Blurred images when exporting from Office 365 Excel to PDF (MAC OS)

Question

I have a spreadsheet with images that have been inserted (not pasted) and are hi-res images but when exporting to PDF they are almost impossible to see.

I am running the latest version and there are no fidelity settings as per some of the MS advice articles.

Can anyone help with this?

TIA

Answer 1

Hello Alan,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum!

I understand that you are having issue with exporting from Office 365 Excel to PDF. I truly understand how you feel. Let me assist you go through this situation.

As your description, you’re experiencing a situation on Excel for Mac where high-resolution images look blurry after exporting to PDF. Since you can’t disable compression natively, here are the best alternatives:

1. Use “Print > PDF” Instead of “Save As”
   • Go to File > Print, then click the PDF button in the macOS print dialog.
   • This often yields better image quality than “Save As PDF.”
2. Export via Adobe Acrobat or Similar
   • If you have Acrobat, use its Create PDF from Excel feature.
   • Acrobat allows setting DPI and disabling down sampling for true high-resolution output.
3. Pre-Size Images Before Inserting
   • Resize images to the exact dimensions needed in Excel before inserting.
   • Excel assumes the displayed size is the intended resolution; scaling down after insertion worsens quality.
4. Convert Sheets to Images First
   • Use File > Print > Save as PNG (via Preview) and then combine into a PDF.
   • This preserves image fidelity better than Excel’s built-in PDF export.
5. Check for Updates
   • Microsoft has acknowledged this limitation for years; improvements may come in future builds, but currently, no UI option exists.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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Answer 2

When exporting from Excel to PDF, a common issue that can cause images to appear blurred is due to the basic compression that Excel performs on images during the save process. This compression can lead to a loss of image quality, making high-resolution images look less clear in the exported PDF.

To address this issue, you can try the following steps:

1. Disable automatic compression for images in Excel by going to File > Save As.
2. Click on Tools, then select Compress Pictures.
3. In the dialog that appears, uncheck the option for Automatically perform basic compression on save.
4. Click OK and then Cancel to exit the dialog.

Keep in mind that this setting will only apply to future saves and won't recover images that have already been compressed. Additionally, ensure that you are using the latest version of Excel for Mac, as updates may include improvements to PDF export functionality.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider checking for any updates to your Office 365 installation, as newer versions may address image fidelity during exports.