Six Steps to Adding Images Inside of an AutoCAD Table Cell
Have you wanted to add an image into an AutoCAD table only to find that it’s not an option to attach an image in the cell? This week, I was asked by one of our customers on how to do this, so I thought this would be an opportune time to let everyone know how to successfully make this happen. The current workflow to attach something to an AutoCAD Cell is to click inside the cell you want, then right-click in the shortcut menu, and then go to Insert. But as you will see, there are only a few options to choose from, and Image is not one of them. 
Let’s say you wanted to create a table of architectural connectors to be used, and you wanted to include a picture of the connection to help clarify it proper installation. You may have noticed that “Block” is one of the available options for inserting an AutoCAD Table Cell.
- The first step is to bring the image in the way you would without being inside a cell. We have a few different options to get us there.
- Using the ribbon by clicking on the Insert Tab, on the Reference panel, click on the Attach button.
- This will bring up the Select Reference File Dialog box.
- Make sure the File type is set to All image files in the Files of type field at the bottom.
- Then you can navigate to the image file you wish to attach.
- Or you could also open the External Reference Manager and attach it as shown below.
- There is a Scale option where you can manually increase or decrease the size of the original image. (1 would be actual size, 2 would twice as big, and .5 would be half size.) This will automatically change the cells height to fit the image.
- Autofit will force the image to fit within the existing cells height. Remember to set the height of the cell prior to inserting the block if using Autofit.
- Note: In either method, if you change the scale of the image after it has been inserted to a larger size, it will automatically change the cell height to make it fit. But if you change the scale of the image to be smaller, it will NOT change the height of the cell. You would have to manually change them afterwards using something like the Properties Palette shown below.
- Rotation will rotate the image in the cell. The “Overall cell alignment” works just like it does with the text justifications within the location of the cell alignment.
- Warning: the “Rotation” can play havoc on the way an image is inserted into a cell, and in many cases, can rotate itself outside the boundaries of the cell even if the “Overall cell alignment” is set properly. It is always best to create the image, the direction you want it displayed to minimize the amount of adjusting later. See below.
Click OK when you are done, and you will see the image appear in the cell.
NOTE: You can edit the Block appearance of the Image and the setting afterwards. Use the “FRAME” command to turn off the boundary edge of the image by setting it to zero (0). You can change the block options by double-clicking inside the cell to open the “Edit Block in a Table Cell.” Or to change the settings of the Table, or its cells, select the table or cell and use the “Properties Palette” content or choose from the options in the “Table Cell” Ribbon Tab. Options and methods will vary depending on what you have selected. Remember to treat these attached images jut like you would an external reference file when sharing, managing, and archiving to keep their links.
Repeat the process for each as needed for each individual cell as need. This may seem like a lot of information, but once you have done it a couple of times, you will find that it is fairly quick and easy once you get the hang of it. When you are done, you will have professional looking schedules and/or legends that have easy to understand images embedded within them.
I’m Isaac Harper, and I want to thank you for your time!
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