How to Convert Word Documents Into Images (jpg, png, gif, tiff)
Need to convert your Word Document (or part of it) into an image? Microsoft Word itself has a function that will allow you to do so. Versions 2007 and better allow you to convert documents into images using 'paste special' and you will have the option to convert into jpeg, jpg, png and other formats of your choice.
This method is very simple and yields reasonable quality with a high resolution, which is much better than other doc-to-image converters available online. What's more, you have the option of converting any document into any type of graphic: jpg, tiff, png, or gif file format.
So stop wasting any of your time and money searching for scam converters when you can create an image without one using the following easy steps:
- Select what you'd like to save as an image.
- Copy your selection.
- Open a new document.
- Paste special.
- Select "Picture."
- Right click the resulting image and select "Save as Picture."
- Select your desired format from the dropdown menu.
The instructions below will walk you through each step.
1: Select What You'd Like to Save as an Image
If you would like to turn your entire document into an image, select all. You can do this by:
- Pressing Ctrl+A on a PC.
- Pressing command+A on a Mac.
- Pressing Shift+Ctrl+End to select from the cursor position till the end of the document.
- Or selecting "Edit">"Select All" from the menu.
If you would only like to turn parts of your document into an image, select those objects with your cursor.
Do note that contents selected on a single page only will be converted to an image. So to convert multiple pages you will have to select each of their contents and follow the steps separately.
2: Copy Your Selection
Copy your selection. You can do this by:
- Typing Ctrl+C on a PC.
- Typing command+C on a Mac.
- Right-clicking the selection and selecting "copy."
- Or clicking on the copy icon in the standard toolbar.
3: Open New Document
Open a new blank Word document. (This is where your selection will be pasted as an image.)
4: Paste Special
In the Home tab, go to paste options by clicking on the downward arrow at the bottom of the button, then click on "paste special" as shown in the picture above. Alternately, you can select "edit">"paste special."
5: Select "Picture"
In the paste-special window, select "Picture (Enhanced Metafile)," as shown in the picture above, and click "OK."
An image of what you copied will be pasted in the document.
6: Right-Click and Select "Save as Picture"
Right-click on your new image and select "Save as Picture." To right-click on a Mac, hold the control key as you click.
7: Select Your Desired Format
Select your desired format from the dropdown menu and save it. You are done!
I recommend saving it as png if you want to upload it somewhere on Internet. It will give you best quality in a small-sized file.
If you Get a Black Background In the End?
If you get a black background in the final converted image after executing up till the last step, try saving the image again, as a png or tiff.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
Questions & Answers
© 2012 StormsHalted
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Comments
Really great solution! Very useful...
This worked perfectly! Thank you!!
Thanks so much! I have MS 10 version & from my Word doc page I went to "File" then "Save As" then "Picture" then "Save as Type:" (Drop-Down box) then I Changed "Word" to "PDF" choice. It worked! Much success to everyone in 2019!
Whys "SELECT PICTURE" not available on Word 365?
This was awesome. I tried all afternoon how to figure out how to do this and finally I googled it your page came up first. It took me about 30 seconds to do. Thank you so much for your info.
Hi.
The procedure suggested for converting Word documents into images is clear and straightforward. However, when I reached at Step 6, I faced the same problem described also by some others. When I right clicked on the image pasted on the new document, no 'Save As Picture' option was available to select. I wonder is it because of the version of MS Word I still prefer to use, Word 2003. Since I need the image as a 'jpg' file instead of merely its copy, any suggestions to solve this problem?
I was able to follow your instructions up to the point of right clicking. There was no option for me to Save As. Btw; this image was selected for my business card. So what I did: I first needed to resize to business size. Clicked on image and selected Copy. I then opened up my Microsoft Office Picture Manager and was able to right click and Paste it there. This automatically Copied it into my file under MyPictures.
- AUTHOR
Hi dio,
I recently did another conversion test on Word 2016, considering your comments.
Conclusively, anything added as background will not convert to an image, however if you add the same image, shape, or a collage of multiple shapes and images as a watermark, it will be translated into the image.
is there a way convert the WHOLE page into image? because these doesn't copy the background color and shapes I put on the document.
Finally! A solution! After searching the web, this was the only one that worked!! Thanks much!
Thank you so much. Worked perfectly and not something that's readily apparent!
Not what I wanted. Libre Office Does it with a click of a button. Open Office does this with an export. Word is the least friendly of the word processor programs.
- AUTHOR
Try a converting to PNG instead.
