Extract the pictures from a document at original quality (names with sheet and cell: full edition)

You want every photo pasted into an Excel or Word file back at its original quality. Copying and pasting each one loses quality, and renaming the file to .zip gets them out as image1.png, image2.png, with no way to tell which sheet and cell each one came from. With dozens of files it is still hand work. Document Image Extractor by Hullspark, a Windows app, takes .xlsx, .docx and .pptx files dropped onto it and writes the pictures out as the original data. It is free to use; names with the sheet and cell or slide number are in the full edition.

Hullspark · 2026-10-23

Doing it by hand

For a few files you do not need the app. Make a copy of the file, change its extension to .zip and open it; for an Excel file the pictures are in the xl\media folder＊1 (word\media for Word, ppt\media for PowerPoint). One answer notes that pictures stored as objects rather than as pictures do not show up this way＊1.

There are two drawbacks. The names come out as image1.png, image2.png and so on, with no way to tell which sheet and cell each one came from. And with dozens of files you repeat the same steps for each.

The names

The free edition writes the pictures at original quality with numbered names (image001 and so on). Drop a file and the pictures it holds are shown as thumbnails with the file names they will be given, so you can check before anything is written. The export writes the data as stored in the document, so nothing is re-compressed.

The full edition gives names that say where each picture sat. For a spreadsheet the name carries the sheet and cell (for example Sales_B3.png). For a presentation it carries the slide number, and for a text document the order in the document. Pictures placed inside a spreadsheet cell are found with their cell too; this was checked against a file saved by Excel for the web.

Files it reads

It reads .xlsx, .xlsm, .docx and .pptx. Old .xls, .doc and .ppt files, password-protected files and files saved as Strict Open XML are named as such and not processed.

Free and full edition

The app is free. The free edition handles one file at a time, up to 20 pictures, with numbered names (image001 and so on). That extraction stays free.

The full edition is a one-time add-on, bought through the Microsoft Store from a button in the app, and it belongs to your Microsoft account. It removes the limit of one file and 20 pictures, and adds whole folders in one run, names with sheet and cell or slide number, a single copy of a picture that is used many times, an as-displayed export with the crop and 90-degree rotation or flip applied (JPEG and similar become PNG), and an index CSV. The CSV has one row per picture: file name, place in the document, size and the alt text stored in the document.

Your data

Your original file is only read, never changed, and no file is sent off your PC. The only network use is the Microsoft Store, for checking and adding the full edition. The app asks the Store whether you own the full edition when it starts and when its window comes back to the front. Details are in the privacy policy.

What it cannot do

It does not claim to get every picture. Charts, SmartArt, shapes themselves, linked pictures stored outside the file and pictures shown by the IMAGE function are not picture files inside the document, so they are not covered. Whatever cannot be extracted is listed on screen with the reason. Brightness and colour effects, shape cut-outs and rotations other than 90 degrees are not reflected in the as-displayed export. A picture the document shows stretched to other proportions is written in its own proportions, and the result screen says so. Word pictures get their order in the document, not a page number.

Word and PowerPoint files saved by a real Office, and files with in-cell pictures saved by desktop Excel, have not been tried yet.

Coming to the Microsoft Store

FAQ

What can the free edition do?

One file at a time, up to 20 pictures, at original quality, with numbered names (image001 and so on). You check the thumbnails before writing. Names with sheet and cell or slide number, whole-folder runs and the index CSV are in the full edition.

Does the picture quality drop?

With the default settings the app writes the picture data exactly as stored in the document, so nothing is re-compressed. The full edition's as-displayed export applies the crop and 90-degree rotation or flip; JPEG and similar become PNG then.

Does it find pictures placed inside an Excel cell?

Yes, on a file saved by Excel for the web. The name with the cell is in the full edition.

Does it get every picture?

It does not claim that. Charts, SmartArt, shapes themselves, linked pictures stored outside the file and pictures shown by the IMAGE function are not picture files inside the document, so they are not covered. Whatever cannot be extracted is listed on screen with the reason.

Do Word pictures get a page number?

No. Word pictures get their order in the document. Spreadsheet pictures get the sheet name and cell; presentation pictures get the slide number.

Is my original file changed?

No. The original file is only read, never changed, and no file is sent off your PC.

Can it read old .xls or .doc files?

No. It reads .xlsx, .xlsm, .docx and .pptx. Old .xls, .doc and .ppt files, password-protected files and files saved as Strict Open XML are named as such and not processed.

Sources

＊1 Microsoft Q&A: How to copy embedded images from Excel and paste to a folder (answer: change the copy's extension to .zip and open xl\media): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4840118/how-to-copy-embedded-images-from-a-excel-and-paste

Microsoft, Windows, Excel, Word and PowerPoint are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. This page and the app are not affiliated with, made or endorsed by Microsoft.

Questions: the support page or support@hullspark.com. Privacy policy