# Word for Mac: Getting pics back into JPEG files
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 16, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812 "2005-03-16T14:45:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/1 "2005-03-16T14:45:33Z")
Using Word for Mac. I right click on a photo I had pasted awhile back, assuming that I would be able to “Save Image As,” as one can do with Safari on the Web.
But no dice. I can copy it to Excel with cut and paste, and the pic itself looks great. What’s the easiest way to get this back as a JPEG file that I can keep with my others?
Thanks for the help!
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/2 "2005-03-16T15:24:29Z")
I _hate_ that! As far as I have ever been able to see, Word _doesn’t_ export graphics. The only way I’ve found to get the image back is to use the Print Screen key (or is it Shift-Print Screen?) to get it to the clipboard, then paste into a graphics app and edit as needed. Make sure to save! The problem is that this way you only get screen resolution as the pic is displayed; the original may be much larger. It’s faintly possible you might be able to find a program that opens Word docs with the graphics and allows export. I’ll look at the specs for Open Office and be back if I find something.
If somebody sent you the pic as a Word doc, the best way to get it is to smack the sender upside the head and tell them **NEVER** to send you pics that way. Tell them to send the .jpg.
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/3 "2005-03-16T15:36:45Z")
I looked in the docs from [Open Office](http://www.openoffice.org/), and couldn’t find any export there either. Sorry I don’t have a better answer, and I wish you good luck with it.
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### Author:  [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/4 "2005-03-16T16:11:05Z")
> [@Aeschines](#):
>
> Using Word for Mac. I right click on a photo I had pasted awhile back, assuming that I would be able to “Save Image As,” as one can do with Safari on the Web.
>
> But no dice. I can copy it to Excel with cut and paste, and the pic itself looks great. What’s the easiest way to get this back as a JPEG file that I can keep with my others?
>
> Thanks for the help!
I don’t know if it’ll help, but in Windows I would do this by copying and pasting to MS Paint and saving as jpg. Does Mac have a program comparable to MS Paint?
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/5 "2005-03-16T16:16:48Z")
Right-click on the image, then select Copy. Open up Preview (in Applications folder), and under the File menu, select New From Clipboard. Then save to wherever you’d like.
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/6 "2005-03-16T16:18:20Z")
btw: you could also do the same if you have PhotoShop or the like. The main thing is that you copy it to the clipboard, then paste it into an image application of some sort.
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### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/7 "2005-03-16T18:10:23Z")
Word 2004 for Mac allows you to right-click the image, select “Save as Picture …” and select from 4 or 5 export formats, including JPG. I assume you must be running Word v.X.
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### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/8 "2005-03-16T19:24:41Z")
As **Nonsuch** says, Office2004 has this ability. If you’re using an older version of MacOffice, you can always Paste the image into PPT, do a Save As and choose JPEG from the dropdown.
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/9 "2005-03-16T20:15:45Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#):
>
> Word 2004 for Mac allows you to right-click the image, select “Save as Picture …” and select from 4 or 5 export formats, including JPG. I assume you must be running Word v.X.
Word 2000 on Win98 also allows a sort of copy, but it’s broken. I just made another doc with a large JPEG, copied it out with a right click, and pasted into both a current version of Irfanview and an old Photoshop. Both came out about the same size as the displayed version instead of full-size, and both seemed to have only 256 colours. I at least, and presumably the original poster, would like the picture back the way it was put in. IMHO, that’s broken.
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/10 "2005-03-16T20:25:45Z")
I realize now I should have quoted **kevsnyde** instead of **Nonsuch**. That’s what I get for eading the whole thread before replying.
(But it’s still broken, unless the Mac versions work differently.)
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### Author:  [@Omphaloskeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omphaloskeptic)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/11 "2005-03-16T23:28:24Z")
The reason that copying to the clipboard and pasting into a graphics application gives a low-quality result is that the copy-to-clipboard operation copies the image as a bitmap, not as an original-quality image. Word stores the image internally at original quality, though (at least for JPEGs), and (as far as I can tell) actually embeds the original image unchanged within the DOC. So if you’re desperate you should be able to strip out the JPEG, as originally pasted into the Word file, with a binary-capable editor. (JPEG files start with the bytes 0xFF 0xD8 0xFF 0xE0 0x00 0x10 0x4A 0x46 0x49 0x46 0x00, so just deleting everything before the first 0xFF and saving as a .jpg will probably get you a viewable image; most viewers seem to be capable of ignoring garbage that follows the end of the image file.) There’s probably even some freeware out there to search through arbitrary files for the JPEG headers and save the images it finds.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/12 "2005-03-17T14:51:58Z")
Just for the heck of it, try left-clicking on the image and dragging it out to the Desktop. Works with some programs.
