Excel charts allow you to visualize data from your spreadsheets in a graphical format. While the charts are useful for analysis within Excel, you may want to export them as images to share in reports, presentations, websites, and more.
Exporting a chart as an image allows you to reuse it outside of Excel while preserving the chart’s formatting and resolution. Here are some best practices for exporting sharable Excel chart images.
Table of Contents
Save Chart as Image Using “Save as Picture”
The easiest way to export an Excel chart as an image is to use the “Save as Picture” option:
- Select the chart you want to save as a picture.
- Right click on the chart and choose “Save as Picture” from the context menu.
- In the Save as dialog box, select a location to save the image and give it a file name.
- Change the “Save as type” dropdown to your desired image format such as PNG, JPG, GIF, etc. PNG is recommended as it is a lossless format.
- Click Save.
This will export your selected Excel chart as an image file that you can reuse in other documents or share online.
Copy and Paste Chart as Image
You can also copy an Excel chart and paste it directly as an image into other Office documents or image editing software:
- Select the chart and press Ctrl+C to copy it.
- Open the target document, such as Word, PowerPoint or an image editor.
- Right click and select “Paste Special” from the context menu.
- Choose the image format you want to paste as, like PNG, JPG, etc.
- The chart will be pasted into the document as an editable image that you can resize or enhance as needed.
Save Charts as Images via HTML Export
If your Excel workbook contains multiple charts across several worksheets, you can export them all as images at once:
- Click File > Save As in Excel and select a folder location.
- Change the file type dropdown to “Web Page (.htm, .html)”.
- Click Save. This saves the workbook as an HTML file to the selected folder.
- Navigate to the folder and open the subfolder named “filename_files”.
- All charts from the workbook will be saved as .png images in this folder.
The benefit of this method is that it batch exports all charts automatically versus having to save each one individually.
Use VBA Macro to Export Charts
You can create a VBA macro to export all charts as images with just a click. Here are the key steps:
- Open the Visual Basic Editor (Alt+F11) and insert a new module.
- Add VBA code to loop through all chart objects in the workbook and export each one as a PNG or JPG.
- Run the macro by clicking the Run button and it will save images of every chart.
This automates chart image exporting instead of having to manually save each one. You can customize the image format, folder location, etc. based on your needs.
Tips for High Quality Excel Chart Images
Follow these tips to ensure your Excel chart images are high quality and easy to reuse:
- Increase image resolution: When saving charts as images, increase the resolution to 300dpi instead of 96dpi default to ensure sharp image quality. This is especially important for printed documents.
- Use PNG format: Export your Excel charts as PNG images instead of JPG or GIF to preserve transparency and retain quality with no data loss from compression.
- Resize charts before exporting: Enlarge small Excel charts on the worksheet before saving as images so they don’t appear blurry or pixelated when reused. Resize by dragging the sizing handles.
- Edit images as needed: Use image editing software to crop, resize, or enhance your chart images before reusing them. This gives you more control over the end result.
- Refresh images to update data: If your Excel data changes, delete existing chart images and re-export new versions to keep them up to date. You can also automate this with VBA.
By following these best practices, you can easily export Excel charts as high quality, shareable images for documents, presentations, websites, and more. The exported images will retain the chart’s formatting, colors, and overall design as seen in Excel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best image format to use when exporting Excel charts?
PNG is the best image format for Excel chart exports. Unlike JPG, PNG is a lossless format so there is no data or quality loss from image compression. PNG files preserve transparency, allow higher image quality, and result in sharper images when exported from Excel charts.
How do I increase the resolution of my Excel chart images?
When saving your Excel charts as images, you can manually increase the resolution before exporting to improve image quality. In most image editing programs, you can configure the image resolution in dpi (dots per inch). Set this to 300dpi or higher instead of the default 96dpi to get high quality, print-ready images.
What is the easiest way to export multiple Excel charts as images?
The fastest way to batch export all charts from an Excel workbook is to save a copy of it as a Web Page file. Excel will automatically create a separate folder containing images of every chart in the workbook saved as PNG files. You can then collect those images for use in other documents.
How do I export an Excel chart with high image quality?
Follow these tips to export Excel charts with maximum image quality:
- Use the “Save as Picture” option (right-click menu)
- Increase resolution to 300dpi before saving
- Choose PNG as the file format
- Resize chart to desired dimensions before exporting
- Use image editor to crop or enhance if needed
Can I automate exporting Excel charts as images?
Yes, you can create a VBA macro to automate exporting your Excel charts as image files. The macro can loop through all charts in the workbook, customize the image format and folder location, and export each one automatically with the click of a button. This saves time compared to manually exporting charts one by one.
Conclusion
Exporting Excel charts as shareable images is easy using the built-in “Save as Picture” option or by copying and pasting. For best results, follow the recommendations outlined here regarding image resolution, file formats, resizing techniques, and VBA automation.
By spending a little extra time on the export process, you can reuse your Excel charts in any external document while retaining the data visualizations you built. The exported images will maintain high image quality for both on-screen viewing and professional printing.
