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Is it possible in Microsoft Word (Word 2003 preferably) to insert an image from a url and have that image reloaded from url each time that document is opened?

The image itself is a map, and I'd like the map to be reloaded from the server each time the Word document is opened so that the most recent image is displayed.

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5 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted
  • Go to Insert - Quick Parts - Field...
  • In Field Names, select "InsertPicture".
  • In the field "Filename or URL", put the URL to your image.
  • Check "Data not stored in document". And eventually the 2 "Resize..." checkboxes if the size of the online image can change.

That should do the trick.

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Oops, I missed the "Word 2003 preferably" part in the question :-/ . I can't check anymore, I have no access to a Word 2003. Most probably it's there but maybe with another name. Check in the Insert menu if there is a Field item. –  Snark Sep 10 '09 at 6:59
This works, but in 2003 it's Insert Menu -> Field... –  Matthew Lock Sep 10 '09 at 6:59
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In Word 2010 instead of "InsertPicure", the field name is "IncludePicture"

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I got here looking for a way of adding my StackOverflow flair in my CV/resume. Since reputation and badges change frequently I wanted it to be updated/reflected automagically in the Word doc.

enter image description here

I happen to be using Word for Mac 2011.

In my case I followed the instructions given by Snark in his answer, but it was somewhat different and there's a GOTCHA:

  1. Menu Insert => Field...
  2. On the left in Categories: select Links and References.
  3. In Field names: select IncludePicture.
  4. Now you have to type two quotation marks in the input box just after INCLUDEPICTURE.
  5. The GOTCHA: Inside the quotation marks you have to paste the link to your image. In my case it's like this:

    INCLUDEPICTURE "http://stackoverflow.com/users/flair/114029.png?theme=clean"

  6. Click Preserve formatting during updates if you want.

That's it. Now the flair will be updated automagically wherever i open the Word doc. Totally AWESOME.

Here's a screenshot:

enter image description here

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You can choose Insert -> Picture -> From File... and type in the URL, but I'm not sure if it auto updates (not sure it can do that).

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Can you turn on macros or VBscript? If not I don't think Word handles files dynamically like that it saves them to the doc file.

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