How to resize images in Microsoft Word

Helpdesk Challenge – how to resize pictures in Microsoft Word

by Rich Parris, Deputy Computing Editor Computing 08/08/2012

Working with images in Word 2010 can liven up documents, but it can also leave you with huge file sizes. We show you how to resize images to make documents easier to email.

The key is to understand the difference between resizing, cropping, and compressing an image. We’ll show you how to do all three.

Insert an image

Let’s start off by inserting a picture into a document. Click the Insert tab in the Ribbon (top of the window). You’ll see an Illustrations section here.

Next, click Clip Art and use the search box to find a suitable image, or to add one from your existing Picture Library.

When you’re sure of which image you want, click Insert > Picture, find the image and click Insert.

Resize the image

Resizing an image basically fits it to the page you’re working on, but it doesn’t shrink the data of the image itself (letting you enlarge the image again if you change your mind about resizing it).

You’ll see a box around the image with dots along the edges and in the corners (if not, single-click on the image first).

To shrink or enlarge the image, while keeping its proportions, move your mouse over one of the dots in the corners of the box.

Your cursor will turn into a diagonal double-headed arrow. Click, hold down the mouse button, and drag inwards to shrink or outward to enlarge.

Crop the image

Cropping the image effectively cuts out the parts of the image you’re not interested in, letting you keep the part of the picture you want to focus on. In word, this isn’t permanent – you can re-adjust the crop and formerly missing parts of the picture will return.

To perform a simple crop, click the image and select the Format tab. Click the Crop button on the right-hand side and you’ll see some crop marks appear around your image.

Move your cursor over one until it turns into a crop handle, then click and drag inwards to crop out the relevant portion of your picture. When you’re done, click the Crop button again to save your changes.

Compress the image

This is the vital stage for shrinking the actual file size – compressing an image prevents huge, unwieldy Word documents that are a pain to send or receive by email.

To reduce the file size of a picture, click on your image, select the Format tab, then click the Compress Picture button (an icon of an image with inward-pointing arrows).

In the dialogue box, select the Email option, leave the top two options both ticked and click OK.