Inserting picture creates too large file size

[karen110]

Hi, using Word 2003 I'm inserting JPG files into my document, and finding
that the file size is increasing tremendously. Is this normal?

For example, I have a JPG that is 42 KB. I insert this into a .doc file
that is 556 KB. Now the file is 1,892 KB. I have a quite a few more JPG's
to insert, and soon it will become very cumbersome. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Karen

 

[RobertVA]

Hi, using Word 2003 I'm inserting JPG files into my document, and finding
that the file size is increasing tremendously. Is this normal?

For example, I have a JPG that is 42 KB. I insert this into a .doc file
that is 556 KB. Now the file is 1,892 KB. I have a quite a few more JPG's
to insert, and soon it will become very cumbersome. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Karen

That depends on what you plan to do with the document.

IF the image is already stored in a location the persons using the
document will be able to access you might be able to "link" to the file
instead of embedding it. Look for a "Link to File" check box on the
"Insert Picture" dialog.

Theoretically:

Embedded objects (can be pictures, spreadsheets or a number of other
things) become part of your Word document. In some cases images might be
converted to a storage HUNGRY bitmap format.

Linked objects remain separate files. IF you edit the linked object you
will be opening the application associated with that file type. Even if
you open the linked file directly from the desktop, "Start" menu or a
Windows Explorer folder the changes you make in the linked file will
appear in the Word document. WARNING persons needing the combined Word
document and the linked image will NEED to have access to the linked
object in the location where it was when you linked the image to the
word document. I'm not sure if there's a procedure to have the link
update when you need to send both files through an email, FTP transfer
or sneaker net.

 

[karen110]

Hi Robert,

Thanks.. I need to email the document, so I don't think that linking will
work. I tried scanning the pic directly to Word instead of creating a JPG
first, and then did Cut/Paste special, and found that GIF produced the
smallest size. A bit pixellated, but for this purpose it's okay.

So I suppose this will work, if there's no better solution. But I was so
surprised that inserting the small JPG into Word increased the file size by
so much more than the size of the JPG itself.

-Karen

 

[Vinay Cardoza]

Hi Karen,
The easiest way to reduce the file size is to do the following

1. Open the gigantic document and do a Select All ( Ctrl + a)
2. Open a new document, paste ( Ctrl + v) and save the new document.

The new document's size will be small enough. I have been doing this
regularly and the formatting remains intact. Please check if it works for you.

Regards,
Vinay