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Loss of image quality after you save in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint 2007

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Office 2007

Symptoms

After saving a document, spreadsheet, or presentation which contains an image, a loss of image quality such as blur may occur.

Cause

This issue occurs because PowerPoint, Excel, and Word perform a basic compression of images on save.

Resolution

It isn't possible to recover pictures that have already been compressed. For future saves, compression can be disabled on a per-file basis using the following steps:

  1. Click the Office Button, and then click Save As.

  2. Click Tools, and then click Compress Pictures.

  3. Click Options.

  4. Click to clear the Automatically perform basic compression on save check box.

  5. Click OK.

  6. In the Compress Pictures dialog box, click Cancel.

    Note: Clicking OK on this dialog won't prevent the issue from occurring.

You can also modify the following registry setting to prevent basic compression from occurring by default.

Important

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

Warning

Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

  1. Quit all applications.

  2. Start the registry editor. To do this, click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

  3. Browse to the following registry key:

    for PowerPoint:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\Options

    for Word:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Options

    for Excel:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Options

  4. Create a new DWORD value named AutomaticPictureCompressionDefault.

  5. Make sure the value for the registry key is set to 0.

  6. Close the registry editor.