Problems Scaling Embedded Excel Chart Object in Word

• Microsoft Office for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.2, 4.3
• Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, versions 4.2, 4.2.1
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0
• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

Case 1: Microsoft Excel Chart Sheet

When you scale a Microsoft Excel 5.0 chart object that is embedded in a Microsoft Word document, the chart plot area may be scaled while the chart text, chart legend, and the object frame remain unscaled. These symptoms occur if your chart is a separate chart sheet in Microsoft Excel (instead of an embedded chart object in the Microsoft Excel worksheet).

Note: This only affects charts that you embed in Word; it does not apply to linked charts.

Case 2: Chart Embedded in a Microsoft Excel Worksheet

When you scale a chart object that is an embedded chart (instead of a separate chart sheet), the chart in the object is displayed off center, the Microsoft Excel worksheet cells are visible, and the chart object frame returns to its original size.

These symptoms do not occur if you choose the Paste Link button in the Paste Special dialog box to create a linked object rather than an embedded object in Word. However, when you link the chart, it resizes in Word whenever you resize the original chart in Microsoft Excel.

CAUSE

Case 1 occurs because the EMBED field in the Word document contains the \s switch, which returns an embedded object to its original size when you update the field. Word adds the \s switch when you use the Paste Special command on the Edit menu to embed a Microsoft Excel chart object. By contrast, Word does not add the \s switch when you embed the chart using the Object command on the Insert menu.

Case 2 occurs partly because of the \s EMBED field switch, and partly because, with an embedded chart, you embed Microsoft Excel worksheet cells as well as the embedded chart. This means the embedded object behaves more like a Microsoft Excel 5.0 Worksheet object than a Chart object. For best results in Word, you should embed a chart sheet rather than an embedded chart whenever possible.

STATUS

We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

WORKAROUNDS

Method 1

Embed a chart that is located on a chart sheet instead of an embedded chart, and then size the chart in Microsoft Excel (before you embed it in Word). In Word, use the following procedure to embed the chart:

1. From the Insert menu, choose Object, and select the Create From File tab.

2. Select the Microsoft Excel workbook that contains the chart sheet you want to embed, and then choose OK.

3. If the chart you want to embed is not the active sheet in the workbook, double-click the object and select the sheet tab of the appropriate chart in Microsoft Excel.

4. When the chart that you want to embed is displayed, scale the chart object as desired, and then click anywhere outside the chart to return to Word.

Method 2

Use this method when you must use an embedded chart instead of a chart sheet. For best results, use Method 1 whenever possible.

To scale an embedded Microsoft Excel Chart object in Microsoft Word for Windows without distorting the chart object or displaying cells from a worksheet, do the following:

1. Insert the chart object in the Word document, and then select the chart object.

2. Press SHIFT+F9 to display the field code instead of the object.

   The field code representing the chart object appears as follows:

         {EMBED Excel.Chart.5 \s}
   

3. Edit the field code to appear as follows (delete " \s"):

         {EMBED Excel.Chart.5}
   

4. With your cursor in the field code, press F9 to update the change to the field code.

5. With your cursor in the field code, press SHIFT+F9 to display the chart object.

6. Size the chart object.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about problems editing an embedded chart that is an object in another OLE (object linking and embedding) 2.0 application such as Word 6.0, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q108430
   TITLE     : XL5: Chart Size Changes if Embedded Chart Edited in OLE
               Client

In Word for Windows, the \s switch in an EMBED field returns an embedded object to its original size when you update the field. When you embed a Microsoft Excel chart object in a Word document, this switch is automatically included in the EMBED field for that object. If you remove the \s switch from the EMBED field, Word does not return the chart object to its original size when you update the field.

Note: The \s switch does not apply to a LINK field, so these methods do not affect a linked Microsoft Excel chart in Word.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, pages 302-303, 605 "Microsoft Excel User's Guide," version 5.0, page 261

For more information about Embedding A Microsoft Excel Object In Another Application, choose the Search button in Microsoft Excel Help and type:

    OLE, embedding in other applications