WD2000: Linked Picture Size Lost Saving As Rich Text Format

When you open a saved document, an inserted picture reverts back to its original size and does not retain the size you specified.

This behavior occurs if both of the following conditions are true when you insert your picture:

• In the Insert Picture dialog box, you click the picture, click the arrow to the right of the Insert button, and then click Link to File.
• You save your document as Rich Text Format (RTF).

When you link to a picture, Microsoft Word does not retain any picture information in your document, including picture size.

To retain the picture size you want in Word, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Change an In-Line Picture to a Floating Picture

1. In the Word document, select the picture.
2. On the Format menu, click Picture.
3. On the Layout tab, select a wrapping style other than In line with text.

NOTE: Any changes you make to the size of the picture are retained when you save your document as RTF.

Method 2: Link to a Resized Picture

1. In a graphics editor, open and save a copy of your picture.
2. Resize the copy of your picture to the size you want, and then save your changes.
3. Insert the resized copy of your picture into the Word document.

NOTE: If you make any changes to the size of your copied picture in Word, and then save the document as RTF, you may again see the behavior described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

For additional information about pictures and the RTF format, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: