I think you may have been misled somewhere along the way. Please see the
interjections below:
Ron H said:
When I use INSERT>PICTURE>FROM FILE and select a jpeg, bmp, or any other
picture format it inserts it as HTML.
No, it doesn't... Word uses the appropriate filter to insert the file based
on the file type & generates its own display image. HTML isn't really an
image file format, it's a page description language.
The only way I can get it pasted as a
picture is to paste as above, then cut it and paste-special and select
picture!!
Everything in the Paste Special dialog pastes a 'picture' of some sort, but
the choice you make is telling Word how to interpret what is on the
clipboard. That's because Word is *not* a graphics editing program & because
when you copy the image is 'stripped' of its identity (file type) and
converted for display purposes. You're re-pasting as a Windows Enhanced
Metafile, which is not a viable image format outside of Windows (pretty much
outside MS Office). This relates to one of your other concerns below.
How can I set the default paste format to picture?
You can't.
Understand that this is a
problem because in the HTML format, the "edit picture" option on the right
click is greyed out and not available...
'Edit Picture' isn't usually available for *any* of the image formats in
that dialog _other than_ Enhanced Metafile. If you proceed with the Edit
Picture command you will be further informed that the image will be
converted to a MS Office Drawing Object - because that's the only thing the
word processing program has the tools to modify [read as: mangle]. Word
can't edit a JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc. just like PhotoShop & Illustrator can't
do footnotes, endnotes, Tables of Contents, etc. Anything you do from that
point on will most likely destroy what little quality the image may have
retained up to that point... at least for quality printed output.
The best help I can offer: Edit your images using the appropriate software
designed for that purpose. Finalize them *there* in terms of print
dimensions, resolution & color mode, *then* insert them as finished products
in your doc. There are a number of decent ones available as
freeware/shareware & some darn fine ones at a reasonable purchase price,
such as Adobe Photshop Elements @ US $89.99, which is full retail price. It
goes down from there.