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The icon is blank when you insert an object or a file into a document, presentation, spreadsheet, or other Microsoft Office file

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Microsoft Knowledge Base Article

This article contents is Microsoft Copyrighted material.
©2005-©2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use | Trademarks
Article ID: 925082 - Last Review: October 9, 2006 - Revision: 1.7

The icon is blank when you insert an object or a file into a document, presentation, spreadsheet, or other Microsoft Office file

View products that this article applies to.
System TipThis article applies to a different version of Windows than the one you are using. Content in this article may not be relevant to you. Visit the Windows Vista Solution Center

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. You insert an object or a file into a document, presentation, spreadsheet, or other Microsoft Office 2003 or Microsoft Office XP file. To do this, you use one of the methods in the following examples:
  • You drag a .txt file into an Office file from Windows Explorer.
  • You click Insert, click Object, and then click Create from File in an Office program.
In this scenario, the icon for the OLE object that was created is blank. The Office program only displays a blank picture with caption.

Note This issue occurs in all Office 2003 and Office XP products, in Microsoft WordPad, and in third-party products.
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CAUSE

This issue occurs because Office uses the CreateMetaFile function in the Ole32.dll file to obtain the object preview picture. The CreateMetaFile function is limited to Windows Metafile Format (WMF) pictures. Therefore, the picture only contains 16-bit color at most.

Some file types use 32-bit color icons in Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003. If Windows uses a 32-bit color schema, the CreateMetaFile function cannot obtain the appropriate WMF preview picture in the Ole32.dll file. Therefore, the CreateMetaFile function returns a blank picture.

Note This issue occurs in any application that uses the CreateMetaFile function.
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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, change your color quality settings to 16-bit color. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
  2. On the Settings tab, select Medium (16 bit) in the Color quality list.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Try to insert the object again.
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Students and Teachers Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003
  • Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003
  • Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003
  • Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Word 2002
  • Microsoft Office XP
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
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Keywords: 
kbexpertisebeginner kbtshoot kbprb KB925082
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Toan Report As Irrelevant  
Written: 9/5/2007 3:28 PM
Work as described. Saved me a lot of my precious time. thanks.

Pete Report As Irrelevant  
Written: 2/16/2008 2:19 AM
Detail was good. Searched quite a while to find information needed to solve problem and this sorted it straight away. Thanks a lot.

Keith Report As Irrelevant  
Written: 8/7/2008 1:12 PM
I have looked for weeks for an answer to this issue. I have office 2003 and do not currently have an issue. When I tried to insert an object in Visio 2003 though, it would give me a blank icon with a caption. I know for a fact I would not have figured out this was a color issue all by myself. Thank you.



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