Insert Graphics to Word Document

[DaveBlakeMAAT]

Hi

I am hoping there is a boffin that can help?

I tend to do all my VBA in Excel as an accountant, but I have a scenario where I have to do some VBA in Word and I am struggling with which methods to use.

I have a pre-generated word specification document that I need to insert the corporate graphics (which is sized to A4) to after the specification is generated, I have been playing with shapes and inlineShapes, the main problems are the following:

1) The graphic file I need to add is a full page graphic that should cover the entire page width/height (100%*100%) (ignoring page margins)
2) The graphic needs to be added behind the existing text
3) The graphic will be different depending on page number (1st page master graphic, last 2 pages no graphic & all other pages should be the continuation graphic)
4) No fixed document length (guessing I will need to cycle through the pages collection and use a case/if statement for this)

Unfortunately, the graphic can not be broken down into header/footer portions.

I currently have the following, however this locates the image inside the margins and shrinks the graphic to fit.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddPicture _
FileName:= FilePath, LinkToFile:= False, SaveWithDocument:=True, Left:=0, Top:=0

I do not know if I am heading in the right direction, so any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Macropod]

If you configure the document with a 'different first page' layout, you can:
• insert the first graphic into that page's header, formatted the full-page size and 'behind text' there.
• create a temporary second page (e.g. via Ctrl-Enter) then, in that page's header, insert a field coded as:
{={NUMPAGES}-{PAGE}-1 \# "'Continuation graphic';;"}
with your continuation graphic inserted inline where indicated between the pair of single quotes.
• delete the temporary second page.

All of this can be done with VBA, too, but it's better to create a suitable template using the above method, then have your code create whatever new documents you need using that template.

Note: The field brace pairs (i.e. '{ }') for the above example are all created in the document itself, via Ctrl-F9 (Cmd-F9 on a Mac); you can't simply type them or copy & paste them from this message. Nor is it practical to add them via any of the standard Word dialogues. The spaces represented in the field constructions are all required.

 

[DaveBlakeMAAT]

Hi Paul

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my question it is very much appreciated!

I have a couple of follow ups

1) where you state to insert the continuation graphic inline, do you literally the graphic or just the file string as I have done the following, but doesn't appear to be working?

{={NUMPAGES}-{PAGE}-1 \# "'C:\Users\dave.blake\Documents\SpecGraphics\14018 LHs-4.jpg';;"}​

2) I also need to make the final 2 pages are blank (no continuation graphics), is that possible by tweaking the code provided?

3) I am also going to need to be able to write a bit of VBA to "Switch These Graphics" as whilst they are email friendly, they are not printer friendly!

Many Thanks

Dave

 

[Macropod]

1) where you state to insert the continuation graphic inline, do you literally the graphic or just the file string as I have done

You literally you literally the graphic.

2) I also need to make the final 2 pages are blank (no continuation graphics), is that possible by tweaking the code provided?

That's precisely what the field code does.

3) I am also going to need to be able to write a bit of VBA to "Switch These Graphics" as whilst they are email friendly, they are not printer friendly!

I don't understand what you mean about not being 'printer friendly'. Properly implemented, you'll have the full-page graphic on the first page and the continuation graphic on all subsequent pages except the last two, regardless of the document length. No VBA is required.

 

[DaveBlakeMAAT]

Thanks Paul

I get it the ;; in the field is referencing the final pages.

The corporate graphic has an awful lot of colour in it which is fine when sending to the customer as a PDF, however the costs to print would be very high (due to the amount of colour/ink requirements), so we are looking to be able to offer a version that would be cheaper for the customer to print.

So my thought was that if I set up the default template as you have recommended above, I could then create a macros that could toggle the graphics to lighter shades if the customer requests a printer friendly version.

 

[Macropod]

I get it the ;; in the field is referencing the final pages.

Nope. They're numeric picture switch argument separators for -ve and 0 values, respectively.

The corporate graphic has an awful lot of colour in it which is fine when sending to the customer as a PDF, however the costs to print would be very high (due to the amount of colour/ink requirements), so we are looking to be able to offer a version that would be cheaper for the customer to print.

So my thought was that if I set up the default template as you have recommended above, I could then create a macros that could toggle the graphics to lighter shades if the customer requests a printer friendly version.

Reducing the colour saturation isn't likely to greatly reduce printing costs. A far greater reduction in printing costs- without touching the colouration - can be achieved by the end-user switching the printer to b/w mode.

In any event, additional field coding could be used to switch between the colour image and, say, a grey-scale version of it (giving you greater control over the shading). Once you start having recourse to macros, you're at the mercy of whatever macro security settings the recipients use - and whether they allow the macro to run when their security settings don't block it.

 

[DaveBlakeMAAT]

Thanks Paul

My boss has made a slight change to the way he wants this to work, which has made life a whole lot simpler!!!

Your code provided is extremely useful and is going to fulfil my requirements (with a slight modification), so thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction.

I did have a small issue with the code which was down to me not fully reading your reply correctly, in the fact that I thought the CTRL+F9 was only required for the full field curly braces and that I could manually type the curly braces for the sub-fields. Ctrl+F9 is required for all fields and sub-fields.

Thanks again for taking the time to assist an accountant venturing into the world of MS Word!!!

Regards

Dave