Microsoft Word is an entity on to its own and does crazy random stuff...no more so when you try and insert an image into a document. Word will often try and compress to the smallest size possible, resulting in a blurry mess and then proceed to randomly move it around the document upon every keystroke. There are no-sure fire solutions, but below are ways to help improve things.
Tip 1: Turn off Image Compression
MS Word can make your images look terrible by aggressively compressing them. Avoid this by turning off image compression. This will allow you greater flexibility and control of your images, allowing you to create high-resolution and compressed PDF outputs as needed.
On a PC
Go to File>Options>Advanced tab>Scroll to Image Size and Quality.
Select All documents from the drop-down menu
Make sure ‘Do not compress images in file’ is selected.
Press OK to save the settings.
On a Mac
Go to Word Preferences (Cmd+,)
Select 'Edit'
Make sure ‘Do not compress images in file’ is selected.
Tip 2: Use Tables to keep Images and Legends together
One of the longest-running complaints about Microsoft Word is that it will do horrible things to your document if you try to insert an image. God help you if you want to insert multiple images and have legends associated with them. Every minor edit seems to create a mess, but using tables can help limit the damage and ensure that your legend stays linked to a garbled mess. There are no so the figure!
Insert a 2x1 cell table at the point in the text you want the figure
Insert your (high-quality/vector-based) image in one of the cells (e.g. top cell), and use the second cell (e.g. bottom one) for your legend
Select the picture, open the 'Format Picture' tab and then the 'Wrap Text' tab and ensure 'In-line with Text' is selected. This will ensure the picture is positioned perfectly within the cell's border.
If you want the document text to wrap around the table, hover over the top right corner until you see the 4-way arrow, hit that to select the table, then go to the Table Layout tab and Table Properties.
From the Table properties menu, Enable ‘text wrapping’ around the table
[Optional] If you want the table to stay on a specific place on the page, click the positioning button and un-click ‘move with text’.
While you are there, 'un-click' the allow overlap option, preventing multiple figures/images from ending up on top of each other and reducing the chance of massive formatting changes.
You can then move the table to where you want on the page.
Now you can keep working worry-free that images and legends will stay together!
[Optional] You can change the appearance/style of the table by clicking on the Boarders and Shading button.
Tip 3: Use Vector Based Images
This tip is closely linked to Tip1. If you image contains any line drawings, graphs, text or mixed combinations, then vector based images are your best bet for maximum quality and minimum file size. If you aren't family with Vector vs Pixel (Raster) here is a very quick overview.
Raster images are made of individual pixels. They are great for photos but suffer image degradation when scaled. Hence, are bad for line work and font. You can use programs like Adobe Photoshop to edit and make Pixel based images.
Vector graphics are mathematical 2D points. They are resolution independent and can be scaled infinitely. Hence are fantastic for line art and fonts, bad for photos. You can generate Vector-based images from lots of software including Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint*, Inkscape, Affinity Designer, Prism, Excel and many more. In most cases you choose ‘export/save as’ > SVG (any OS) or WMF/EMF (PC only) or PDF (Mac only).
*Note on Powerpoint Many journals won't accept powerpoint files, thus “It is best to create your figures as vector-based files, such as those produced by Adobe Illustrator. Vector-based files will give us maximum flexibility for sizing your figures properly without losing resolution, as they can be altered in size while maintaining high print-quality resolution. We cannot accept PowerPoint files” SCIENCE – Guide to Authors science.org-instructions-preparing-figures
For Pixel based images TIFFs and PNGs are lossless, with PNGs offering better compression while JPGs are a lossy format and cannot handle transparency. In general, PNG is the best option as they provide a balance between small file size while maintaining decent quality. In general, images should be export at a minimum of 300 dpi to be acceptable for publication. Note some places may require 600 or even 1200 dpi for line art.
Using Vector Images with Word
While SVG images work will 'work' on both Mac and PC, I often find that text within the SVG can get mangled. As a result:
On a PC I suggest using .wfm or .emf files
On Mac I suggest using .pdf files
Here is an example of a simple graph (vector-based) image that was inserted into word. Note that the vector based image is ~5-7X smaller in file size. Yet at the same time all the lines and text will remain crisp and with unlimited resolution in word, while the PNG and JPG (pixel) images will introduce compression artifacts and can look blurry.
WFM/PDF (vector) = 16kb
PNG (300dpi) = 74kb
JPG (300dpi) = 110kb
I hope you find any of these tips helpful!
Comments