How do I prevent my corporate logo from stretching in the header, in Excel 365?

Question

I have encountered an issue in Excel 365 where an image file placed in the header will look accurate in the worksheet, but will be stretched in both the Print Preview and the actual print. The image is 1 inch by 0.5 inches (or 1 by 0.471 exactly) but when printed it is about 110% the width that it is onscreen. I am working with a corporate logo so the image cannot be allowed to stretch at all. I have confirmed that the 'Scale with document' option in Page Margins is disabled, and that the 'Lock aspect ratio' in the header's Format Picture options is enabled.

The stretching happens in various image file formats - PNG, JPEG, EMF etc.

Is there a way to prevent this from happening? Or is this an aspect of Excel handling image properties?

Answer 1

Hi Joshua,

For now we have decided to use the header's Format Picture option to scale down the image width scale to 90%, which although squishes the logo a little on screen, results in a perfectly proportionate print.

We'll continue to investigate Metropolitan and what makes it work - I think it is something to do with how the theme's font affects the cells - but for now the width scaling is a good workaround.

Thank you for your help, I appreciate that Excel is not an image based program and will have some problems, but at least we now have something to work with.

Thanks!

Eleanor

Answer 2

Hi E.Bailey,

Here is one more suggestion which may be more convenient. Go Page Layout > Themes > select Metropolitan and check the result.

If you have further concern, you can upload the file and we will check the issue for you. To protect your privacy, you can upload the file via private message.

Regards,

Joshua

Answer 3

Hi E.Bailey,

We don’t know exactly what settings in the theme make it work. For your situation, we suggest you set the theme to Metropolitan and based on the theme to change the settings to fit your requirement.

Regards,

Joshua

Answer 4

Hi Joshua,

Thank you for your reply.

We are using Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus, version 1705. The OS is Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit OS

This issue seems to occur in all files and includes the header AND the workspace, as I have set up a test in a new worksheet to see how a 1 x 1 inch PNG box is affected by the Excel stretching.

Here is a screenshot of the print preview of that test. The top box is inserted into the header, and the one below is just inserted into the page.

As you can see, the top one is wider than it should be for a 1 x 1 inch box. When printed at actual size, the height of each box is reduced by about 1/16 inch and the box in the header stretches about 1/16 inches wider. This treatment is not ideal for a corporate logo.

I am hoping for a solution that will be as easy for users as possible, as I am building documents that will serve as templates for client reports and presentations. I like your suggestion, but I worry that because it is an artificial adjustment to the image to counteract the stretching, it is a step that will be forgotten by new users of the document. It will look strange on screen, which is not something that we want to confuse people with.

Even so, thank you very much for your suggestion - I will see how it works while we look for a permanent fix for this issue.

Answer 5

Hi E.Bailey,

I suggest you choose Design > Format Picture > Size & Properties > uncheck Lock aspect ratio > set Scale Height to 110%. Then check the result in print view.

If the issue persists, to help us clarify your scenario, please provide some more information:

1. The version of Office and OS. (You can check Office version in File > Account and show up a screenshot of this page.)
2. Does the issue happen to one file or all files? Please try in a new file and check the result.

Regards,

Joshua