How can I flatten images in a Microsoft Word document?

Question

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.

Answer 1

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:

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

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

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).

Answer 2

Word does not have such an option as far as I know.

You can try printing the whole document into PDF files or Office OneNote - this will flatten the images and you can re-use it again.

Answer 3

There is no native way to do this (e.g. native to Word). You could either print to PDF, or maybe XPS, for a workaround (you might be able to export to PDF and then back into Word). (I've been with word since 2000 and have never seen such a "flattening" feature.)

What do you need the images flattened for? Perhaps there is another, better workaround.

(I answer regardless of elapsed time :P)

Answer 4

It seems there is no way to do it. However, here is another way to achieve what you want:

1. Change image positioning to Behind text or In front of text as per your preference. This will prevent the image from moving when you type something in the document and furthermore, this will allow you drag the image anywhere freely as you can do in PowerPoint.

2. If there are multiple images, group them together so that they will act as a single object for positioning purpose. An advantage of grouping over flattening is that you will be able to edit individual objects later if you wish to.