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How to Embed and Display a PDF File Within An Excel Document

Embedding a PDF file within an Excel document allows you to store supporting documents or additional reference materials directly inside your spreadsheet file. This can be extremely useful for organizing project files, creating catalogues, or simply keeping related information together in one place.

As a consultant with over 10 years of experience using Excel, I often need to embed PDFs into my Excel workbooks when compiling reports or financial models for clients. Here is a step-by-step guide on the different methods you can use to successfully embed a PDF in Excel.

Why Embed a PDF in Excel?

Here are some of the benefits of embedding a PDF file directly within your Excel workbook:

  • Convenience – Keeps all related files in one place so users don’t have to search for the PDF file separately. For example, embedding invoices or specification sheets along with an order form spreadsheet.
  • Portability – The PDF file will always travel together with the Excel file. You don’t have to worry about sending separate attachments.
  • Organization – Allows you to neatly integrate supporting documents or references into complex Excel workbooks. Useful for catalogues, reports, models etc.

Methods to Embed a PDF in Excel

There are a few different ways you can embed a PDF file into an Excel spreadsheet. Here are the main methods:

1. Insert as Object

This method inserts the PDF as an object within the Excel file. The benefit of this method is you can double click the object to open the PDF document within your default PDF viewer.

Follow these steps:

  1. In Excel, go to the Insert tab and click Object in the Text group.
  2. In the Object dialog box, go to the Create from File tab.
  3. Click Browse to select the PDF file you want to embed.
  4. Tick Display as icon and optionally customize the icon.
  5. Click OK to embed the PDF object into the worksheet.

2. Insert as Image

This method inserts the first page of the PDF file as an image that you can then resize and position within the worksheet.

Follow these steps:

  1. In Excel, go to the Insert tab and click Picture.
  2. Select the PDF file and click Insert.
  3. Resize and position the image as needed.

3. Hyperlink to PDF

Rather than embedding the entire PDF, you can also just insert a hyperlink to the PDF file. This keeps your Excel file size smaller.

Follow these steps:

  1. Copy the PDF file into the same folder as your Excel workbook.
  2. In Excel, right-click on a cell and select Hyperlink.
  3. Choose Existing File or Web Page under Link to.
  4. Browse and select the PDF file from the same folder.
  5. Click OK to insert the hyperlink.

Tips for Embedding PDFs in Excel

Here are some additional tips when working with embedded PDFs in Excel:

  • Double click on the inserted PDF object to quickly open the file for viewing or editing
  • For large PDF files, link to the file rather than embedding the entire document to avoid worksheet sluggishness
  • Always embed PDFs as read-only. Avoid linking to editable source files unless necessary
  • Ensure the PDF file always travels together with the Excel file for easy distribution
  • Set worksheet zoom to 100% to smoothly view large inserted PDF pages
  • Adjust cell padding to prevent worksheet content from obscuring parts of the embedded PDF

Conclusion

By following the methods outlined above, you can swiftly embed PDF files within your Excel workbooks. This allows you to consolidate supporting documents and references into a single, portable Excel file.

As you work more with embedding PDFs in Excel, you will discover additional tips and tricks that suit your workflow. But these basics should get you started with inserting PDF files into Excel like a pro! Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions.

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