> [@](#):
>
> The reason that copying to the clipboard and pasting into a graphics application gives a low-quality result is that the copy-to-clipboard operation copies the image as a bitmap, not as an original-quality image.
JPEGS already _are_ a bitmap format. And the Mac clipboard should not degrade an original JPEG image. You should be able to copy, open GraphicConverter (or Preview, or Photoshop, etc), create new document, paste, crop to selection (if necessary), Save As, pick JPEG as format. That should not degrade the image quality, it’s just awkward to have to do it that way.
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### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/13 "2005-03-17T15:22:14Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> Just for the heck of it, try left-clicking on the image and dragging it out to the Desktop. Works with some programs.
On Word 2004, it turns the picture into a Picture Clipping. Can’t do much with that (Preview can’t even open them).
From the little experimenting I’ve done, it appears that the export picture function in Word 2004 saves the image at the size it appears in the document, not its original size.
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### Author:  [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/14 "2005-03-17T19:17:01Z")
I hate that too! At my job I convert print content into interactive web-based training, and so content-creators always send me gigantic word .docs with tons of embedded images – I’ve found that if you File \> Save As… HTML, Word creates a folder containing the images (as jpeg) from the doc.
it’s worked for me so far!
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### Author:  [@Omphaloskeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omphaloskeptic)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/15 "2005-03-17T20:16:01Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> > [@Omphaloskeptic](#):
> >
> > The reason that copying to the clipboard and pasting into a graphics application gives a low-quality result is that the copy-to-clipboard operation copies the image as a bitmap, not as an original-quality image.
>
> JPEGS already _are_ a bitmap format. And the Mac clipboard should not degrade an original JPEG image. You should be able to copy, open GraphicConverter (or Preview, or Photoshop, etc), create new document, paste, crop to selection (if necessary), Save As, pick JPEG as format. That should not degrade the image quality, it’s just awkward to have to do it that way.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. It copies it as a BMP (Windows bitmap format), at screen resolution and 256 colors. (This is as opposed to copying it in internal JPEG format at 24-bit color depth.) My point was that the resampling happens at the time of the copy-to-clipboard operation; the Word .doc file still contains the raw JPEG information in recoverable form.
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/16 "2005-03-17T20:31:17Z")
> [@metonymic](#):
>
> I hate that too! At my job I convert print content into interactive web-based training, and so content-creators always send me gigantic word .docs with tons of embedded images – I’ve found that if you File \> Save As… HTML, Word creates a folder containing the images (as jpeg) from the doc.
>
> it’s worked for me so far!
Damn, it works! I wish I’d known that when I was working helpdesk. We’d get calls on that pretty often. There were a few bozos around who wanted to send pics around and thought graphics apps were “too hard!”
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/17 "2005-03-17T22:19:51Z")
> [@metonymic](#):
>
> I’ve found that if you File \> Save As… HTML, Word creates a folder containing the images (as jpeg) from the doc.
Hey, that’s a good tip, **metonymic!** In mine (PC), for a test, I imported a 640x480 JPG file to a DOC, then saved as HTML. Word made two files – one identical to the original that I imported and one with a lower resolution (512x384) and smaller file size (about 30% of the original). I wonder why two, but it doesn’t matter, I can just ignore the smaller one.
While we’re on graphics & MS programs…anyone know how to export HTML from PowerPoint 2000 and preserve the background images? All the PPT files I have use graphics behind text, yet the images do not export. White text on white background is darn hard to read.
My solution so far has been to export to JPG (multiple files), but Word gives absolutely no control over the compression or file dimensions, and I have to write a HTML wrapper file to display the slides.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/18 "2005-03-17T22:23:26Z")
Just to clarify my previous post, in my test, Word saved two **JPG** files with the same image, but diff files sizes.
Say, **metonymic,** how come your name has “registered user” below it? How does that status differ from guest or charter member?
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### Author:  [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/19 "2005-03-17T23:01:31Z")
thanks!
It’s certainly saved me some time.
hmm, I don’t know PowerPoint at all. Sorry **Musicat**!
> [@](#):
>
> Say, **metonymic** , how come your name has “registered user” below it? How does that status differ from guest or charter member?
I’m not sure…my account is definitely like a guest account (eg. I get a message about subscription before I post), but I don’t have any idea how mine differs from a Guest’s. Anyone else know?
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-mac-getting-pics-back-into-jpeg-files/294812/20 "2005-03-18T00:19:03Z")
> [@metonymic](#):
>
> I’m not sure…my account is definitely like a guest account (eg. I get a message about subscription before I post), but I don’t have any idea how mine differs from a Guest’s. Anyone else know?
Now your name shows “guest” below it, so either it was an interim thing or the hamsters got dizzy on the wheel…hope you stick around. Anyone with a good idea is a good addition to our party!
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