Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Taking Pictures.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 11, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Excel allows you to capture "pictures" of your worksheets that you can use in other worksheets. This may sound odd, but it is quite helpful at times. You capture pictures by using the Camera tool. This tool is not available on the various Excel ribbons; you need to add it to the Quick Access toolbar using the techniques covered in other issues of ExcelTips.
With the Camera tool in place, follow these steps:
Now you can manipulate the picture the same as you would any other graphic—stretch it, resize it, crop it, move it, or whatever. The really cool thing, however, is that the picture is dynamic. This means that if you change the information in the original range (that you selected in step 1), then the information in the picture changes as well.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8111) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Taking Pictures.
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2024-05-11 11:41:33
J. Woolley
For more about the Camera Tool, see https://excelribbon.tips.net/T008189
For an equivalent of the Camera tool, copy (Ctrl+C) a region of the active sheet, then select another cell on any sheet and pick Home > Paste > Linked Picture (Alt+H+V+I).
My Excel Toolbox includes the following two macros to create an image of a range of cells. In addition to cell values, the images will include visible portions of shapes or charts from the copied range.
The SelectionImage macro copies the selected range as a static image on the clipboard and optionally saves it in a file.
the DynamicImage macro copies the selected range and pastes it as a dynamic image in any sheet of any workbook. All changes visible in the source range will be reproduced in the dynamic image (assuming the source is open in Excel). The result is a simple dashboard.
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
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