Modifying Graphic Properties

You may find that when you insert a graphic into your workbook, it does not appear the way you expected. You can resize, crop, rotate, and change the appearance of the graphics you insert into an Excel worksheet.

To modify a graphic:

  1. Select the graphic you want to change.
  2. To resize a picture: click a resize handle and drag toward the center of the image to make it smaller and away from the center of the image to make it larger.
  3. To rotate a picture: click the rotate handle and drag your mouse to the right to rotate the image clockwise and drag your mouse to the left to rotate the image counter-clockwise.
  4. If necessary, open the Picture toolbar by right-clicking on the image and selecting Show Picture Toolbar from the shortcut menu.
    1. To adjust the look of an image: click the Color button , More Contrast button or Less Contrast button , and More Brightness button or Less Brightness button.
    2. To crop an image: click the Crop button , click a corner of the image, and drag until only the part of the image you want to show is remaining.
    3. To return the image to its original state: click the Reset Picture button.


  • To open the Format Picture dialog box, you can also:
    • Double-click the picture.
    • Right-click the picture and selecting Format Picture... from the shortcut menu.
  • From the Format Picture box:
    1. Size tab: resize and rotate the image by entering values.
    2. Picture tab: crop and adjust the brightness and contrast.
    3. Colors and Lines tab: change the background color and add borders.