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Simple extraction of images from Word |
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Once an image is included in a
Word document (as opposed to being linked to it), it becomes part of that
document. Extracting that image for re-use, is not insurmountable. You can,
for example, save the document as a web
page, which will separate the component parts out of the document as
files (from Word 2000 on), or you could use the following ingenious method
which fellow Word MVP Suzanne Barnhill came across, which only appears
to have one minor caveat mentioned below at the relevant point.
The method which works in
both Word 2003 and 2007 (and probably earlier versions) on the Windows
XP platform. I have not tested it with Windows Vista. It entails simply
selecting the image and, with the left mouse button depressed, dragging
it to a visible part of the Windows desktop. Obviously you will have to
have Word windowed at the time in order to be able to see a part of the
desktop. |
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When you release the mouse
button you will see the following dialog: |
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On clicking yes, you will be
given the option to save the image in a folder of your choice. The
original image name is not retained. You can either choose the name
offered or use your own name. |
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Having clicked 'Save' you
will be presented with a further dialog. On this dialog select 'No'.
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| Note: |
I tested
the effect of selecting 'Yes' and found that it screwed up my desktop
settings to such an extent that I had to perform a System Restore to get
it back as I had had it previously. I didn't bother to test it again. |
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The image is saved at the
same size as the original image. Compare the full size screen capture at
the start of this method, with the finished item below: |
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| Extract using Word
2007 |
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Word 2007's new file format
is XML and when you save a document in Word 2007's default DOCX format,
you are in effect saving a zip file that contains all the elements of
the document. You can easily extract the files from that zipped file by
opening it with a zip utility such as
WinRar or Winzip
- or if you change the file extension from DOCX to ZIP recent
Windows versions should be able to open it directly.
The image files themselves
are stored in a sub folder called Media and can be extracted and renamed
for re-use: |
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Note: |
You can use this method
to extract images from DOC format documents, provided you save them from
Word 2007 as DOCX format with the compatibility option unchecked first. |
| An alternative
method using html |
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This essentially similar method
may be used with Word 2007, but the above method is simpler, so the
following is more applicable to Word 2003 and earlier. It relies on the
fact that html is also comprised of a number of separate elements,
though in this case the folders are not compressed. |
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The File menu has an
option to save as a web page. The default option for this function is
the single page web format, hence the suggestion to save the document in
the manner described. |
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The images will be saved in
a sub folder of the folder into which the document is saved which will
have a name based on the filename chosen i.e. <Filename>_files.
This is the default setting and is controlled from Tools > Options >
General > Web Options (see illustration). |
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Save the document as a web
page (File > Save As). In the following example, I
have used the name Extract.htm. The sub folder in this case will
therefore be called Extract_files. |
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The files will not be visible in the 'save as' dialog, but
you can view them in the file > open dialog with the file type set to
'all files' (as below), the Insert Picture dialog or by using Windows
Explorer. |
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Note: |
This alone will extract the
images, but the original resolution no longer applies. You can improve
the resolution of the extracted images by setting the web options from
the 'Tools' sub menu of the file save window (or from Word Tools >
Options > General > Web Options. |
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Select the 'Pictures' tab and
choose the largest screen size available, and in the 'Pixels per
inch' box, type '300' - see illustration: |
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The resulting image may not have the resolution of the
originally inserted image, but it should produce an acceptable image file. |
| PowerPoint |
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Word users
with PowerPoint can use that application as an aid to extracting images
individually with the possibility of improving the resolution compared
with the above quick and dirty method.
Select the
image in the Word document and paste it into an otherwise blank
PowerPoint slide. Right click the resulting image and choose Save as
Picture. |
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This
provides the option to save the image in a number of compatible formats
of which EMF (Enhance Windows Metafile) may produce the best results. |
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| Note: |
An alternative approach has been
developed by fellow MVP Stephen
Lebans, which is well worth investigating. |
