Word documents with pictures

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Insert an image

To insert a picture in a Word document, on the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click the Pictures button, then choose the option you prefer:

• Select This Device to choose an image stored on the local computer, laptop, shared locations, or network server:

  

  Select an image in the Insert Picture dialog box and click the Insert button.

• Select Stock Images to choose Stock Images, Icons, Cutout People, Stickers, and Illustrations from the stock image library:

  

  Select one or several objects (see the number near the Insert label) and click the Insert button.
• Select Online Pictures to find and insert images from Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, or OneDrive:

  

  Select one or a few objects (see the number near the Insert label) and click the Insert button.

Note: Another option is to insert the image as a linked object that creates a link between the document and the external image but does not embed the image in the Word document. Using linked objects can help minimize the file size of the final document while preserving images, photographs, and other objects that can take up storage space. However, if image files are not available when you open a Word document, the images are not displayed. This option is not recommended to create documents distributed to other users, as they may not access the images.

When you click on a picture, Word shows the Picture Format tab:

Using features from that tab, you can:

• Adjust picture characteristics:
  • Remove the background by designating either the areas you want to keep or those you want to remove
  • Sharpen, soften, and adjust the brightness of images for better printing or on-screen presentation
  • Apply different color masks to achieve antiquing, sepia tone, grayscale, and a variety of other color effects
  • Choose one of 23 special effects, such as pencil sketch, blurring, charcoal sketch, paint strokes, and others
  • Apply effects such as shadows, reflections, and borders; or apply combinations of these effects
  • Choose a picture transparency
  • Compress the pictures in the document
• Format picture by using predefined picture styles or choosing some of the proposed features such as shape and orientation, borders, and other effects
• Arrange the picture to specify its relationship to the page and other elements on the page
• Crop the parts of the picture or crop the picture to a shape
• Resize, scale, and rotate the picture by using its sizing handles or appropriate fields in the Layout dialog box (see below)
• Position the object in any of several predefined locations on the page
• Specify how other text should wrap around the object.

Resize an image

To resize a picture, select it and do one of the following:

• On the Picture Format tab, in the Size group, change the Height and Width for the picture in the appropriate fields:

  

• Click and drag the side sizing handles to stretch it horizontally or vertically:

  

Scale an image

To scale a picture, select it and do one of the following:

• On the Picture Format tab, in the Size group, click the dialog box launcher:

  

• Click and drag one of the corner sizing handles to maintain the image’s current shape. The image will change size while keeping the same proportions:

  

• Open the Layout dialog box by one of the methods:
  • On the Picture Format tab, in the Size group, click the dialog box launcher.
  • Right-click the selected picture and choose Size and Position… in the popup menu:

  

In the Layout dialog box, on the Size tab, in the Scale section:

• Rescale the picture by changing the height and width percentages.
• Select the Lock aspect ratio check box (selected by default) to scale the picture by height and width using the same percentage.

  Deselect the Lock aspect ratio check box to scale height and width separately.

• Select the Relative to original picture size check box (selected by default) to scale the picture height and width as percentages of the original size.

  Note: See the picture’s original size in the Original size section.

Rotate an image

To rotate a picture, do one of the following:

• Click and drag the rotation handle at the top of the border:

  

• Open the Layout dialog box by one of the methods:
  • On the Picture Format tab, in the Size group, click the dialog box launcher.
  • Right-click the selected picture and choose Size and Position… in the popup menu.

  In the Layout dialog box, on the Size tab, select or type a rotation in the Rotation field.

Hide and display images on the page

The picture can be hidden using the Selection pane (see how to open it). For example, Picture 6:

To hide the picture, click the Showing icon to the right of the object name. After clicking that icon, it will change to a simple icon indicating that the object is Hidden from view. To show the object once again, click the Hidden icon , and it will reappear.

Note: You can hide all images in the document by changing global Word options:

See Hiding pictures for more details.

Copy the formatting

To copy the formatting of one picture to another picture, do the following:

   1.   Select the formatted picture, which formatting you need to copy.

   2.   On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Format Painter button:

   3.   Click another picture to apply the color adjustments, color corrections, or picture style from the first picture.

Add an Alternative text for images

The Alternative text (Alt text) for pictures is a common requirement. By default, Word generates Alt text for all inserted pictures (see how to turn off that feature).

Alt text is:

• Read aloud when a screen reader will encounter such an image.
• Shown if there are some problems with displaying an image.

