Excel: Pop-up Picture of an Item in a Cell

Problem: I have a product catalog in Excel. My sales reps will show the list of items to the buyer in a retail store. Can I have pictures appear on demand in Excel?

Strategy: You can add a pop-up picture to a cell. When someone hovers the mouse over an item number, the picture will appear. Follow these steps:

1. Select cell A4. Select Review, New Comment.
2. The default comment will have your name as the default text. Backspace to remove the name.
3. Using the mouse, click the diagonal-lines border in order to change the border to a series of dots.

1. Display pictures on demand
   4. Right-click the dotted border and select Format Comment.
   5. In the Format Comment dialog, go to the Colors and Lines tab. In the Fill Color dropdown, choose Fill Effects. In the Fill Effects dialog, choose the Picture tab and then click the Select Picture button.
   6. Browse to the location where you have product pictures stored. Select a digital image of the item and click Insert.
   7. On the Fill Effects tab, click OK. When you return to the Format Comment dialog, a squished version of the image will appear in the Color dropdown. Don't worry; the actual comment will look better.
   8. Click OK to close the Format Comment dialog.
   9. Use the lower-right handle to resize the comment. A red triangle will appear in cell A4.
   10. Repeat steps 1"“10 for each item in the catalog.

   As promised, a picture of the product appears when you hover the mouse icon over the cell. Everyone thinks of Excel as being strictly for numbers. Adding pop-up pictures is a great trick for making your spreadsheets more of a sales tool.