Macro for cropping picture

[RockMechMark]

I have several plots output from another program as jpgs. These are graphs or contour plots. They have a thin line for a border, but significant white space outside this border. I want to import these pictures, but to see the contents of the figures as best that I can, I have to crop out the white space and then resize the pictures to 6.5-inch width, keeping aspect ratio constant. This process takes a lot of time, as I have many of these pictures.

I would like to have a macro that does the following after selecting the imported picture: (1) crop out the white space (I would have to experiment with how much to crop around each edge--the amounts cropped at each edge will be the same for each picture), and (2) resize to a width of 6.5 inches.

I have never written a visual basic macro for Word. This cannot be very difficult. Can someone help me out?

[gmaxey]

I have never flown a jumbo jet either, but it cannot be that hard! After all, all you have to do is sit in the cockpit and operate the controls.

Here is some code that should get you started:


Sub CropDemo()
Dim oShp As Word.Shape
Dim oILS As InlineShape
Dim lngWidth As Double
Dim lngHeight As Double
Set oShp = ActiveDocument.InlineShapes(1).ConvertToShape
' Retrieve the dimensions of the shape:
lngWidth = oShp.Width
lngHeight = oShp.Height
With oShp.PictureFormat.Crop
' Modify the picture itself, not its container:
' Shift the picture 10% to the right and down,
' and then make the picture 90% of its original size.
.PictureOffsetX = lngWidth / 10
.PictureHeight = lngHeight * 0.9
.PictureWidth = lngWidth * 0.9
' Now modify the cropping by changing the shape
' of the container. Changing the shape alters
' the portion of the picture that you see:
.ShapeHeight = 200
.ShapeWidth = 200
.ShapeLeft = 200
.ShapeTop = 150
End With
Set oILS = oShp.ConvertToInlineShape
lbl_Exit:
Exit Sub
End Sub


You might also find this useful: http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tip_pages/photo_gallery_add_in.html

[RockMechMark]

Thanks Greg,

You have provided me some points to investigate and learn. I thank you very much.

I still have some confusion with the meaning of some terminology.
For clarification, should I understand that the picture frame is
the actual size of the picture, but the carriage is the cropping frame?

Are the two frames (picture and carriage) connected or independent? I believe they are connected. But can I resize the picture once cropped so that the crop remains the same with respect to the picture?

I am not sure I understand why you move the picture to begin with, except to show me some possible commands.

The default of my jpgs is 750 x 564 pixels, resulting in a 5" by 3.76" initial picture. I can specify something else of the same ratio--something that will get me more resolution. I suppose that ideally, I should specify something such that the cropped final will have the dimensions that I want (6.5" width).

Manually, I crop first, and then resize the width of the picture, with aspect ratio kept constant.

Mark

[gmaxey]

I was just introducing you to some of the controls. Here is the fish.

Lets say you have a 1/2 white border around the image.


Sub CropDemo()
Dim oILS As InlineShape
Set oILS = Selection.InlineShapes(1)
With oILS
.PictureFormat.CropLeft = 36
.PictureFormat.CropTop = 36
.PictureFormat.CropRight = 36
.PictureFormat.CropBottom = 36
End With
With oILS
.LockAspectRatio = True
.Height = 360
End With
lbl_Exit:
Exit Sub
End Sub

[RockMechMark]

Greg,

Thank you very very much. I did not have the opportunity to test your code before now, but it was easy to follow and understand. I successfully modified the amounts of pixels cropped and changed Height to Width to get the 6.5 width needed. Thank you for taking the time to show and teach me.

[gmaxey]

My pleasure and glad you may catch your own next fish.