To avoid problems when you add graphics to headers and footers in your worksheets from the Header/Footer tab of the Page Setup dialog box (File menu, Page Setup command), try the following suggestions:

• Save a copy of the graphic file   As a general rule, it is always best to save a copy of the graphic file before working with it in headers or footers. This allows you to have the original graphic if you need to revert back to it. It also makes it easier to insert graphics into multiple workbooks.
• Save your Excel file before replacing a graphic   When you consider replacing a graphic in a header or footer, you might want to see how a different graphic would look before confirming the replacement. However, Microsoft Excel does not allow you to view the changes made before accepting them. Once you click Insert in the Insert Picture dialog box (click Custom Header or Custom Footer , then click Insert Picture), the picture is changed in your header or footer. This is true even if you cancel out of the Header or Footer and the Page Setup dialog boxes. Therefore, you should save your Excel file before replacing the graphics in the headers or footers. That way, if you don't like the changes made, you can just go back and open the saved file with the headers and footers as they were before the replacement was made.
• Save your Excel file before formatting or cropping a graphic   Formatting or cropping a graphic in a header or footer has the same effect as replacing the graphic entirely. Once any changes are made in the Format Picture dialog box (click Custom Header or Custom Footer, then click Format Picture), and you click OK, those changes are made. This is true even if you cancel out of the Header or Footer and the Page Setup dialog boxes. If you cancel out of the Header or Footer dialog box, the preview window of the Header/Footer tab will not reflect the changes that were made. The next time the Page Setup dialog box is opened, the changes will be shown in the preview window. Therefore, just as when replacing a graphic in a header or footer, it is important to save the Excel file prior to formatting or cropping the graphic.
• Use the original graphic file to apply graphics to headers or footers in multiple worksheets   In order to apply a graphic to the headers and footers of multiple worksheets, you will need the original graphic file. To insert the graphic into multiple worksheets, simply select the worksheets you want and then insert the graphic in the header or footer the same way you would for a single worksheet. To apply the graphic to headers or footers in worksheets in multiple workbooks, work with each workbook separately, and insert the graphic for the appropriate worksheets as described above.

  Notes

  • Normally, you can copy and paste the headers and footers from one worksheet to another by selecting the worksheets and then using the Header or Footer dialog boxes (click Custom Header or Custom Footer on the Header/Footer tab of the Page Setup dialog box). However, if the original headers and footers contain graphics, the graphics will not propagate to the other worksheets. The only way to work with pictures in headers or footers for multiple worksheets is to select all the worksheets, and then insert a graphic by using the Insert Picture dialog box (click the Insert Picture button), or format the graphic by using the Format Picture dialog box (click the Format Picture button). The original graphic file is needed for this procedure.
  • Headers and footers can be previewed by clicking Print Preview on the File menu. If you click Setup within the Print Preview window, any changes you make to the header or footer on the Header/Footer tab of the Page Setup dialog box will only apply to the header and footer of the worksheet that is active in Print Preview.