Insert Pictures

This group exists to build site photo records: bulk-insert photos fitted to cells (merged cells included), match photos to a table by file name, hide photos in comments so the sheet still prints cleanly, and capture-and-annotate a screen region straight into Excel.

It is the most repetitive part of producing a daily diary, a work inspection record or a weekly progress report — one work item per row, one evidence photo beside it.

Commands in this group

The main Pictures button sits on tab DVD Addin → group Graphics; the rest live under Insert Pic Menu.

Command	What it does
Pictures	Pick many image files at once and drop them into the cells of a target range
Insert by Name	Match files in a folder against names written in cells, insert into the paired target cells
Pic Comment	Set one image as the comment background of the active cell — visible on hover only
Comment by Name	Do the same for a whole range, matching each cell's value to a file name
Move/Resize	Snap the selected picture or shape into a cell with a 3-point margin (Ctrl+Shift+D)
Capture and Annotate	Capture a screen region, mark it up, then Insert it into the active cell (Ctrl+Alt+S)

Building a photo record

1. Build the table frame first, insert photos second. Create the photo column from merged cells tall enough for an image (four rows each, for instance) — the commands detect merged cells and fit the picture to the whole merged area.
2. Name the image files in order (01.jpg, 02.jpg…) or by item code (PC-001.jpg). Need the names in the sheet? Run File List to dump the folder contents into a column.
3. Choose the insertion route:
   • Files already in the right order → Pictures: the Select image files dialog (Ctrl/Shift for multi-select) → the "Select target range" picker → the padding between image and cell border (2-5 recommended) input box, pre-filled with 2.
   • Table already keyed by code → Insert by Name: Pick images folder → "Cells with image basenames" → "Cells to insert images into" → "Spacing 2-5".
4. Read the toast. It reports how many of the images were inserted, and for Insert by Name also how many names had no matching file.
5. Refit anything that drifted. Click the picture, press Ctrl+Shift+D, and click any single cell inside the target merged block — Move/Resize expands to the full merged area on its own.
6. Add lookup-only photos. Images meant for checking rather than printing go into comments: select the code column and run Comment by Name.
7. Shrink the file before issuing it with Resize Images — every picture is embedded in the workbook, so the file grows fast.

How a picture fills its cell (Cell stretch to fill, Width fit the width, Contain fit inside and centre, Original move only) follows the PictureFit setting under Preferences ▸ Graphics.

Example

A rebar inspection record for the level-3 slab has four merged photo cells in column D (D5:D8, four rows each) and element marks in column B. The folder D:\Photos\L3 holds files named after the marks.

B — Element mark	D — Photo cell (merged)	Result
PC-001	D5	photo PC-001.jpg
PC-002	D6	photo PC-002.png
PC-003	D7	photo PC-003.jpg
PC-004	D8	(empty — no such file)

Run Insert by Name, pick D:\Photos\L3, drag over the name range B5:B8, then the target range D5:D8, and enter a padding of 3. The toast reads Inserted 3 images, 1 not found — the photos sit inside the merged cells with a 3-point margin, none spilling outside the record border.

If a meeting turns up a discrepancy worth marking, press Ctrl+Alt+S over the open drawing PDF, drag over the section, add an arrow and a red rectangle, then press Insert — the annotated image lands in the active cell of the record.

Tips and caveats

• Pictures follows the file order returned by the dialog (normally alphabetical) and walks one direction only — down if the range is taller than wide, across otherwise. Extra images continue past the selected range.
• Insert by Name pairs the two ranges by cell position, not by row — same number of cells, same order, or photos land in the wrong places. Names may include or omit the extension, and subfolders are never searched.
• Comment by Name needs the cell value to be the file name without its extension (INS-501); it tries .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp, .gif itself.
• Both comment commands clear the existing comment before attaching an image — any text comment is lost, including on cells where no matching photo was found.
• Comment images do not print under Excel's default settings; anything that has to appear on paper must be inserted into the cell.
• Move/Resize handles one object per run, and Cell mode unlocks the aspect ratio so photos can look stretched — use Contain or Width to preserve it. Width mode changes the row height, so check Print Preview afterwards.
• Nothing in this group can be undone with Ctrl+Z — select the pictures and delete them instead. Supported formats: PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, WEBP.

See also

• Shapes and Colour — the shape commands in the same Graphics group.
• PDF & OCR — pull text out of images and PDFs rather than just placing them.
• Export Images — get the pictures already embedded in a workbook back out as files.
• View Image — click-to-zoom mode for reviewing a photo record.