Link to graphic

[Deejay]

Is it possible to have a link to a graphic in an external file rather than
store the graphic in the file itself? If so, how is it done?

Many thanks

Using Word 2007

 

[Jay Freedman]

Is it possible to have a link to a graphic in an external file rather
than store the graphic in the file itself? If so, how is it done?

Many thanks

Using Word 2007

Use the Insert > Picture button on the ribbon. In the dialog, select
(single-click) the picture you want. Then click the down arrow at the right
end of the Insert button and choose Link from the menu that pops up.

The result in the document is actually an IncludePicture field containing
the path and filename of the external file. (The Alt+F9 shortcut toggles
between the field result and the field code.)

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Dawn Crosier, Word MVP]

When you click on the Insert tab, and then Picture and browse to your
picture, instead of double-clicking on the picture, click the down arrow
next to the Insert button and choose *Link to File*.

--
Dawn Crosier
Microsoft MVP
"Education Lasts a Lifetime"
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies and questions
to the newsgroup so that others can learn as well.

Is it possible to have a link to a graphic in an external file rather than
store the graphic in the file itself? If so, how is it done?

Many thanks

Using Word 2007

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.13/1170 - Release Date: 12/4/2007 10:52 AM

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.13/1170 - Release Date:
12/4/2007 10:52 AM

 

[Deejay]

Thanks a million to both of you. That help has saved me almost a mb on almost
every file in our firm.

 

[Deejay]

Thanks. Alt-F9 toggles the field codes in the doc but makes no different to
the graphics. How would I edit the link for the graphics? (In case it makes a
difference, the graphics are located in the header and footer.)

I would prefer to have the graphics located locally as otherwise the
computer must access the network and download the graphics each time a file
is opened. What is the path for a networked doc to link to the a file on the
local c drive?

Cheers!

 

[Jay Freedman]

Oh yes... I forgot that MS "helpfully" hid the field codes in 2007 (it
wasn't that way in 2003 and earlier). A macro is no help, either,
because VBA tells you there's no field there. As far as I can tell,
there is no way to edit the link after it's inserted; to change the
path in the link, you'd have to right-click the picture, choose Change
Picture, and select a different file.

Considering that people used to be able to make quick changes
throughout a document by displaying the field codes and using Edit >
Replace, this stinks. And I have no idea why this was done; it must
have cost MS quite a bit to do the programming and testing for
something that should never have been touched.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hmm. My bad. You _can_ read and change the path of a linked picture in
a macro. It's nowhere near as simple as using Edit > Replace, though,
and if you don't happen to be a programmer it's darn near impossible.

For those who want to study the problem, first you have to figure out
whether the picture of interest is an InlineShape or a Shape (floating
picture); then, using an object variable of the proper type, you can
alter its .LinkFormat.SourceFullName property. To do a whole document
in one pass, this can be done in a For Each loop (or maybe a pair of
loops, one for Shapes and one for InlineShapes).

 

[Deejay]

Thanks again. I suppose I could edit it on a computer with Word 2003 and then
save it as a 2007 format later or use in compatibility mode.

For once I do get my hands on Word 2003, can you please tell me the path to
refer to the local c: drive? The word doc will be located on the network but
the linked graphic will be on each individual computer so as to speed up file
opening etc.

 

[Jay Freedman]

"The path" is nothing more than C:\somefolder\myfile.jpg or whatever.
It doesn't depend at all on the storage location of the document --
once it's in memory, "C:" refers to the drive that's local to the
computer where Word is running.

 

[Deejay]

I've managed to sort my document out and it's all working fine, so thanks for
that. But I owe it to you to tell you that I've found how the source of a
link can be changed relatively easily.

If you go to the Word 2007 button, click Prepare: Edit Links to Files, there
is there a button to change the source of links and some other handy options.
I would assume that this can also be done in a macro.

 

[Jay Freedman]

I think the Edit Links dialog is OK for changing a few links at a
time, but you wouldn't want to do a few hundred that way because it
forces you to select each individual new file, one at a time, in the
Change Source dialog (the Open dialog clone).

Especially when the change is only in the folder or share, not the
file name, it was a one-step operation to use Replace on the field
codes. Now that links are no longer fields, you'd have to use the sort
of macro I described if you want to avoid the dialog. And no, there
isn't a macro equivalent of the Edit Links dialog, at least nothing
that's documented in the What's New section of VBA Help.

I'd be delighted to be proved wrong, but I think this is one of those
features that wasn't completed for lack of time.