How to compress pictures using Microsoft Word?

Pictures can be compressed by a number of photo editing software but there are times when you do not have access to those software and want to compress the picture as soon as possible. Here is a neat trick of using MS Word for picture compression.

1. Open Microsoft Word and create a new Word document.
2. Click on the “Insert” tab on the top left side of the screen.
3. Choose the picture you want to compress
4. Select the picture file you want to compress by double-clicking on it. The picture will be added to your document.
5. Click on the picture and then go up to the “Format” tab and choose “Compress Pictures” from the menu.
6. A pop-up screen will ask, “Apply Compression Settings Now?” Either click on the “OK” button to accept the pre-determined settings or choose the “Options” button. Here you can choose the quality of the photo compression by ticking the boxes beside the options you want and then press the “OK” button.
7. Save your document and the photo will become compressed.

If you just want the photo to appear in the document without a lot of white space around it, then you will need to change the size of your document to the size of your photo or as close to the same size as you can get. Here’s how:

1. Choose the “Page Layout” tab that is found at the top of the Microsoft Word screen.
2. Click on the “Size” icon.
3. Select your custom paper size.
4. Save your document.

If you want to use the picture anywhere else outside of Microsoft Word follow these steps:

1. Right click on the picture
2. Choose the option “Save as Picture”
3. Choose the format JPEG (it is normally chosen by default)
4. Select the location where you want to save it and click on Save.