Locking the Size of Pictures in Comments

Jamie routinely places pictures in comments. He then sizes the pictures so they are just like he needs. However, if Jamie later adds or deletes cells, rows, or columns near the cell to which the comment is anchored, all of a sudden the picture is huge, often 10 to 40 times the original size. He wonders if there is a way to lock the size of a picture placed into a comment.

There are a few things you can try. First, you can change the properties of the comment in the following manner:

1. If the comment is not normally visible, right-click the cell and choose Edit Comment from the resulting Context menu.
2. Right-click on the comment border. (Make sure you are actually right-clicking the border, not the contents of the cell itself. You can tell if you will be right-clicking the border because the mouse pointer will look like a four-headed arrow when you are hovering over the border.)
3. Choose Format Comment from the Context menu. Excel displays the Format Comment dialog box.
4. Make sure the Properties tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Properties tab of the Format Comment dialog box.

5. Make sure the Don't Move or Size with Cells option is not selected.
6. Click on OK.
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 for all the comments that contain pictures.

A better solution might be to edit the pictures that you are placing into the comments. Chances are good that the size of the images is reverting to their original size. You can edit the images (using a program other than Excel) to get the pictures to the size you want. Then, insert them back into the comments. This has the added advantage of making your workbook size smaller than it was before. (Graphics—especially large graphics—can increase the size of your workbook files very quickly.)

A third option is to forego the comment route all together. Instead, use text boxes to insert images into your workbook. This approach keeps the picture dependent on the textbox size instead of the more malleable comment.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13444) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.