Working with Long Documents

“How do I reduce the file size in Word?”

Does your document contain lots of images, pictures, or objects? The temptation of copying and pasting
your research images, charts and pictures into your Word document is far too easy. Unfortunately,
convenience comes at a cost and Word documents are no different. Your copied image is stored
temporarily to the clipboard, and when you paste, the pasted image is a bitmap file, which is enormous!
The differences in file size can be astronomic and push up your Word document to an unmanageable size,
and you cannot even send it as an attachment if it is over 1GB (1024MB).

Use the University’s ZendTo secure file transfer service if your file is larger than 1GB or if it
contains highly sensitive data

Below are a few suggestions to reduce the size by saving your images and objects as GIF or JEPG files which
compresses the size.
• GIF – format is limited to 256 colours and is a common choice for use on the web but can lose
crispness to edges of an image
• PNG -supports more colours than a GIF, but offers highly sophisticated transparency and colour
support, among other features
• JPEG - works best for storing full-colour images full of complex shading and colour variation

Make your images, pictures or objects into GIF, PNG or JPG file formats
If you have already copied and pasted your images, pictures or objects into your document you can use a
screenshot app to select and save as GIF, PNG or JPG.

Use a Windows 10 screenshot app

In Windows 10 there is a free installed app called Snip & Sketch (previously known as Snipping Tool in
earlier versions of Windows).
− Click on the Windows logo key on the Task Bar and enter Snip & Sketch
− Click to open the app

Alternatively, to open Snip & Sketch press the Widows logo key + Shift+ S

− Click New (default for Snip now) or the

drop-down arrow to select Snip in 3
seconds or Snip in 10 seconds. Your screen
will grey out and the mouse pointer
changes to a cross
− Click and drag on the area you want to save
as a screenshot. Your selected area will
now appear in the app window
− Click on the Disk icon to save, select a location on your computer
− Name the file using the caption label and number to make it easier for you to identify where it should be
placed in your Word document
− Click on Save

University of Aberdeen :: IT Services Reviewed: 15/09/2021

The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683
 The default file type is JPG but if you wish to change to PNG or GIF click on the Save as type:
drop-down and select the desired format

Take a screenshot on your Mac

Mac users are not blessed with an inbuilt snipping tool like Windows, but you can still capture the entire
screen, a window, or just a part of the screen.
− To take a screenshot of the entire screen press and hold Shift + ⌘ Command + 3
− To take a part of the screen press and hold Shift + ⌘ Command + 4
− The mouse pointer changes to a cross. Click and drag on the area you want to save as a screenshot
− To move the selection press and hold Space Bar while dragging
− To cancel taking the screenshot press the Esc key
− The screenshot saves automatically on the desktop. Change the name of the file to caption label and
number to make it easier for you to identify where it should be placed in your word document. Move
the file to a location of your choice.

By default, screenshots save to your desktop with the name Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.
You can also rename the file to cross reference where it should be placed in your Word
document

Inserting a picture into your Word document

− Position your cursor where the picture file is to be inserted
− Click on the Insert tab
− From the Illustrations group select Pictures
− Navigate to the location where you saved the file and double-click to insert

Figure 1- Example of caption label and numbering used for filename

It’s a good idea to delete the originally pasted image from your Word file once you have saved a
screenshot of your image or object as a picture file. This will save you a lot of time later! If you
have followed the file naming convention, saving it with the corresponding caption label and
number, you will be able to identify where to insert which picture file.

2
Save a pasted image as a picture file on the fly
Yes, you can!
− Select the picture. Make sure you see the grey outline with handles!
− Right-click and select Save as Picture…
− Navigate to a location on your computer
− Change the filename to the caption label and number and click Save

If you have spent time adding shapes e.g. arrows, boxes, etc and have grouped your pasted
image along with the shapes this method would not work. You would have to use a snipping
tool app to save the grouped image as a picture file.

Delete a picture
To remove a picture, screenshot, object, or other type of image from your Word document ensure you
have selected it by seeing the grey outline with handles.
− Select the picture that you want to delete
− Press Delete

Replace a picture
Instead of deleting the picture, screenshot, object, or image from your Word
document you can simply replace it with another file or from the Clipboard. This
saves time and effort in deleting and inserting another file.
− Select the picture that you want to replace. Make sure you see the grey outline
with handles!
− Click Picture Tools tab
− In the Adjust group select Change Picture, From a File….
− Navigate to the location where you saved the file and double-click to replace

Right-click on the selected picture to select Change Picture from shortcut menu

Compress an image
There are slightly different approaches if you are a Windows or Mac
user of Word.
The resolution of an image in a Word document is measured in PPI
(pixels per inch) rather than DPI (dots per inch). The lower the PPI the
less quality on the screen display and printed output. What you choose
will depend on the purpose of your Word document. If it’s going to be a
glossy report try the highest quality, if Word gives you that option.

Windows users
− Select the picture. Make sure you see the grey outline with handles!

3
− Click Picture Tools tab
− In the Adjust group select Compress Pictures
− Select the compression resolution
− Click OK

If the reduction displays the image as unreadable, click undo to revert and select a larger PPI. In
some cases, you will only be offered what is available depending on the type of image e.g. GIF,
JPG, BMP

Mac users
− Select the picture or if more than one hold down the Shift key. Make sure you see the grey outline with
handles!
− Click Compress Pictures on the Picture Format tab
− Click Selected pictures only or All pictures in this file.
− Select the compression resolution (the smaller the PPI - the smaller the size of file)
− If the reduction displays the image as unreadable, click undo to revert and select a larger PPI.
− Click OK

Compress all your images in one go

Another way to decrease your file size is by compressing your images in one go, yes, in one go! Depending
on how many pictures, screenshots, objects, or images you have, this is maybe all that is required to get
your Word document file size down.

Windows users
This option is only available when using the Save As feature and ensures you
make another copy of the file.
− Click File tab and Save As
− Click More Options which is situated beneath the filename and file type
Note: You may have Save a Copy rather than Save As if the file has been saved to your OneDrive or from
a SharePoint or Teams site ensuring the original file is maintained. At the top left on the Title bar
of the document you will see AutoSave turned on and will already be in the Save As window.
− In the More options window click Tools at the bottom of screen
− Click Compress Pictures
− Apply only to this picture checkbox is switched off as this will compress all pictures.
Select the compression you want to apply to all your images.

This is an all or nothing tool, either all your images will have these options applied when you
save the document or none of them will. If you want to choose different options for different
images, you will have to select each one at a time and choose settings. See Compress an image
above

− Click OK

4
Mac users
− To compress all pictures in your document, click File>Compress Pictures (or File >Reduce File Size)
− Click Selected pictures only or All pictures in this file.
− Select the compression (the smaller the PPI - the smaller the size of file)
− If the reduction displays the image as unreadable, click undo to revert and select a larger PPI.
− Click OK

Further information and help

If you want to learn about any Microsoft product in more detail you can use Microsoft’s Office Support for
tutorials, videos and helpful hints.
− Click File tab then the question mark (top right) or press the F1 key at any time for help within Word.
Search for keywords, e.g., pictures.
− You can also use MyIT to log calls with the University’s IT Service Desk: https://myit.abdn.ac.uk