell's width. The height of the cell increases to the resized height of the picture (the aspect ratio is maintained).

Result in Word 2010: The picture is not resized; it's truncated at the fixed column width. The height of the cell increases to the  original height of the picture (again maintaining the aspect
ratio).

A comparison of the results can be seen in these screen shots:
http://cid-41770ea1a35bc44d.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Screenshots/word2007pic%5E_in%5E_table.jpg
http://cid-41770ea1a35bc44d.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Screenshots/word2010pic%5E_in%5E_table.jpg

As mentioned before, both versions behave the same (resizing the picture to fit the cell) if I use Insert > Picture instead of pasting from the clipboard.

If you set the table up with an exact row height and with the "Automatically resize to fit contents" box unchecked (Table Tools>Table Properties>Options), then an image that is inserted into the table will be sized to fit into the available space.

-- Hope this helps.

Doug,

Thanks for this. It will help in some situations. I hadn't thought of locking down the entire cell size like that, even though it requires a bit of playing to get the right height and requires all the screenshots to be the same size. It's a bit of a change from the straghtforward <ALT><PrtSc>, <CTRL><V> workflow though.

Hi Adrian, thanks for checking in.

Version details:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
both Office versions are 32-bit:
Word 2007 build 12.0.6535.5002 (SP2)
Word 2010 build 14.0.4761.1000

I'll second Jay's version details here. It's the same OS and Word builds in play. I've also seen identical behaviour on 32-bit Windows 7 and Office 2003/2007/2010 as well, though I don't have those build numbers handy.

I've been following the same workflow as well, with the exception that most of what has been an issue for me have been straight screenshots from an ALT-PrtSc or Ctrl-Alt-<->.

Thank you for reporting your concern  and bringing this issue to our attention.  We appreciate the time and effort you took in providing clear and accurate information which allows us to test  the issue within  our product.   

Thank you for your images and steps.  I will enter this issue into our database for future review for product issues.

Currently, the following workaround is available:

Select the Entire Table

Right Click | Table Properties

On the Column tab of the dialog, set the column widths to 1 then set the preferred width to 1.0

Click next for each column.

On the Table tab, click the Options button; in that dialog, uncheck the "Automatically resize" option

Click OK

Now pasting larger pictures in does resize the image.

One Caveat the cell margins do appear to be incorrect. 

Thank You

Adrian, thanks for passing this along.

Unfortunately, when I tried your workaround in Word 2010, I got the same sort of truncated picture that was shown in my earlier screen shot. It appears that the only workaround that succeeds is to
save the picture to a disk file and then use Insert > Picture.

As Jay stated, this workaround doesn't work.

Looking at the behaviour in Word 2010 with some limited testing, it appears that while Word will ensure that the column does not automatically resize and instead scales the image, it appears to base the horizontal scaling of the pasted image on the width of the entire table, rather than the width of the cell it is being pasted into.

If the width of the image being pasted is smaller than the cell being pasted into, then no scaling is done -- and this is right.

If the width of the image being pasted is larger than the cell being pasted into, but smaller than the width of the entire row, then no scaling is done -- which is incorrect behaviour.

If the width of the image being pasted is larger than the entire row (and thus the cell being pasted into), then the image is scaled down proportionally to a width that would fit the row, but not down enough to fit within the cell.

As a result, the pasting works but only when the table is one cell wide. If the table contains multiple columns, it doesn't work properly.

EDIT: Actually, looking at it a little further, it's behaving even worse than I expected. The horizontal scaling is based on a fixed maximum image width of about 16.5cm (or 6.5"... I assume this is based on an 8.5" wide page with 1" margins). It doesn't pay attention to cell width, table width, margins, page orientation or anything of use -- the horizontal scaling will always be 100% until the image is over 16.5cm wide and any image wider than that will be scaled down until it is 16.5cm wide.

Ian.

To replicate the misscaling in an obvious fashion:

• Create a new document.
• Set the page orientation to Landscape. (Page Layout tab, Orientation, Landscape)
• Create a new table that is 1 cell wide. (Insert tab, Table, 1x1) This table should automatically be the width of the page less the margins, or 9" based on a US Letter page.
• Take a screenshot. (ALT-PrtSc)
• Paste it into the cell.

