Integrating Images

          Integrating or inserting pictures in your document is fun and it improves the impression of your document. A common use of inserting a picture on a document is when you are creating a resume. Though seemingly simple to do, your knowledge on the different kinds of materials that you can insert or integrate in a word document and it's characteristics can help you create a more efficient, richer document not only in content but also in content but also in physical form. A better understanding of the physical form of your document as well as the different materials you integrate in it would allow you to be more efficient and versatile in using Microsoft Word.

         Let us consider the interesting aspects of inserting or integrating images and other external materials which is categorized as an advance feature.

         There are various kinds of materials Microsoft Word is capable of integrating to make your documents richer, more impressive, and more informative

Figure 1: The illustrations group menu under the insert tab showing the kinds of materials you can integrate with Microsoft Word

Kinds of Materials

          There are various kinds of materials that Microsoft Word is capable of integrating to make your documents richer, more impressive and more informative.

          The screenshot above shows the kinds of materials that can be integrated or inserted in your Microsoft Word document. One can easily get excited and instead create a collage of what is generally called images and arts rather than an enriched text document. One important thing to remember is that images and other materials are not to be inserted as images for design purposes only, but they are used to enhance and improve the effectiveness of the message you want to convey. Let us describe each of them.

1.Pictures 

 

          Generally, these are electronic or digital pictures or photographs you have saved in any local storage device. There are three commonly used types of pictures files. You can identify them by the extension on their file names.


               a. .JPG - This is pronounced as "jay-peg," and is the short form for .jpeg or Joint Photographic Experts Group. Like all the rest of the image file extension, it identifies the kind of data compression process that it uses to make it more compatible and portable through the internet. This type of image file can support 16.7 million colors that is why it is suitable for use when working with full color photographic images. Unfortunately, it does not support transparency and therefore, images of this file type can be diffucult to integrate in terms of blending with other materials or elements in your document. But if you are looking for the best quality imageto integrate with your document, then this is the image file type for you. .JPG does not work well on lettering, line drawings, or simple graphics. .JPG images are relatively small in file size.


             b. .GIF - This stands for Graphics Interchange Format. This type of image file is capable of displaying transparencies. Therefore, it is good for blending with other materials or elements in your document. It is also capable of displaying simple animations. Apparently, this may not be too useful on a printed document but if you are sending documents electronically or through email, or even post documents into a website, then this could be quite impressive. the downside is that it can only support up to 256 colors so it is good mostly on logos and art decors with very limited, and generally solid colors. .GIF is much better for logos, drawings, small text, black and white images, or low-resolution files.

             c. .PNG - This is pronounced as "ping". It stands for Portable Network Graphics. It was built around the capabilities of .GIF. Its development was basically for the purpose of transporting images on the internet at faster rates. It is also good with transparencies but unlike .GIF, it does not support animation but it can display up to about 16 million colors, so image quality for this image file type is also remarkably improved. .PNG allows the control of the transparency level or opacity of images.

2. Clip Art

 

          This is generally a .GIF type; line art drawings or images used as generic representation for ideas and objects that you might want to integrate in your document. Microsoft Word has a library of clip arts that is built in or can be downloaded and used freely. There are still other clip arts that you can either purchase or freely download and use that come  from third-party providers.

3. Shapes

 

          These are printable objects or materials that you can integrate in your document to enhance its appearance or to allow you to have some tools to use for composing and representing ideas or messages. If you are designing the layout for a poster on other graphic material for advertising, you might find this useful.

4. Smart Art

 

         Generally, these are predefined sets of different shapes grouped together to form ideas that are organizational or structural in nature. If you want to graphically represent an organization, process, relationships, or flow for infographic documents, then you will find this easy and handy to use.

5. Chart

 

         Another type of material that you can integrate in your Word document that allows you to represent data characteristics and trends. This is quite useful when you are preparing reports that correlate and present data in a graphical manner. You can create charts that can be integrated in your document either directly in Microsoft Word or imported from external files like Microsoft Excel.

6. Screenshot

 

        Sometimes, creating reports or manuals for training or procedures will require the integration of a more realistic image of what you are discussing on your report or manual. Nothing can get you a more realistic image than a screenshot. Microsoft Word even provides a snipping tool for your screen shots so you can select and display only the part that you exactly like to capture on your screen.