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

Getting Rid of Mail Merge Section Breaks

When you create a group of documents from a merge file, Word normally inserts section breaks between iterations of the ...

Discover More

Saving Changes when Closing

If you write a macro that makes changes to a document, you may want that macro to save those changes. There are several ...

Discover More

Insert AutoText Tool Unavailable on Header and Footer Toolbar

When creating headers or footers, you might notice at some time that the "Insert AutoText" tool on the Header and Footer ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

ScreenTip for an Image

You can configure images in Excel so that if someone clicks on them, a macro is executed. You cannot, however, have a ...

Discover More

Rotating a Drawing Object

Add a new shape or drawing object to your worksheet, and there it sits—ram-rod straight and ready to enhance your ...

Discover More

Sizing Text Boxes and Cells the Same

Adding a text box to a worksheet is easy. Making sure that text box is the exact size of a cell in the worksheet may not ...

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 seven more than 2?

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.