The pasted image will be scaled down, but will actually be *narrower* than the width of the cell being pasted into, since it's being restricted by the artificial 6.5" limit, not the 9" of the cell itself.

Also, it will misscale the image whether the Table option "Automatically Resize to fit contents" option that started this discussion is enabled or not.

Thank you for your details.  I have marked this issue in our database for further review.  I have attached your screenshots as well.

You are correct in that the workaround does no longer appears to work.   Again thank you for your time and effort in bringing this to our attention.

Would it be possible for you to provide a sample IrfanView Image?

How about pasting the image into a TextBox.  In Word 2010, an Alt+Prt Sc image is then re-sized to fit in the TextBox.

-- Hope this helps.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP,
dkr[atsymbol]mvps[dot]org
Posted via the Community Bridge

"Ian McLellan" wrote in message news:cca8ea01-9521-447d-ae6d-7a17dab8f49c@communitybridge.codeplex.com...

From my purposes, there are no sample images to supply; I'm simply trying to do a print screen (well, an ALT-PrtSc to grab the current window or CTRL-ALT-(minus) to grab the current window from an RDP session) and then pasting the resulting image into Word 2010. I'm avoiding the use of any outside software if possible.

How about pasting the image into a TextBox.  In Word 2010, an Alt+Prt Sc image is then re-sized to fit in the TextBox.

Hi

My understanding of the issue is that you have a three column table into which you want to place a screenshots in the middle column, and that the pasted image must scale to fit the table cell automatically, with no manual resizing.

As you are using 2010 have you tried to aquire your screen shots using Screenshot in the Illustration group on the Insert Tab?

I find that if the table is set to have prefered column widths and the table properties are set to not Automatically resize to contents, as per the suggestion first made by Doug Robbins, that screen shots collected this way will not exceed the width of the column as specified (Preferred width).

My understanding of the issue is that you have a three column table into which you want to place a screenshots in the middle column, and that the pasted image must scale to fit the table cell automatically, with no manual resizing.

As you are using 2010 have you tried to aquire your screen shots using Screenshot in the Illustration group on the Inser

Glad that helps.

Can you not run the RDP session in a window? If you can then the Screen clipping option below the display of available windows will allow you to select the section of the screen you want to capture.  Might need some carefull window positioning but it could work.

Hi all

I ran into the same problem and have created some simple VBA code which seems to solve it for me - thought I'd post it in case it's helpful.

My scenario is that I'm regularly pasting pictures (typically screen clippings) into a template that has a table which is always the same width.  The macro pastes the clipboard, selects the picture and then adjusts the size if it's above a certain limit (370 in this case).  I've set the macro to be activated when I press CTRL + SHIFT + V or alternatively you could add it as a button in the toolbar.

Works fine for my needs but will need some refinement if you're pasting into a variety of different sized cells.  Also note that you'll get an error if the contents of the clipboard don't represent a picture - again some refinement could get around this.

CODE

Sub Picture_Resize()
'
' Picture_Resize Macro
'
'

    Selection.Paste
    Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
    If Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width > 370 Then
        Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width = 370
    End If


End Sub

Hope that helps

Simon

Hi All,

Got the same issue here also. Do alot of documentation. That feature is working nice. Did anyone fix this issue? I tried like everything but won't autosize in table. Same table works in Office 2007.

I use the snipping tool but image isn't resized. The VB code is okay but i mean it's copy paste. It worked in office 2007. How come word 2010 isn't working the

Hi,

I am new here but found the same problem.

My work around is not to Paste it but to "Paste Special" it.

I paste special it as either "Picture (Windows Metafile)" or "Picture (Enhanced Metafile)", whichever is on the list.  It seems to depend on where you paste it from.

I hope this helps someone.

Oh yeah, I have the "Automatically resize to fit contents" under "Tables Properties"/"Options" switched off.

Hi there,

My workaround is to paste the larger image into a custom set margin of one staging document to get the desired automatic scaling affect, and then copy+paste the scaled image into the destination document.

Anyway, FYI that I got reply from "Microsoft Answers" that the problem has the following status as of March06,2011 -

"It's somewhere in Microsoft's bug database, but there's no indication that a fix is being worked on."

Bump...

Sure would be nice if this got fixed sometime soon...  Sure does slow you down quite a bit when doing large amount of documentation for customers...

