When inserting an image into a document how do you access the controls that let you scale the images size in any direction?

Let's examine a typical scenario. A typical website may contain a header image and some content images below the header. The header image will likely span the whole of the width of the header, and the content image will fit somewhere inside the content column. Here's a simple example:

This works well on a wide screen device, such as a laptop or desktop (you can see the example live and find the source code on GitHub.) We won't discuss the CSS much in this lesson, except to say that:

• The body content has been set to a maximum width of 1200 pixels — in viewports above that width, the body remains at 1200px and centers itself in the available space. In viewports below that width, the body will stay at 100% of the width of the viewport.
• The header image has been set so that its center always stays in the center of the header, no matter what width the heading is set at. If the site is being viewed on a narrower screen, the important detail in the center of the image (the people) can still be seen, and the excess is lost off either side. It is 200px high.
• The content images have been set so that if the body element becomes smaller than the image, the images start to shrink so that they always stay inside the body, rather than overflowing it.

However, issues arise when you start to view the site on a narrow screen device. The header below looks OK, but it's starting to take up a lot of the screen height for a mobile device. And at this size, it is difficult to see faces of the two people within the first content image.

An improvement would be to display a cropped version of the image which displays the important details of the image when the site is viewed on a narrow screen. A second cropped image could be displayed for a medium-width screen device, like a tablet. The general problem whereby you want to serve different cropped images in that way, for various layouts, is commonly known as the art direction problem.

In addition, there is no need to embed such large images on the page if it is being viewed on a mobile screen. And conversely, a small raster image starts to look grainy when displayed larger than its original size (a raster image is a set number of pixels wide and a set number of pixels tall, as we saw when we looked at vector graphics). This is called the resolution switching problem.

Conversely, it is unnecessary to display a large image on a screen significantly smaller than the size it was meant for. Doing so can waste bandwidth; in particular, mobile users don't want to waste bandwidth by downloading a large image intended for desktop users, when a small image would do for their device. Ideally, multiple resolutions would be made available to the user's web browser. The browser could then determine the optimal resolution to load based on the screen size of the user's device.

To make things more complicated, some devices have high resolution screens that need larger images than you might expect to display nicely. This is essentially the same problem, but in a slightly different context.

You might think that vector images would solve these problems, and they do to a certain degree — they are small in file size and scale well, and you should use them wherever possible. However, they aren't suitable for all image types. Vector images are great for simple graphics, patterns, interface elements, etc., but it starts to get very complex to create a vector-based image with the kind of detail that you'd find in say, a photo. Raster image formats such as JPEGs are more suited to the kind of images we see in the above example.

This kind of problem didn't exist when the web first existed, in the early to mid 90s — back then the only devices in existence to browse the Web were desktops and laptops, so browser engineers and spec writers didn't even think to implement solutions. Responsive image technologies were implemented recently to solve the problems indicated above by letting you offer the browser several image files, either all showing the same thing but containing different numbers of pixels (resolution switching), or different images suitable for different space allocations (art direction).

Note: The new features discussed in this article — srcset/sizes/<picture> — are all supported in modern desktop and mobile browsers (including Microsoft's Edge browser, although not Internet Explorer.)

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Introduction

Adding pictures to your document can be a great way to illustrate important information and add decorative accents to existing text. Used in moderation, pictures can improve the overall appearance of your document.

Optional: Download our practice document.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to add pictures to your documents.

If you have a specific image in mind, you can insert a picture from a file. In our example, we'll insert a picture saved locally on our computer. If you'd like to work along with our example, right-click the image below and save it to your computer.

1. Place the insertion point where you want the image to appear.
   

2. Select the Insert tab on the Ribbon, then click the Pictures command.
   

3. The Insert Picture dialog box will appear. Navigate to the folder where your image is located, then select the image and click Insert.
   

4. The image will appear in the document.
   

To resize an image, click and drag one of the corner sizing handles. The image will change size while keeping the same proportions. If you want to stretch it horizontally or vertically, you can use the side sizing handles.

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Changing text wrapping settings

When you insert a picture from a file, you may notice that it's difficult to move it exactly where you want. This is because the text wrapping for the image is set to In Line with Text. You'll need to change the text wrapping setting if you want to move the image freely, or if you just want the text to wrap around the image in a more natural way.

To wrap text around an image:

1. Select the image you want to wrap text around. The Format tab will appear on the right side of the Ribbon.
   

2. On the Format tab, click the Wrap Text command in the Arrange group. Then select the desired text wrapping option. In our example, we'll select In Front of Text so we can freely move it without affecting the text. Alternatively, you can select More Layout Options to fine tune the layout.
   
3. The text will wrap around the image. You can now move the image if you want. Just click and drag it to the desired location. As you move it, alignment guides will appear to help you align the image on the page.
   

Alternatively, you can access text wrapping options by selecting the image and clicking the Layout Options button that appears.

If the alignment guides do not appear, select the Page Layout tab, then click the Align command. Select Use Alignment Guides from the drop-down menu that appears.

Using a predefined text wrapping setting

Predefined text wrapping allows you to quickly move the image to a specific location on the page. The text will automatically wrap around the object so it's still easy to read.

Inserting online pictures

If you don't have the picture you want on your computer, you can find a picture online to add to your document. Word offers two options for finding online pictures.

• OneDrive: You can insert an image stored on your OneDrive. You can also link other online accounts with your Microsoft account, such as Facebook and Flickr.
  

• Bing Image Search: You can use this option to search the Internet for images. By default, Bing only shows images that are licensed under Creative Commons, which means you can use them for your own projects. However, you should click the link to the image's website to see if there are any restrictions on how it can be used.
  

1. Place the insertion point where you want the image to appear.
   

2. Select the Insert tab, then click the Online Pictures command.
   

3. The Insert Pictures dialog box will appear.
4. Choose Bing Image Search or your OneDrive. In our example, we'll use Bing Image Search.
   

5. Press the Enter key. Your search results will appear in the box.
6. Select the desired image, then click Insert.
   

7. The image will appear in the document.
   

When adding images, videos, or music to your own projects, it's important to make sure you have the legal rights to use them. Most things you buy or download online are protected by copyright, which means you may not be allowed to use them. For more information, visit our Copyright and Fair Use lesson.

Challenge!

1. Open our practice document and scroll to page 3.
2. Change the text wrapping of the dog picture to Square.
3. Drag the picture to the right side of the bottom paragraph.
4. Place your insertion point next to the Community Reminders heading.
5. Use the Online Pictures command and type the word Recycle into the search.
6. Insert a recycling symbol.
7. If needed, use the corner sizing handle to resize the recycling symbol so everything fits on page 3.
8. Change the text wrapping to Square and drag the symbol to the right side of the first bullet.
9. When you're finished, page 3 should look something like this:
   

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