Do you want to convert an Excel table to an image?

For example, you might want to use the table image as a content in website or slideshow. Not to worry! You’ve come to the right place. I’ll show various methods to save an Excel table as an image In this effortless Excel tutorial.

There are instances where you may need to extract a specific table or data set from your Excel workbook and share it as an image. Whether it’s for creating reports, presentations, or sharing data on your website or social media.

This post is going to show you how to save your table as an image. Let’s get started!

📒Read More: Check out this post on how to make a table in Microsoft Excel.

What Is an Excel Table?

An Excel table, often referred to as a “structured table” or “table” in Microsoft Excel, is a structured grid that provides an organized and visually consistent way to present data. Tables consist of rows and columns, with each column representing a specific attribute or field, and each row corresponding to a data record.

When you convert a range of data into an Excel table, it automatically applies formatting, including headers, banded rows, and filter controls, making data more accessible and attractive.

One of the key advantages of Excel tables is their dynamic nature. They can expand or contract as you add or remove data, eliminating the need to adjust cell references in formulas. Tables offer built-in sorting, filtering, and total row features, making it easier to manipulate and analyze data.

Reasons to Save Excel Table as an Image

The primary reason to save an Excel table as an image is that you need to present the image in a way so that the audience can’t change the values of the table. You won’t be able to edit the contents of the table but that’s okay with your presentation requirements.

Find below other vital reasons to convert Excel tables to images:

1. Images are more visually appealing and easier to comprehend than raw data. Hence, images make them better choices for presentations and reports as compared to tables.
2. Also, images can be easily shared on websites, social media, or in documents, ensuring data is accessible to a wider audience.
3. When you share an Excel table as an image, you no longer need to worry if the recipient has access to an Excel desktop or web app or not. Because most digital devices can render and visualize images.
4. When creating printed materials like brochures or posters, images can be seamlessly incorporated into the design rather than the Excel table.
5. In dynamically changing Excel tables images serve as a method of version control.
6. Images can be used to share data without exposing the underlying Excel file. This enhances data security.
7. Images ensure that the table’s appearance remains consistent regardless of the software or device used to view it.
8. Images are versatile and can be easily incorporated into various applications, including word processors and graphic design software.
9. It becomes easier to upload an image file in a compressed and small size on websites and mobile apps compared to a whole Excel workbook.
10. If you want to visualize data as tables in your website, you’ll need API access to Excel or other spreadsheet apps. You can avoid the costs of API subscription and development by uploading tables as images.

Use Windows Snipping Tool in Windows OS

Windows Snipping Tool is the native screenshot-taking app. You can access it from the Start menu or by pressing the Windows + Shift + S hotkey. To take a screenshot of your Excel table, do the following:

1. Open your Excel worksheet containing a table.
2. Press Win + Shift + S altogether.
3. A screenshot layer will appear with the Windows Snipping Tool interface on the top of the screen.
4. Click on the Rectangular Snip option.
5. Now, draw a rectangle around the table using the mouse.

6. Once you’re done, Windows saves the image automatically.
7. You should also get a notification of that in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Go to Pictures > Screenshots to retrieve the images of your Excel tables.

Use the Built-In Screenshot Shortcut on macOS

If you’re working on a MacBook or iMac you can use its built-in screenshot tool to save an Excel table as an image. Find below the necessary steps you must follow:

1. Press Command + Shift + 5 to open the screenshot tool user interface.
2. Click the third screenshot option or the Capture Selected Portion option.

3. Place and adjust the Capture Selected Portion overlay on the table and click once.
4. macOS will take a screenshot of the Excel table and save the image in the Home Screen.

Use the Excel Screenshot Tool

Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint come with a built-in screenshot app. It allows you to take a screenshot of any other window except the current document on which you’re working.

The idea is to grab screenshots of other windows and include them in your active Excel workbook.

To use this method, you need to open two Excel workbooks. One is the source worksheet that contains your tables. The other is a blank Excel workbook where you’ll import the tables as images.

