Word – How to flatten images in a Microsoft Word document

microsoft wordmicrosoft-officemicrosoft-office-2007

I'm trying to find a way to flatten images in a Word 2007 document.

I want the images that have text/labels placed/layered on top of them to be merged into a single image. Are there any tools or add-ins for Word that can do this? With a 100+ page document I'm trying to avoid a manual process.

I can't believe Word doesn't have a feature or option hidden somewhere that can do this out of the box.

Best Answer

Have you thought about grouping the objects and then saving them as a picture in Word? You can record your actions in VBA and get a good start on writing a macro to do the whole thing.

For example:

Ungrouped objects

In your Word document, group the picture elements you want to flatten into a single image as I have below:

Grouped Objects in Word 2010

Copy the grouped object by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + C and then choose Paste Special in the destination document. See the picture below:

Paste Special in Word 2010

Select the format you want and the picture will be added to your document. At this point you can right click the new picture and save it to the hard disk if you like. For some reason, other Office programs allow you to group and save the group objects as pictures (without the need to copy and paste special).

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