Default Picture Settings

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 10, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Many people paste pictures in their documents. Some people paste many, many pictures. It would be very beneficial for those people if the settings used by Word to paste a picture were persistent—in other words, Word remembered the size used to paste a picture or the position, and then used it for subsequent pictures.

Word does not have such a capability, however. When you paste a picture, size is not persistent because the ratio between picture height and width can vary wildly from one picture to another. Positioning is not persistent because many page layouts call for pictures to be in different positions on the page. The only thing that is persistent is the setting of the "Float Over" check box on the Insert Picture dialog box.

If you have a need to format quite a few pictures using the same settings, the easiest approach is to create a quick-and-dirty macro to apply the formatting settings you want. You could then paste the picture, select it, and then run the macro. You can create such a macro by following these general steps:

Paste the picture in your document.
Select the picture you just pasted.
Start the macro recorder.
Make the size and position changes to the picture, as desired.
Stop the macro recorder.

Your macro is now ready to use. Whenever a new picture is pasted in your document, select it and run the macro to apply the "default" settings.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (671) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Data Source File in Word 2003

The security features introduced in Word 2003 resulted in a change in the dialog boxes you see when opening mail-merge ...

Discover More

Unwanted Data Changes

The AutoCorrect feature in Excel can change some of your data in ways you don't like. If you discover this is happening, ...

Discover More

Determining a Name for a Week Number

You could use Excel to collect data that is useful in your business. For instance, you might use it to collect ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Dragging and Dropping Pictures in a Document

Do you like to add pictures to your document just by dragging and dropping? What are you to do if it appears the ...

Discover More

Creating a Drawing Object

Word documents can contain more than just words. They can also contain drawing objects such as lines and simple shapes. ...

Discover More

Counting All Graphics

Need to know how many graphics a document contains? Getting at the true number may take a little more work than it first ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 5 - 0?

2024-02-13 22:24:02

GFIN Sunny

For me who rely on Windows Steps Recorder to describe my issue to public:
(1) emphasize essential content
(2) make confidential information illegible

I shrink its images except one or two.

This is useful advise.

2024-02-10 14:24:37

Rajendra

I do it differently that does not require a macro

I have created a standard document which contains several simple pictures, like rectangles or circles with the formatting that I need

When I want to format a picture in a new document, I go to the standard document and do a format painter from there

Much faster no need for macro particularly if you want to retain several formats

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.