Find below a step-by-step guide to using the Excel screenshot tool:

1. Go to the blank Excel workbook.
2. Click the Screenshot button inside the Illustrations commands block of the Insert tab.
3. On the Available Windows context menu, choose the window that shows the Excel worksheet containing the table.

4. You should see a screenshot of the selected Excel worksheet along with the table.
5. Click the inserted image.
6. Then, click the Crop command button inside the Size block of the Picture Format tab.
7. You can now crop the image to only show the table using the cropping guides.
8. Click the Crop button again to finalize cropping.

You can follow the exact same steps in PowerPoint or Word to save an Excel table as an image in these apps.

This method is suitable to grab screenshots from Excel workbooks when you’re working on Excel, PowerPoint, or Word. You can import an image version of the target Excel table without needing any third-party tools.

Convert Excel Tables to Images Using the Copy Paste Method

Microsoft Excel also allows you to copy the table object and paste it onto a supported software as an image of the table object.

For example, you can copy and paste Excel tables to PowerPoint and Word. Alternatively, you can copy and paste a table into a graphics designing software like Adobe Photoshop, Windows Paint app, etc.

Find below the instructions on how to save an Excel table as an image using the Windows Paint app:

1. Open your source Excel workbook and copy the table you want to convert to a JPEG/ PNG file.

2. Now, open the Windows Paint app from the Start menu.
3. Go to the blank canvas of the Paint app.
4. Press Ctrl + V to paste the copied table as an image.

5. Now, click the File tab and hover the mouse cursor over the Save as option.
6. Choose an image type from the context menu that appears.
7. For example, I’ve selected the JPEG picture option.

8. On the Save As dialog box, give the JPEG file a name and click Save.

Go to the selected destination to get your Excel table as an image file. You can use it in various apps and websites for further content development purposes.

📒Read More: How To Create Table Relationships

Save Excel Tables as an Image Using Excel VBA

Excel VBA scripting makes it super easy to save Excel tables as images. Here’s how:

1. Press Alt + F11 to bring up the Excel VBA Editor tool.
2. Click the Insert menu on the toolbar.
3. Click Module.
4. In the blank module, copy and paste this VBA script:

Sub ExportTableAsImage()
    Dim tbl As ListObject
    Dim tblRange As Range
    Dim img As Picture

    ' Define the name of the table
    Set tbl = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ListObjects("Table1") ' Replace "TableName" with the actual table name

    ' Define the range of the table
    Set tblRange = tbl.Range

    ' Create a chart based on the table range
    tblRange.Copy
    ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Pictures.Paste

    ' Set the image to the variable
    Set img = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Pictures(1)

End Sub

5. Click the Save button to save the script.
6. Now, close the Excel VBA Editor.

Now, to run the macro you created above, follow these steps:

1. Highlight a cell on the same worksheet where you want the image.
2. Press Alt + F8 to launch the Macro dialog box.
3. There, select the ExportTableAsImage macro.
4. Hit Run to execute the code.

Excel will populate an image version of the selected table. Right-click on the image and choose Save as Picture in the context menu that pops up.

You can now save the image in any folder on the PC. Once done, use it for further website, report, or presentation creation purposes.

To customize the above script, make these changes:

• Change "Sheet1" to another worksheet name where the table exists in your Excel file. For example, "Sheet10", "Sheet11", etc.
• If there are more tables in the worksheet, change the table names as well. For example, change "Table1" to "Table2", "Table3", etc.

Conclusions

In this effortless Excel tutorial, you explored multiple methods to convert Excel tables to images. The ability to save Excel tables as images is a great skill when you need to quickly share a tabular report with your employer or client.

You can just email or WhatsApp the image as opposed to sending a whole Excel workbook without knowing if the recipient can open the file on their computer or smartphone.

You’ve seen manual methods for you if you need to do this occasionally. Contrarily, if the worksheet is huge and you need to extract tables as images frequently, you can use automated methods like Excel VBA.

I hope this guide has been informative and practical for you. If you have any questions, suggestions, or additional methods you’d like to share, please feel free to drop them in the comment box below.