You can see the generated Alt text at the bottom of the object immediately after inserting it in a document:

  or  

To change or add Alt text to a picture, do the following:

   1.   Select the picture.

   2.   Open the Alt text pane by doing one of the following:

• On the Picture Format tab, in the Accessibility group, click the Alt Text button:

  

• Right-click and choose Edit Alt Text… in the popup menu:

  
• On the Review tab, in the Accessibility group, click the Check Accessibility button, then choose Alt Text:

  

   3.   On the Alt Text pane:

• Modify or enter an Alt text you need.

  Alt text should briefly describe the purpose or content of the image, photo, icon, table, or equation. It is recommended to use no more than 15 words.

• Select the Mark as decorative check box if the picture is purely decorative and does not provide helpful information for the document content.

Note: If the option for automatic generation of Alt text for pictures is turned on (see how to turn on and turn off that feature), after modifying a generated Alt text, you can regenerate it by clicking the Generate a description for me:

See also how to create picture captions.

More than ever, pictures are critical to the effectiveness of your communication materials. With the image formatting and layout tools in Microsoft Word, it’s possible to add and manipulate pictures in your document—even if you’re a beginner.

Starting with a Microsoft Word template makes it even easier. With a well-designed Word template, the positioning and formatting of pictures have already been done for you. All you’ve got to do is to drag your pictures into the image placeholders. 

Even if you’re using a template for Word, it’s good to know how to format pictures so you can make your document look exactly the way you want it to.

In this article, you’re going to see, step-by-step, how to work with pictures in Microsoft Word.

(Note: The screenshots below show Microsoft Word for Mac. The screens and steps may be slightly different if you’re using a different version of Word.)

How to Insert a Picture in Word

To add a picture to a Word document, click Insert > Pictures. From here, you’ve got three options:

1. Photo Browser

If you choose this option, you’ll be able to select an image from the existing photo sets on your computer. On a Mac, that includes photos in iPhoto and Photo Booth. When you find the picture you want to use, click on it, then drag it into the document.

2. Picture From File

This option lets you insert an image from another location on your computer. Find the image file, select it, then click Insert.

3. Online Pictures

Insert pictures in Word from the web by selecting Online Pictures…. This opens a Bing image search right inside your document. Type a keyword or phrase in the search bar.

By default, the Creative Commons only filter is checked. Keep this selected to make sure you don’t violate any copyright laws. Click on the filter icon to filter the image results by other parameters. 

Select an image by clicking on it, then click Insert. You can select several images before clicking the Insert button. 

Microsoft Word automatically includes the image attribution and license details as a caption.

Note: While you can import many image formats into Word, the ones that work best are JPG and PNG.

How to Format Pictures in Word

After importing pictures into Word, you can apply different formatting settings to each Microsoft Word picture and control its appearance. Below are some of the most basic image formatting you can apply in Word:

1. Resize an Image

Resize a picture in two ways:

Resizing Method 1

Click on the picture. Press and hold the Shift key, then click and drag one of the sizing handles either towards or away from the center. 

Holding the Shift key ensures that the proportion of the picture is retained. Otherwise, it would become distorted and your entire document will look amateurish. 

Resizing Method 2

This method allows you to resize the picture to a specific length or width. Click on the picture, then click on the Picture Format tab. Type the length or width you wish the image to have.

By default, the original proportion of the image is retained even when you change either the length or width of the image. Keep this checked to avoid distorting the image.

2. Rotate or Flip Images

To rotate an image, do so either manually or by a specific amount.

Manual Image Rotation

To rotate an image manually, click on the image to select it. Click on the rotation handle and drag it in the direction you want. 

Flip or Rotate an Image By a Specific Amount

Rotate a picture by a specific amount. Click on the picture, then go to Picture Format > Rotate. From here, you’ve got the option to:

• Rotate Right 90°
• Rotate Left 90°
• Flip Vertical
• Flip Horizontal
• Select More Rotation Options

To rotate a picture to an exact angle, choose Select More Rotation Options.

Type in the amount you wish to rotate the object, then click OK.

How to Crop Photos in Word

If you’re wondering how to crop a picture in Microsoft Word, it’s not difficult. Follow the steps below to not only crop an image, but also to dress it up by cropping it to a shape or adding decorative borders:

1. Basic Image Cropping

To crop a picture, select the picture, then go to Picture Format > Crop > Crop. 

Black cropping handles appear on the sides of the picture. From here:

• Crop one side. Drag one side handle inward.
• Crop two adjacent sides at the same time. Drag one corner inward.

Click outside the image to apply the crop.

2. Crop Image to a Shape

To crop the picture to a specific shape, select the picture. Go to Picture Format > Crop > Crop to Shape. Select a shape from the selection that appears.

Click away from the picture to apply the new shape.

