# Solved: Excel Background Problem



## joe501 (Dec 16, 2004)

I am doing a project in school that uses excel for users to enter data etc.

I have a backgound of some curtains and on paint I have resized it so that when i choose format>sheet>background it covers the screen.

But my file size it about 45MB. This is because when I scrolled down in excel I saw that the image is repeated hundereds of times accross and down. This means that my spreadsheet takes ages to load and does not save.

Is there anyway that I can get the background to not repeat itself? Or to import a picture that acts as a background?

thanks

joe


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## bomb #21 (Jul 1, 2005)

The default format for Paint files is bitmap (bmp), which take up loads of space. Try saving *a copy* as jpeg or gif & using that instead.


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## bomb #21 (Jul 1, 2005)

If you have Excel XP, you could try this add-in:

http://cpap.com.br/orlando/#Watermark


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## joe501 (Dec 16, 2004)

it is saved as a jpeg.

does that addon make my background un tiled?


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## Anne Troy (Feb 14, 1999)

Background images in Excel:

1. Will not print.
2. Cannot be "untiled", you can only make the graphic as big as you want it to be BEFORE you set the background.

What is your ultimate goal, Joe? Perhaps we can give you an alternative method.


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## joe501 (Dec 16, 2004)

my ultimate goal is to have an image of a curtain as a background, so that I can still edit the boxes on the spreadsheet. It dosent need to be printed out.

I have it as a background, but the image keeps repeating, which makes the file size really big


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## bomb #21 (Jul 1, 2005)

joe501 said:


> it is saved as a jpeg.
> 
> does that addon make my background un tiled?


The commentary says "inserts a watermark into Excel 2002(XP) and 2003 sheets". A watermark is generally a "once-per-sheet" thing. I can't say for sure as I don't have Excel XP. If you _do_ have Excel XP, I doubt it would hurt to give it a try.


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## joe501 (Dec 16, 2004)

that add on only shows the watermark on print preview.

I am starting again.

Is there a way of deleting some of the cells so i dont have 60,000+ cells going downwards and IV going accross? This would decrease the number of times the background image is repeated hugeley?


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## bomb #21 (Jul 1, 2005)

You cannot have less than 256 columns/65536 rows. You can only hide columns and/or rows, but this does not affect the file size.

You could probably have macros to set the background when the file opens and unset it when the file closes. But this wouldn't cure the "file saving during use" issue.

Have you tried the picture in gif format? (_may_ be more compact than jpg, I don't actually know).


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## joe501 (Dec 16, 2004)

i have given up and started again! I am now just filling in cells for my background. it looks ok. Thanks to everyone who tried to help :up:


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