How to get images to appear in Excel given image url

Question

I'm creating a csv file with one of the columns containing an url of an image (e.g., www.myDomain.com/myImage.jpg).
How I can get Excel to render this image?

Eniwetok

Answer 1

Dim url_column As Range
Dim image_column As Range

Set url_column = Worksheets(1).UsedRange.Columns("A")
Set image_column = Worksheets(1).UsedRange.Columns("B")

Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To url_column.Cells.Count

  With image_column.Worksheet.Pictures.Insert(url_column.Cells(i).Value)
    .Left = image_column.Cells(i).Left
    .Top = image_column.Cells(i).Top
    image_column.Cells(i).EntireRow.RowHeight = .Height
  End With

Next

---

As Excel behaviour has apparently changed over years, you might want to specify more parameters to the Insert call explicitly:

For people landing here. Different versions of Excel handle this request differently, Excel 2007 will insert the picture as an object, ie embed it in the workbook. Excel 2010 will insert it as a link, which is bad times if you plan on sending it to anyone. You need to change the insert to specify that it is embedded: Insert(Filename:= <path>, LinkToFile:= False, SaveWithDocument:= True)

Gradate

Thanks I believe this will work. Sorry for the late response. – Eniwetok

So does this "render the image" (as asked in the question) or does it "insert the image into a cell"? I am looking for a solution that renders images in Excel, based on URLs in other cells, but don't want the images to be embedded in the spreadsheet and add to its size when saving. Am I right in thinking this is not the solution? – Ciccia

@Ciccia Yes, it is not the solution. You can delete the inserted images in e.g. Workbook_BeforeSave though. – Gradate

I really don't get how this solution is supposed to work / be used ! – Musselman

@Stéphane Create a sub in a module or in a worksheet. Name it as you wish. Paste the code between Sub and End Sub. Adjust the Worksheets(1) part to be whatever suits you, if needed. Run. – Gradate

@avalanche1 Why not? – Gradate

@GSerg, works, my bad. smth wrong with the host that refuses connections from vba for some reason – Torosian

@Torosian Probably because Excel sends some funny user agent like IE6.0. – Gradate

Answer 2

On Google Sheets you can add the IMAGE(url) method to your CSV file and it will be rendered (Tested on Google Sheets).

Here is an example:

=IMAGE("http://efdreams.com/data_images/dreams/lion/lion-03.jpg")

Greataunt

On Google Sheets yes, but the question is in reference to Excel – Leastwise

Answer 3

I had same issue. My solution was:

1. import csv to Excel,
2. from excel copy table to Google Sheets
3. in Google Sheets use =IMAGE("http://example.com/01.jpg") on column you want to have images. Google Sheets load the images,
4. just copy all back to Excel.

In excel images will be in original sizes but always started on apropriate row, so just select all and change width or height of all images. If you change only height by height of the row, you will have everything ordered and positioned right.

Helterskelter