Introducing the IMAGE function
Remember when we had to use hacky methods to insert pictures into cells?
No longer.
A new function is born — it’s called IMAGE.
That’s right, Excel has taken another leaf out of Sheets’ book with a long overdue but much welcome addition.
For Windows users, IMAGE is currently only available to Office Insiders on the BETA channel running Version 2209 (Build 15608.10000) or later.
𝗦𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘅
=𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙶𝙴(𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎, [𝚊𝚕𝚝_𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝], [𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐], [𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝], [𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚝𝚑])
► 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 — the URL path of the image (BMP/JPG/JPEG/GIF/TIFF/PNG/ICO/WEBP file formats are supported).
► [𝚊𝚕𝚝_𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝] — the alternative text that describes the image.
► [𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐] — how the image should display. The options are:
0 – Fit cell — fits the image in the cell, maintaining its aspect ratio.
1 – Fill cell — fills the entire cell with the image, ignoring aspect ratio.
2 – Original size — maintains the original image size.
3 – Custom size — displays the image according to the dimensions set.
► [𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝] — the custom height of the image in pixels.
► [𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚝𝚑] — the custom width of the image in pixels.
[𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝] and [𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚝𝚑] only require values if [𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐] is set to 3 – Custom size.
Hovering over an image triggers a popup, giving you a closer look. This is bound to be handy if you’re storing mass numbers of them in regular-sized cells.
17 months ago, I wrote an article called ‘10 Features in Sheets Excel Needs’ (https://lnkd.in/dnhqcyd3), and number 10 on my list was indeed ‘Images in Cells’. That can now be crossed off, as well as a couple of others.
It’s great the Excel team has listened to what users want and is continuing to make inroads to sweep away the competition!