Anyone know if this was fixed in SP1?  I did not see any mention of it in the notes but it could have been slid in unannounced.

Sad face if it is not...

:-( Sad face indeed. The bug's not fixed. Guess I can't get rid of my Word 2007 VM yet

Hello,

It's a regression. We create technical documentation every day and this limitation has a negative impact on our work. Is there somebody from Microsoft who can answer us about this regression?

Thanks in advance.

Hi !

I think that Word 2010 is a great evolution of word. But i don't really understand why then deleted important features such as the automatic picture scaling into a table !

I hope that a patch will correct this...

Meanwhile, i use a VBA macro thanks to Simon G Reid. I modified it a little, and I use it with keyboard short-cuts. I have one macro for each size of table :

• 2 column table
• 3 column table
• ...

Here is the code for the 2 column table macro (copy first the picture in the Clipboard). Then clic in the table cell, and run the macro. It will past and resize the picture.

Sub Macro_2colomn2()

    Selection.PasteAndFormat (wdPasteDefault)
    Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
   
    '2 colomns
    Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width = 235

End Sub

I hope this will help some of you, waiting for a update from the Microsoft office team.

Still same issue with SP1. I use the insert option now. It works, cost me some more time but it works. I hope MS will fix this soon.

This feature unfortunately still doesn't work for me. I am running version 14.0.606.5005. Any updates? 

Hi Microsoft,

Desired functionality still not restored in verison 14.0.6123.5001. This feature was available in Word 2003 as well as 2007. May we have a status on it's restoration? Like others here, I produce documentation, and having to resize every screenshot is cumbersome at best.

Simon G Reid - many thanks for the macro!

Kind regards - Brad

This thread has been around since AUGUST 2010 and Microsoft STILL has not addressed this issue??  

I've been testing this on Word2013 and am extremely disapointed that they did not restore this feature!    What would it take to get them to apply a patch to restore this extremely useful feature that worked in 2007? 

Very frustrated that Microsoft hasn't bothered to fix this bug that they acknowledged a couple of years ago.  

Has anyone found an alternate solution besides the Simon Reid macro posted over two years ago? 

In Word 2007, it was possible to have an image automatically scale to fit into a table cell when you pasted it, as long as the table was set to have fixed-size columns. This was extremely handy when doing software documentation, because I could grab a screenshot then just paste it into a table with no formatting needed.

In Word 2010, the image is pasted at actual size. This would lead to a ton of manual image resizing.

Is it possible to duplicate the Word 2007 behaviour in 2010?

Using Word 2010, you can drag a picture from your picture gallery in microsoft windows and have it automatically resize to fit your table cells by selecting the following attributes in word.

open word and create table,

click on file tab, scroll down left side click options,

choose advanced,

select drop down box for insert/paste pictures as: in line with text"

open word and put cursor in desired table cell, open up the picture location and drag it into the table cell.

I have the .5000 version and the same problem,

The workaround I have used is

to retain  the "automatically resize to fit contents",

infact, retain default options and use the "paste special" option suggested earlier with "device independent bitmap" 

resize the images to a standard width and double click on the cells to automatically resize the cell to the image

more troublesome than Word 2007 but I was making a table for my daughter and for this, it was sufficient :)

Hi all,

I have optimized the proposed macro so that it works automatically with all sizes of cell widths. The margin can be easily adjusted.

Sub Picture_Resize()
'
' Picture_Resize Macro
'
'

    Selection.Paste
    Selection.MoveLeft Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=1, Extend:=wdExtend
   
    Margin = 12 ' *** Adjust here for margin width ***
   
    PictureWidth = Selection.Cells.Width - Margin
    If Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width > PictureWidth Then
        Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width = PictureWidth
    End If

End Sub

Kind regards,

Michael

Hi all,

and if you have already pasted an image into a cell and it is too big, use the following macro to resize an already existing image to fit the width to the cell size.

Sub Picture_Resize2()
'
' Picture_Resize Macro (resize existing image within cell)
'
'
   
    Margin = 12 ' *** Adjust here for margin width ***
   
    PictureWidth = Selection.Cells.Width - Margin

    Selection.InlineShapes(1).Width = PictureWidth

End Sub

With kind regards,

Michael