Excel will not print images at correct height/width!!

The issue involves how Excel is distorting images when placed in a sheet.

I won't bore you with all the details on the exact graphics I made, but if you want to duplicate this problem, simply create a graphic in Photoshop or someplace, and have a border on your graphic, used a grid pattern for testing if you can. Make the graphic something like 5"x5" at 600DPI, or any square or rectangle size that should fit in a 8.5x11 sheet in Excel.

The graphic I NEED to use happens to be 7.45" x 9.605" and is 4470x5763 pixels in size. This file was created in Photoshop and I export it as a TIFF.

First thing to note is that in Excel, my page properties say that it will print at 600dpi, so that's why I'm working with that in Photoshop. Note that I've tried to use 200dpi, and even lower as well, it happens at any dpi.

Next, insert the graphic into Excel, I've done this three different ways for testing, and I have the problem in all cases. I've used Insert-Picture. I've inserted the picture into the header (which is what I need to do), and I've also set the image as the sheet background.

Here is the problem. You would THINK that because my graphic is 7.45x9.605, it would fit on a 8.5x11 sheet in Excel? It doesn't, the left and right part of the graphic are completely off page, and the top and bottom are are nearly squished to the far edges. This I don't understand, my graphic is smaller than 8.5x11 so why wouldn't it fit inside a page? Excel is widening it to a second page! My math may be weird, but 7.45" should fit on a sheet 8.5" wide and not need two pages right?

To try and fix this, I played with margins and the ONLY way to see my graphic on a single sheet is to set all margins to ZERO! And even then, there is almost no room top to bottom, and the left and right sides are also wider, and if I try to print, it gets cropped.

The question is, I KNOW my graphic is 7.45x9.605. And I KNOW that an Excel sheet is 8.5x11. And I KNOW my graphic is not being distorted, because in the image properties, scale is 100% and everything is original size. I KNOW my Photoshop document was 600dpi, and I KNOW Excel Page property says 600dpi. I KNOW that if I print my border from Word, or from the exported PDF, or from the Photoshop document, or the TIFF export, they ALL come out identical in size, but only if I place the image in Excel I cannot get it to size right no matter what I do.

I have spent hours and hours researching and checking every option I can find and nothing makes a difference, Excel just will not display the image at the correct size.
I've tried images at 4"x4", 5"x5", 7.5"x9.5" and all of them distort and come out different sizes. I've tried different DPIs, I've tried JPG as well as TIFF. I've done everything I can and Excel simply will NOT print or show the images correctly!

Here are two screen shots of one test. This one is a view of my sheet, I have TWO grids on the sheet, a black grid inserted into the header, and a red grid inserted as a picture, they are both 4"x4" images and you can see here they overlay perfectly, you only see the red grid, not the black one.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?w3q9xmx30d1d9o2

In this shot, I simply enter print preview, now for no apparent reason, the red grid moves, and the black grid expands in width and they aren't lined up any more.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?s4de2hdydhgpr1n

Here is another test. on my 5"x5" image, when I print it, instead of being 5" wide, it is 5 and 5/16ths wide. And instead of 5" tall, it is 4 and 13/16ths! So here it gets wider, then shrinks in height! No rhyme or reason!
On the image I am really needing, I tested a graphic 7.5x9.5 inches and on that one, I get 9/16ths wider and 5/16ths smaller height.

It is very important that my images maintain the correct size. Excel becomes rather useless for my needs if I can't put an accurate image in it! Surely something is wrong on my end? I would love if some of you test and print an image and measure it to see if it comes out right, or can tell me why mine are distorting in size. Here is a 5"x5" grid you can test with:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?23ele2nbq9yk6fa

I have a LOT of work to do and cannot continue until I figure out why images don't print at the right size and are being resized even when the properties show no changes to proportion or size.


Thanks a TON for any suggestions!

OK, I put the TIFF in Word and printed it, came out good. So I did a copy/paste into Excel and printed, and it came out the right width, but 5/32" shorter in height.

I do need this to work as a file insert, not a copy/paste. Word doesn't operate at as high a DPI as Excel? I think Word is like 200dpi max, I forget. I need the highest quality graphic I can for the Excel.

What is the reason for going through Word first? Should I try this as something other than JPG or TIFF?

Thanks

By the way, Word seems to convert images to 96DPI, so that's way too low quality to use that workaround, even though it didn't really work anyway.

Why are you using Excel for hi-res graphics work?

If you'll post a graphic, I'll play around and see if I can get it to work, but I'm too busy to create my own to solve your problem.

I posted a 5"x5" grid in the OP. To test all I want is insert the image in a sheet and print. It will either measure wrong or right.

So far I've tested Excel 2007 and 2010, and also tested Excel on Mac, and using two different printers and 3 computers. None have printed correct sizes.

I've also tested with TIFF, JPG, BMP, and PNG. I've tested from 96DPI all the way up to 600DPI. I've changed umpteen printer and print properties, quality settings etc. I've probably printed 50 test pages.

The reason I'm in Excel is because it's for data entry, however, data is being printed from numerous sheets with the entered data, overlaid on the graphic. It's sort of like a mail merge would be in Word, except that I need Excel functionality on the data.

Word is actually worse, since it wants to convert images to even lower res. Excel tells me in the page properties that it is printing 600DPI, which is plenty adequate.

