Erin Wright Writing

Writing Tips for the Real World

How to Save Tables and Figures as Images in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)

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Printed tables and graphs with text overlay "How to Save Tables & Figures as Images in Microsoft Word"

This tutorial shows how to save tables and figures as images in Microsoft Word for the PC and in Word for Mac. These steps will also work for shapes and SmartArt.

Are you looking for information about inserting tables and figures? Please visit “Three Ways to Insert Tables in Microsoft Word” and “How to Create and Customize Charts in Microsoft Word.”

Why Would You Want to Save Tables and Figures as Images?

You may want to repurpose your tables and figures (or shapes and SmartArt) as images on social media or on a website. In addition, you can insert the image files into different file types such as PowerPoint slides, Publisher files, or PDFs.

Quick Links:

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365 and Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac. These steps will also work in Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2013. However, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software. These steps don’t apply to Word for the web.

Important Note: The following steps only save the table, figure, shape, or SmartArt as an image. These steps don’t save the corresponding title or caption added with Word’s title and caption tools. Therefore, be sure to copy that information separately if you will need it for future use.

How to Save Tables and Figures as Images in Microsoft Word (PC)

  1. Right-click the table or figure and then select Save as Picture from the shortcut menu.
Save as Picture option in Word 365
Figure 1. Save as Picture option
  1. Select the location where you want to save your image in the Save As Picture dialog box.
Locations in the Save As Picture dialog box in Word 365
Figure 2. Location options
  1. (Optional) Type a new name into the File name text box.
File name text box in the Save As Picture dialog box in Word 365
Figure 4. File name text box
  1. Select a file format from the Save as type drop-down menu:
    • Portable Network Graphics (.png)
    • JPEG File Interchange Format (.jpg)
    • Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
    • Tag Image File Format (.tif)
    • Windows Bitmap (.bmp)
    • Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg) (Only available in Word for Microsoft 365 and Word 2021)

JPEG and PNG are the two most common file formats. There are compression differences between these formats, but for most users, the most important difference is the fact that PNGs have a transparent background, while JPEGs have a white background.

"Save as type" menu in the Save As Picture dialog box in Word 365
Figure 4. Save as type menu
  1. Select the Save button.
Save button in the Save As Picture dialog box in Word 365
Figure 5. Save button

Your table or figure should now be saved as an image in the location you chose in the Save As Picture dialog box.

How to Save Tables and Figures as Images in Word for Mac

  1. Control-click the table or figure and then select Save as Picture from the shortcut menu.
Save as Picture option in Word for Mac
Figure 6. Save as Picture option (Word for Mac)
  1. (Optional) Type a new name into the Save As text box in the Save dialog box.
Save As text box in the Save dialog box in Word for Mac
Figure 7. Save As text box (Word for Mac)
  1. Select the location where you want to save your image.
Location options in the Save dialog box in Word for Mac
Figure 8. Location options (Word for Mac)
  1. Select a file type from the Save as Type drop-down menu:
    • PNG
    • JPEG
    • PDF
    • GIF
    • BMP
    • SVG (Only available in Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac and Word 2021 for Mac)

Please see step 4 in the section above for a brief discussion about JPEGs and PNGs.

Save as Type menu in the Save dialog box in Word 365
Figure 9. Save as Type menu (Word for Mac)
  1. Select the Save button.
Save button in the Save dialog box in Word for Mac
Figure 10. Save button (Word for Mac)

Your table or figure should now be saved as an image in the location you chose in the Save dialog box.

Related Resources

How to Create and Update a List of Tables or Figures in Microsoft Word

How to Write Figure Captions for Graphs, Charts, Photos, Drawings, and Maps

How to Write Table Titles