3. Frames and Borders

Borders are an easy way to dress up a picture in Microsoft Word. To add a border, select the picture, go to Picture Format. Click on the Picture Border button on the ribbon to reveal the border options.

From here, choose the color, weight, and dash style you wish to use for the border. 

To add a frame, click on the picture, then go to Picture Format. Click on the Picture Quick Styles button on the ribbon. Select the border you want to use.

How to Use Image Editing Tools

There are many Word image editing tools. Learn how to format pictures in Word by removing the background or adjusting the brightness. Here’s how:

1. Remove Background

Microsoft Word allows you to remove the background from your pictures. This feature works best if the color of the background is distinct from the colors on the main subject of the picture.

To remove the background, select the image. Go to Picture Format > Remove Background.

Use the tools provided to select which parts of the image you wish to keep and which parts you want to remove.

The parts that’ll be removed are colored pink.

When you’re happy with the selection, click Keep Changes.

2. Sharpness and Brightness Corrections 

Improve the sharpness and brightness of your pictures in Microsoft Word. To adjust these, select the picture. Go to Picture Format > Corrections. Select the sharpness and brightness/contrast settings you wish to use.

To more finely control these settings, go to Picture Format > Corrections > Picture Corrections Options. The Format Picture sidebar appears. It allows you to provide specific settings for sharpness, brightness, and contrast.

3. Picture Color

Microsoft Word also allows you to control the color saturation and tone of your picture. And you can recolor the entire picture for special effects. Select the picture, go to Picture Format > Color. Select any of the options that appear.

From here choose:

• More Variations. Recolors the image with a different color from the options provided.
• Set Transparent Color. Makes certain colors transparent so that the color of the background shows through.
• Picture Color Options. Opens the Format Picture sidebar, where you can fine-tune the settings for color saturation, tone, and recolor.

How to Use Layout Options 

Microsoft Word’s layout options for images lets you control how photos are displayed alongside text.

By default, a picture is set to be «In line with text.» This means the picture is treated as an object that moves with the text. This means whatever formatting is applied to the text applies to the picture as well, which may not be how you want it to appear. When a picture is in line with text, you won’t be able to drag and drop it to a different part of the document.

To set up a picture’s layout options, select the image, then go to Picture Format > Position. Select one of the pre-configured layout options to position your picture on the page.

Gain more control by going to Picture Format > Wrap Text.

Select one of the text wrapping options:

• Square — wraps text around the picture in a square shape

• Tight — wraps text following the shape of the picture

• Through — shows text through all the “open” parts of the picture (may only be visible with certain picture shapes)

• Top and Bottom — wraps text only above and below the picture

These text wrapping options allow you to overlay pictures in Word or merge them together into a collage-type layout.

You’ve got other options:

• Behind text. Overlays the text in front of the picture
• In Front of Text. Places text behind the picture, covering it
• Edit Wrap Boundary. Lets you fine-tune how text wraps around the picture, which is especially useful if it’s irregularly shaped
• Move with text. Keeps the picture anchored to the text
• Fix position on page. Keeps the picture on the same position relative to the page, even if the text moves
• More Layout Options …. Gives you precise control over the picture layout

How to Move Pictures in Word and Arrange them on the Page

You may be wondering how to move a picture in Microsoft Word. The easiest way to move a picture is by clicking and dragging it. If this doesn’t work, the picture is probably set to be inline with text. Follow the instructions above to select a different text wrapping option.

To move multiple images, hold the shift key down as you click on each picture. Then, drag and drop them into place.

You can also move images using precise measurements. Select the image, go to Picture Format > Position > More Layout Options …. Specify the horizontal and vertical position of the picture relative to an element of the page.

Get Creative With Pictures in Word

Use the skills you learned above to add pictures in your Word documents and display them exactly the way you envision. As you’ve seen, it’s easy to control the appearance and placement of images on the page. By following the steps above, you can produce professional-looking documents all by yourself. However, we’ve only scratched the surface of the many ways you can work with pictures in Word!

Of course, if you prefer to have these design choices made for you, you’ve got the option to start with a Microsoft Word template. If you make a lot of Word documents, then you’ll like the cost-effectiveness of Envato Elements. You get unlimited downloads of templates as well as fonts, stock photos, and more for one low subscription price. On the other hand, GraphicRiver may be a better option if you only need the one-off template.

This gives you the ultimate convenience because professionally-designed Word templates have image placeholders. All you’ve got to do is to drag and drop your own pictures into the placeholders. The picture formatting steps in this article will help you fine-tune the image settings as you wish.

Now you, too, can get more creative—and effective—with pictures in Microsoft Word. But first, get your head start by downloading your favorite MS Word Template from Envato Elements or GraphicRiver.