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How to Add, Extract, and Remove Images from Worksheets

by Chaknith Bin

Introduction

By adding images, users can enrich their data with relevant graphics or illustrations. Removing or deleting images simplifies content editing and organization. Additionally, the ability to retrieve images allows for repurposing them in other documents or applications, as well as updating existing images. Collectively, these features enhance user control over images, improve the overall user experience, and enable seamless image manipulation within Excel workbooks.

How to Add, Extract, and Remove Images from Worksheets

  1. Download the C# library to insert, extract, and remove images from spreadsheets
  2. Import an existing Excel file or create a new one
  3. Use the InsertImage method to insert an image into the worksheet
  4. Access the Images property to extract images and their information
  5. Supply the ID to the RemoveImage method to remove the image


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First Step:
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Add Images Example

To insert an image into a spreadsheet, utilize the InsertImage method, which supports various image types, such as JPG/JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, and TIFF. You must specify the top-left and bottom-right corners of the image to determine its dimensions, calculated by subtracting the column and row values. For example, you can try the following approaches:

  • For a 1x1 image size:
    • worksheet.InsertImage("image.gif", 5, 1, 6, 2);
  • For a 2x2 image size:
    • worksheet.InsertImage("image.gif", 5, 1, 7, 3);

Please note
The generated image IDs follow a pattern of 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/add-remove-extract-worksheet-images-insert.cs
using IronXL;

WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Create();
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet;

// Insert images
workSheet.InsertImage("ironpdf.jpg", 2, 2, 4, 4);
workSheet.InsertImage("ironpdfIcon.png", 2, 6, 4, 8);

workBook.SaveAs("insertImages.xlsx");
Imports IronXL

Private workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Create()
Private workSheet As WorkSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet

' Insert images
workSheet.InsertImage("ironpdf.jpg", 2, 2, 4, 4)
workSheet.InsertImage("ironpdfIcon.png", 2, 6, 4, 8)

workBook.SaveAs("insertImages.xlsx")
VB   C#

Output Spreadsheet

Insert Image

Extract Images Example

To extract images from the selected worksheet, simply access the Images property, which provides a list of all the images contained within the sheet. From this list, you can perform various operations such as exporting, resizing, retrieving positions, and obtaining the byte data of each image. Notably, the image IDs follow an odd-numbered pattern, incrementing in the sequence of 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/add-remove-extract-worksheet-images-extract.cs
using IronSoftware.Drawing;
using IronXL;
using IronXL.Drawing;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("insertImages.xlsx");
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet;

// Retreive images
List<IronXL.Drawing.Images.IImage> images = workSheet.Images;

// Select each image
foreach (IronXL.Drawing.Images.IImage image in images)
{
    // Save the image
    AnyBitmap anyBitmap = image.ToAnyBitmap();
    anyBitmap.SaveAs($"{image.Id}.png");

    // Resize the image
    image.Resize(1,3);

    // Retrieve image position
    Position position = image.Position;
    Console.WriteLine("top row index: " + position.TopRowIndex);
    Console.WriteLine("bottom row index: " + position.BottomRowIndex);

    // Retrieve byte data
    byte[] imageByte = image.Data;
}

workBook.SaveAs("resizeImage.xlsx");
Imports IronSoftware.Drawing
Imports IronXL
Imports IronXL.Drawing
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic

Private workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("insertImages.xlsx")
Private workSheet As WorkSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet

' Retreive images
Private images As List(Of IronXL.Drawing.Images.IImage) = workSheet.Images

' Select each image
For Each image As IronXL.Drawing.Images.IImage In images
	' Save the image
	Dim anyBitmap As AnyBitmap = image.ToAnyBitmap()
	anyBitmap.SaveAs($"{image.Id}.png")

	' Resize the image
	image.Resize(1,3)

	' Retrieve image position
	Dim position As Position = image.Position
	Console.WriteLine("top row index: " & position.TopRowIndex)
	Console.WriteLine("bottom row index: " & position.BottomRowIndex)

	' Retrieve byte data
	Dim imageByte() As Byte = image.Data
Next image

workBook.SaveAs("resizeImage.xlsx")
VB   C#
Extracted Images

Extracted Images

Image Size

Image Size

Remove Image Example

Following the extract images example, you can easily remove any inserted image using its corresponding index number. Simply pass the image's ID number to the RemoveImage method to remove it from the worksheet.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/add-remove-extract-worksheet-images-remove.cs
using IronXL;

WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("insertImages.xlsx");
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet;

// Remove image
workSheet.RemoveImage(3);

workBook.SaveAs("removeImage.xlsx");
Imports IronXL

Private workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("insertImages.xlsx")
Private workSheet As WorkSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet

' Remove image
workSheet.RemoveImage(3)

workBook.SaveAs("removeImage.xlsx")
VB   C#
Chaknith related to Remove Image Example

Chaknith Bin

Software Engineer

Chaknith is the Sherlock Holmes of developers. It first occurred to him he might have a future in software engineering, when he was doing code challenges for fun. His focus is on IronXL and IronBarcode, but he takes pride in helping customers with every product. Chaknith leverages his knowledge from talking directly with customers, to help further improve the products themselves. His anecdotal feedback goes beyond Jira tickets and supports product development, documentation and marketing, to improve customer’s overall experience.When he isn’t in the office, he can be found learning about machine learning, coding and hiking.