Tried it and some of the words and numbers did not render very well (word pic to JPG)
Hi,
In the new word document,after right clicking the object the "save as picture" option is not coming from the drop down menu
On Word 2007, there's no File or Edit but there is a Ribbon. Anyway, everything went smoothly to the point when I did Ctrl+A and then Ctrl+C. My original image had text on it that I managed to insert with WordArt but when pasting that into another Word, the text was gone. Argh. And was unable to save as image in Word 2007 anyway.
What eventually worked is pasting everything into Paint. Went in fine along with the text but turned out small. However since this image happened to be nearly perfect, I resized it (enlarged) and saved as PNG.
The entire process is a pain but I love the results.
- AUTHOR
Their might be a very clever work around to this:
Increase the paper size from A4 to A3 or any other bigger then A4. Then also scale up your clipboard utilizing the new space available.
You will get an image with increased resolution automatically.
HI
What do I do if the image is too small and I need it bigger it is showing up as 1400 x 560 and I need 3000 x3000
I am at the limits of landscape orientation
- AUTHOR
Yes, It will work for a single page only, for multiple pages you will have to do it once foe every page.
is it single page only?
Use printscreen Button on Keyboard to Copy Contents of Screen to Clipboard. Then Open paint program & use paste function to save it as Image.( we can use Control key & Plus key (+) to zoom before pressing printscreen).
how can i convert word presentation to image
- AUTHOR
If you convert it to a PNG, then the image of text will have a transparent background. I hope that is what you want.
Is there a way to do this with just text, removing the white background?
There is another method for converting word to image. First save word file as .pdf. Then zoom the pdf to 200%.In the edit section 'take snapshot'.Then select all and copy.Open Windows Paint and paste. Save file as .PNG.This will give you a higher resolution image.
Does not work for MS Word 2007 as 'Save Picture as' option is not shown during right click. Works for MS Word 2010
You are brilliant! Saved me a ton of time and energy. Thanks!
You sure got me out of the woods...
I get down to the last step and when I right click on the image my drop down menu does not give me the same options. I'm using word 7. Is that my problem?
My Document is not showing "Portable Network Graphics".
What can be done??
- AUTHOR
Yes, press the undo button.
My document objects (table) are converted to images automatically. Is there a way to recover them?
Tried this with a Word file that is photo & text. Text portion comes out BLACK, with only photo showing. Tried JPG, TIFF and PNG, no luck....
That was so helpful and easy to follow. Thanks so much!
Great Tip. Thank you so much!!
Very, very helpful. Thanks!
I did what you suggested and placed all my content into a text box before I copied it so I could the desired image size I wanted.
Thanks for this post!
- AUTHOR
It will only work for a single page.
Worked great! The only thing was that when I inserted that image in mi design the quality of the png was very low.
Hi StormsHalted,
I tried and it seems it only works for single page Word file though. Is it possible to convert a multi-page Word file into a single (long) image file? Thanks!
this was SO helpful. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this tip, I have been trying for ages as I wanted to flip the text so that I could print on transfer paper but could not find a way to save my document as a picture until now - very happy person
Thank you! Very helpful, I never would've figured out the 'save as picture' step.
I tried this and its very low resolution, cannot print
I tried but it pasts only one page and not all the pages I copied what am I doing wrong?
Kind regards
Thank you so much, it really saved me the trouble of printscreening and stuff.
I don't have the "save as" picture option on my word. (Used to but don't see it now.) Any ideas?
I LOVE YOUR EXPLANATION KEEP IT UP
- AUTHOR
@Lyba:
If you are getting a black background after conversion into jpeg then try to convert into PNG or TIF instead.
Trying to do this on a new iMac and in newest version of Word and I can not save as any type of jpeg or photo file. Not sure why. I followed all steps until Paste as... Then I only have Word Doc, Formatted Text, Unformatted Text, HTML format and PDF. Any advice? Thanks
So, awesome I can finally change word to picture. Thank you for sharing this and for free.
I am still stuck with black background after trying all the recommendations you have posted. What else can I do?
It saves 6 pages to the clipboard but only pastes 1 page to the new document.
Hi,This is great up until right click and save as picture. I have a 6 page document. I did what you said about opening each page separately and pasting it into the new document. When I right click on the new document, though, it is saving only the page that my curser is on when I right click. I have tried everything. Any ideas? Thanks.
Thank you for writing this helpful article! Bless you!
Thank you! That was so simple and brilliant!
Thank you so much. I found this very useful.
