How to Insert and Adjust Images in Microsoft Word

To create a simple handout that only needs a few visuals or maybe a simple flyer, Microsoft Word might be the way to go. However, putting an image in Microsoft Word exactly as it is in your head can be tricky if you don’t know exactly how to do it. Adding images can be handled in a number of ways depending on how you want them to look with your text. Once it’s in place, you can even change the size and angle of the image. Read on to find out more.

Inserting an image in Microsoft Word

Place the cursor where you want to place the image and click the left mouse button. Then go to the “Insert” tab at the top of Microsoft Word.

On the Insert tab, there is an Illustrations section where you can select Images. This will open a drop-down list of options to choose from.

If you don’t have an image yet, you can use the “Insert image from” option from stock images or online images. Once you click, a search box will appear and stock images will be retrieved from the photo library available through Microsoft, while online images will be retrieved from Bing search. Just enter a few keywords for the image you want and choose the one you like best.

To insert your own photo from your device, click This Device and File Explorer will open. Select your photo and it will appear where you clicked in the document. By default, your image will be placed in line with the text. This means that the image will act exactly like text, pushing the rest of the words after the cursor next to and below it.

To change this, left-click on the image and a Layout Options window will appear to the right of it.

Hover your mouse over each icon to see the names of each layout and choose the one that suits your purpose. If you want to see all the ways to change the layout, select “More” at the bottom of the menu.

The Layout window appears with options for position, text wrapping, and size.

Text wrapping determines how the image will appear within the text. The square will make the text make your image form a square with the text around it. Tight means that the text will be as close to the edges of your photo as possible. This is most effective with PNG images or photos without traditional borders. Through will be similar to dense, but will also fill in gaps in the middle of your image. The top and bottom make your image a separate line, meaning the text won’t be next to the image at all, and will take place before and after it’s placed.

Behind the text, your image serves more as a background. Before the text, the image is placed on top of any words that are in the document, without moving them or covering them.

Image Adjustment in Microsoft Word

You are not stuck with the size of the image as it is pasted. When you click an image in a Word document, a rectangle appears with circles along the line. Circles at the top and bottom will make the image taller or shorter vertically. The ones on the left and right will bring it horizontally, making it thinner or wider. In the corners, you can keep the aspect ratio of the image and make the image thinner or wider and taller or shorter at the same time. Just left click on the circle which will adjust the image the way you want and hold down the mouse button and drag it in the desired direction.

Once you have reached the desired size, if you want to move it, you will need to left click on the image. While your cursor is a white arrow with four black arrows in all directions at the bottom, click and hold the left mouse button and drag it to a new location in the document.