OFF97: Large Increase in Document File Size After Inserting JPEG

In the programs listed at the beginning of this article, if you click the Insert menu, point to Picture, click From File, select a picture file, and click Insert, the following problems may occur:

• The picture file takes a very long time to insert into the worksheet, document, or presentation.
  
  
• The file size of the workbook, document, or presentation increases as much as 5 to 7 times more than expected. For example, if you insert a 100 kilobyte (KB) picture file, the file size of the workbook, document, or presentation increases by as much as 500 KB to 700 KB.

These problems may occur if the following conditions are true:

• You are inserting a JPEG file into a worksheet, document, or presentation.
  
  -and-
  
  
• The JPEG file was saved using the Exif standard.

For information about the Exif standard, please see the "More Information" section in this article.

To correct this problem, obtain Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 2 (SR- 2). The JPEG import filter included with Microsoft Office 97 SR-2 has been updated to work correctly with JPEG files saved using the Exif standard.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the programs included in both Microsoft Office 97 for Windows and Microsoft Office 97 for Windows, Service Release 1 (SR-1). This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 2 (SR-2).

For additional information about SR-2, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

The Exif standard is a variant of the JPEG file format. When you insert a JPEG file that uses the Exif standard, the JPEG import filter included with Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Office 97 SR-1 cannot correctly handle the differences in the JPEG file. As a result, the JPEG file takes a long time to insert, and its size increases dramatically.

The Exif standard is most commonly used by digital cameras. Microsoft has determined that the following cameras save JPEG files by using the Exif standard:
The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.