Way to Go My Friend! You answered a very obscure question regarding converting my Excel 2010 file. Thank you so much!!!
I have gone to several websites asking about this, and all the others were either going "Take a screenshot! Herp deerp!" or trying to push pay-to-use subscription based software.
I didn't even know you could paste the contents of a document as an image. I actually learned something about MS-Word today!
This is awesome, I didn't believe even as i got done.
Thanks
How to make documents from image in excel..
THANK YOU! Worked wonderfully and when I got the black background you were there again! Doing a huge party and would never have figured this out! Once I got in the groove it took no time at all! Appreciate google search too!
Worked like a charm! Thanks!
thank you. it is very useful
This is what I see...no option for picture??? Everything else has worked seamlessly as instructed. Why am I missing two fields at this point?
This is fine for a small number of pages. Is there a solution that works well for a long document?
So easy. Thanks!
I can't find the edit drop down option on my tool bar?
This does not work for Windows 10. On step # 6, when I right click the drop down shows cut, copy, paste, grouping, order, and so on, but no "save as picture." I've wasted an hour of my life trying to get this to work.
Dude, you are awesome! You saved me big time.
- AUTHOR
Update:
If you are getting a black background after conversion into jpeg then try to convert into PNG or TIF instead.
awesome trick. Saved my day. Thank You.
Thank you so much. I thought there had to be a way but no-one else would tell me!!!
Thank you, thank you! I used adobe to convert my doc to an image, but the quality wasn't all that great. The image created this way looks awesome, and was easy to do with your clear directions. I appreciate it!
You are my savour. Thank you so much for the clear and easy to follow instructions and its FREE....
You beauty!!! This has been the stress of my life and this has just made things SO much easier! I cannot thank you enough.... No downloading, just free advice. Thank you!
Lee
Thank you so much, StormsHalted! Your instructions are clear and simple to follow for newbies like me... I'm so grateful!!!
unfortunately, there is no option to "save picture as" in step six. this is for word 2007. any other suggestions? thanks.
I've followed the steps exactly but when I open the final saved documents all I get is a completely black document - no image/content at all. Have reepeated the steps several times with the same result - what am I doing wrong? thx R.
Thank you StormsHalted, and to all others who offered useful comments and suggestions! This process resolved a problem I had been struggling with off and on over several days! Very well written and laid out.
And let me offer a "boo! hiss!" to the commenters who had problems but wouldn't even reply to @StormsHalted's followups. Yeesh! Some people! Getting indignant or even bitchy about free help.
To end on a positive note -- thank you once again, and best success in all future endeavors!
Thank you so much
An excellent solution.
Good job. You helped to end my headache. Everything worked perfectly every step of the way.
Awesome, totally worked, thank you!
- AUTHOR
You will have to select each page individually and then convert it. You can do it easily within 10 minutes for 05 pages.
I wish it were that simple. I have a 5 page document & the method above only captures the 1st page, no matter how I set the margins.
I have tried converting to PDF and then to JPEG and it cuts of the top and the edges. I have tried SnipIt and other ScreenShot programs and they take one page and that is all.
Yes, I selected the ENTIRE document.
Not sure if I am asking too much or I have some setting wrong, but I have spent over 5 hours trying to get this done. :-(
Thanks for the lesson
Brilliant solution to a common problem, thank you
You really assisted me to solve a problem I considered big. Many Thanks
- AUTHOR
The answer to this is - No.
Will this process allow several pages i.e. 83 page policy manual to convert to a single png?
- AUTHOR
This is the third comment about the same issue as you can see in the comments. On my PC I get a white background after the detailed process, I use windows 7 and Word 2013, It also works flawlessly on word 2016 on Mac, as you can see in the pictures.
If you can e-mail me the screenshots of your steps I will try to remove the bug and make sure my readers always get the correct method.
I'm working on a photo collage for a yearbook on word and I hadn't found a way of saving the collage as a jpeg without the photo quality changing until I came across your article. Thank you so much! However, how can I get rid of the black background? I'm using Windows 7.
One of the more elegant solutions I found. Thanks for your help!
Brilliant to learn something that in my brain comes from outer space!!! Thank you your a life saver xxx
- AUTHOR
Mail your converted images here: ali.khan909@yahoo.com, I will see it hopefully.
when i convert it into jpeg format and save, it only shows some parts of the page and blacks out the rest of the picture. why is this happening?
Legendary!!
Thank you, lifesaver!!!
- AUTHOR
I get a transparent background in PNG pictures using this very same method and I use it regularly.
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