Word File Size

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If you have a graphic embedded, that will be the problem. Word converts any other format – jpg, gif etc – into a bmp to embed so the file size balloons. To my knowledge there isn’t any way around it.

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Yes, actually Knowledgebase article Q. 224663 explains a way to avoid it by making some changes in the Registry but does not offer a suggestion with what can be done with files that have already blown up.

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With your file that has already blown, delete the graphic and re-insert it. Now don’t under any circumstances double click or attempt to edit the graphic within Word.

Make sure Fast Save is turned off as well. Do a File > SaveAs if in doubt.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try.

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Edited by gwhitfield on 01/01/22 22:43.

Please help. On several occasions I have had my Word 2000 files balloon from around 55k to over 1.0k for no apparent reason. At least not one that I can figure. I have read MW Knowledgebase Article Q2224663 and I am not sure this quite addresses the cause. It is possible that it may be related to the graphic embedded, but I also want to know how do I go back and fix the file that has ballooned. Q2224663 only explains how to prevent the problem occurring in the future.

Please help. I am grateful for any suggestions.

Ron.

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Hi Mike:

Well, I don’t know this from first hand knowledge, but I found a tip that I copied some time ago. It seems to indicate that Word 97 on doesn’t save graphics in .bmp format.

Graphics: FileSize
From Office 97 onwards graphics are automatically compressed in .PNG format, and consequently you’ll often see greatly reduced file sizes on documents containing graphics. However this isn’t always the case. Every now and then you’ll get an exploding file size phenomenon on a Word 97 file containing bitmaps. I think one thing which can trigger this is resizing a bitmap within Word; sometimes it appears as if this makes the auto-compression routine unworkable, and you end up with a file vastly larger than the total byte size which would be occupied by the uncompressed bitmap(s)it contains. I also suspect that if graphics are in frames of the pre-Word 97 variety, they may sometimes not be compressed. I don’t know if Word 2000 behaves as 97 does in these respects.

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You can sometimes reduce file size considerably by going to File-Properties-Summary tab and removing the “Save preview picture” checkbox.

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