Here is a link to he grid, the forum doesn't allow TIF I guess:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?23ele2nbq9yk6fa


I won't allow any excuses for MS on this one, people can say "well Excel isn't for graphics" but that doesn't matter. It's distorting images, this would apply to any graphical need on Excel, it looks different on page then on print preview, and measures different on print! That can mess with any important graphic like technical graphics, borders (which is like what I need), corporate logos/letterheads etc. Excel should most definitely be smart enough to accept a 5x5 graphic and print it 5x5, not 5 5/16" x 4 13/16". Not when Excel reports the image dimensions correctly in the program. Something is certainly wrong, or bugged, in image handling. Unless one of you can find out what is wrong!


Thanks

I played with your image, and I can confirm the problem you are having. It is definitely an Excel issue, and not a printer or computer issue. I put the image into a header and put text in several cells, and when I enter Print Preview, the image moves relative to the text.

I did a google search for "excel resizes images when printing" and this is not unique to you. It apparently started with Excel 2007. If you have access to an older version, you may want to try that.

I also found this in one of the search results:

I had this problem before, this seem to work in early versions of
excel, but not in 2007. Here is how I solved the issue:
1) Click on the image.
2) Hold down Shift and go to the Edit menu, then select Copy Picture.
3) Hit Paste.

Good luck.

The copy/paste trick didn't do anything, it pasted the image exactly as the copied one.

I tried doing a save-as to Excel 97-2003 and then inserting the image, it also did the same thing.


I really hope there is a fix for this in the world, maybe there is a patch or hotfix out that is hard to find?

Originally Posted by handerson0603

I did a google search for "excel resizes images when printing" and this is not unique to you. It apparently started with Excel 2007. If you have access to an older version, you may want to try that.

I got here from a Google Search of "excel not printing to scale" so leaving a comment for anyone else.

I am having this problem too. Using Excel 2010. I don't have access to an AutoCAD or Visio license and wanted to mock up a quick layout to scale. I used VBA code to set column width and height in cm, and inserted basic shapes which I sized exactly using the properties menu. I also changed their properties to "Move but do not size with cells" just in case.

Visually, on-screen this is fine. Perfect circles are visually perfect circles.

When I print the document, the entire thing is stretched horizontally by 2mm - both column widths AND inserted shapes are stretched. All heights (rows and shapes) are perfect - I checked with a ruler.

TL;DR: A 50mm x 50mm (HxW) inserted circle shape in Excel prints out as a 50mm x 52mm oval FOR NO DISCERNABLE REASON.

People say "why are you using Excel for graphics?" well, I'm sure Mr Joe Accountant doesn't want his perfect circle call-out to magically change into an oval either... This is a real problem

I know this is an old thread but I encountered this issue recently when trying to insert photos into Excel and noticed in print preview and when printing, they came out distorted/squashed. Anyway, I found a solution for anyone else searching for answers. It worked for me on Excel version 2010 on Windows 10.
Here is how I fixed it!

Go to Page Layout
In the drop down box "Fonts", when you hover over the options, you should see your columns resizing.
Now select "Metro"

ExcelFixDistortedImage.jpg

Go into print preview and your images should display correctly.
Note: you can still change the fonts and column widths to whatever size you want even though you initially selected "Metro" as the font theme.

Why does this work?
I don't really know but I think it has something to do with the column sizing being based on number of characters - not pixels. So the size of the column changes depending on the font theme you choose. "Consolas" is a fixed width font so I am guessing the calculation of the column width is more accurate. In that case, it should also work with any font theme that has a fixed width font like "Courier". How this is linked to the distortion of images/shapes I don't know.

Originally Posted by Chinchilla

I know this is an old thread but I encountered this issue recently when trying to insert photos into Excel and noticed in print preview and when printing, they came out distorted/squashed. Anyway, I found a solution for anyone else searching for answers. It worked for me on Excel version 2010 on Windows 10.
Here is how I fixed it!

Go to Page Layout
In the drop down box "Fonts", when you hover over the options, you should see your columns resizing.
Now select "Metro"

Attachment 470016

Go into print preview and your images should display correctly.
Note: you can still change the fonts and column widths to whatever size you want even though you initially selected "Metro" as the font theme.

Why does this work?
I don't really know but I think it has something to do with the column sizing being based on number of characters - not pixels. So the size of the column changes depending on the font theme you choose. "Consolas" is a fixed width font so I am guessing the calculation of the column width is more accurate. In that case, it should also work with any font theme that has a fixed width font like "Courier". How this is linked to the distortion of images/shapes I don't know.

Thank you Chinchilla, this tip works great..

Damn dude, you saved me, thanks for that tip, I would never figured it out. Thanks again.

I don't have the Metro or Courier font available. Consolas didn't work. Any other suggestions?

hello
i cant fond this option in excel 2019
please help
tnx

If you cannot found this option, you can manually create a custom one.

In Page Layout tab, Click on Font in Theme tab, and Choose 'Customize Fonts...'.

In the 'Create New Theme Fonts' new window, Select Consolas font for Heading font (Latin) and Corbel for Body font (Latin).
You can also rename this font style in the Name section, you can rename it to Metro if you want.

Select your new custom font and there you go!

Hi, Just a correction to Chinchilla's advice, for my Office 365:

1. I got this to work using PAGELAYOUT > THEMES > METROPOLITAN (theme)
2. Note, there was not 'Font theme' of "metro", but above worked for me.
3. And I could not change back to Office theme (for example), or the images still stretched.

...I note someone else could not get that working, (without Metro Font theme), but this worked for me.

The copy/paste trick didn't do anything, it pasted the image exactly as the copied one.

I tried doing a save-as to Excel 97-2003 in my New Jersey Results and then inserting the image, it also did the same thing.