WD2000: Document File Size Increases with EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG Graphics

ID: Q224663

The information in this article applies to:
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you save a Word document containing an EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG graphic as a different file format (for example, Word 6.0/95 (*.doc) or Rich Text Format (*.rtf)), the file size of the document may dramatically increase.

For example, a Word 2000 document containing a JPEG graphic saved as Word 2000 may have a file size of 45,568 bytes (44.5KB). However, when you save this file as Word 6.0/95 (*.doc) or Rich Text Format (*.rtf), the file size may grow to 1,289,728 bytes (1.22MB).


CAUSE

This functionality is by design in Microsoft Word 2000. If a EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG graphic is inserted into a Word document, when the document is saved, two copies of the graphic are saved in the document. Graphics are saved in the applicable EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG format and are also converted to WMF (Windows Metafile) format.


RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To prevent Word from saving two copies of the graphic in the document, and to reduce the file size of the document, add the ExportPictureWithMetafile=0 string value to the Windows registry using the following steps:

  1. Quit Word and all Microsoft Office applications.


  2. On the Windows Start menu, click Run.


  3. In the Open box, type "Regedit" (without the quotation marks) and click OK.


  4. Go to and select the following registry key:


    5. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options
    NOTE: To access the Options registry key, you need to expand the various folders by either double-clicking each folder or clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the folders.

  5. With the Options folder (key) selected, point to New on the Edit menu and click String Value.


  6. Type "ExportPictureWithMetafile" (without the quotation marks) and press ENTER.

    NOTE: There are no spaces in the string value name.


  7. With the string value ExportPictureWithMetafile selected, click Modify on the Edit menu.


  8. In the Value data box, type "0" (without the quotation marks).

    NOTE: Type a zero for the Value data.


  9. Click OK.


  10. On the Registry menu, click Exit.


Now, when you save a Word document containing an EMF, PNG, GIF, or JPEG graphic in a different format (for example, Word 6.0/95 (*.doc) or Rich Text Format (*.rtf)), Word does not retain two copies of the graphic and does not dramatically increase the file size of the document as compared to the Word 2000 version of the file.

Additional query words: filesize increase 


Keywords          : kbdta wd2000 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: July 19, 1999