Everyday UseSoftware and Files

When you need quality prints, it's nice that your new digital camera can take 2.5MB e-pictures, but when you need to stick a handful of those pics in a document or turn them into a PowerPoint slideshow, those file sizes can make you feel like the ringmaster at an elephant show.

To compress a picture (or all the pictures) in a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation, do the following:

1. Start the application and open the document.
2. If you want to compress one specific picture, click it. If you want to compress all the pictures in the document, click any convenient picture.

If you want to compress more than one picture – but not all of them – you have to compress each one manually, separately.

3. Right-click the picture and choose Format Picture > Picture.

The Format Picture dialog box appears.

4. On the lower left, click the Compress button.

Office shows you the Compress Pictures dialog box.

5. Specify whether you want to compress just the one currently selected picture or all the pictures in the document.
6. Choose a resolution.

Web/Screen resolution is identified as 96 dpi (dpi being a term that's hard to define precisely because it doesn't translate directly into screen resolution). Suffice it to say that Web/Screen resolution looks good up to 1024 x 768, and reasonably good to 1280 x 1024 and even further. This is the leanest choice.

Print resolution is identified as 200 dpi. In practice, you can get a decent 4-x-6-inch print from pictures at this resolution, but at 6 x 9 and larger, they're too fuzzy. Not as lean as Web/Screen but still significantly squished.

No Change means that Office won't change the resolution but will delete cropped-out parts of the pictures, if so instructed (see the next step).

Select the Compress Pictures check box if you want Office to compress the pictures.

Leaving this check box clear is the same as choosing No Change in the preceding step. In other words, if this check box is clear, Office will strip off unused (cropped) parts of the pictures, but it won't reduce the resolution.

7. If you want Office to get rid of any cropped out parts of the picture(s), mark the Delete Cropped Areas of Pictures check box.

Normally, Office applications keep the cropped-out sections embedded in the document in case you edit the picture at some point in the future and want to reclaim some of the cropped-out part.

8. Click OK.

Office responds with a warning that's a little confusing (see Figure 1). In fact, compressing the pictures only reduces the quality of the pictures inside the document. Your original pictures are untouched.



Figure 1: A rather confusing warning. Don't worry – your original pictures are safe and sound.

9. Click Apply.

Office compresses and/or removes cropped areas from the indicated picture(s) inside the document.

As long as you know where to find the magic Compress button, compressing pictures in a document is fast and easy – and a great way to save time . . . not only for you but for whoever receives the document!

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