Inserting from a Camera or Scanner

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 8, 2018)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


You would be right to never consider Excel as a graphics program--it's not one, by any stretch o the imagination. However, Excel does provide some tools normally associated with graphics programs. One such tool is one that allows you to import a graphic image from either a camera or a scanner. To use this tool, choose Insert | Picture | From Scanner or Camera. Excel shows what devices are available and you can select how you want the image imported. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Insert Picture from Scanner or Camera dialog box.

In reality, inserting pictures in this way works only if the camera or scanner is a TWAIN device. TWAIN is a protocol that allows images to be communicated from a source device (the camera or scanner) to a target device (in this case, Excel). For it to work properly, your scanner or camera must have the proper TWAIN drivers installed on your system.

Most scanners come with TWAIN drivers, but a growing number of today's digital cameras do not. Instead, the non-TWAIN cameras connect to a PC via a USB connector, and are then seen by Windows as just another disk drive accessible from the computer. If your camera uses a USB connection, then you can insert a picture into Excel by using Insert | Picture | From File and selecting the picture from the camera itself.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3001) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing What Is Pasted in a Dialog Box

When you record a macro, Word very literally records what you do. This includes filling in various settings in dialog ...

Discover More

Creating a Document Clone

If you need to work with a copy of a document rather than the original document, you can use Word's Open dialog box to ...

Discover More

Maximum Length Limit for a Macro

Make your macros too long, and Excel may just refuse to run them at all. This tip explains what the limit is for macros, ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to automate any task in Excel and save time and effort. Learn how to extend Excel's functionality with VBA to create solutions not possible with the standard features. Includes latest information for Excel 2024 and Microsoft 365. Check out Mastering Excel VBA Programming today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Symmetric Resizing of Graphics

Graphics can be easily resized once they are placed in a worksheet. Here's how you can make sure that the relationship ...

Discover More

Duplicating Drawing Objects

Using the copy and paste techniques you already know, you can copy and paste drawing objects. In this way, you can ...

Discover More

Creating a Drawing Object

Creating simple drawing objects is easy in Excel. All you need to do is use the tools made available on the Drawing toolbar.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is four more than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.