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How to get linked jpg images to appear on an Access form. It seems to be a common issue.

Chris Miller 20 Reputation points
2025-10-23T00:32:30.36+00:00

I've done everything they tell you to do in various videos on youtube but I still cant get images to appear on the forms unless they're static which won't work in the setup I am working on..

I've had a VB script sent to me but not being familiar with VB, I can't get that to work either.
I thought Access was good with images? Any help please !!
Cheers
Chris

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | Other | Windows
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  1. Ken Sheridan 3,546 Reputation points
    2025-10-23T12:26:34.9466667+00:00

    You might like to take a look at Images.zip in my Dropbox public databases folder at: 

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0scigd3r48hx5xrev2jrf/AB0-GMdTgMAO5O1cGdr3QW0?rlkey=ib6bs6g9jqcrywwzivur3265t&dl=0 

    This little demo file includes a number of examples of how images can be associated with records in Access, and displayed in an Image control in a bound form.  In each case the image itself is not stored in the database, which can cause excessive bloat.  Instead the path to each image file in an external folder is stored in a column of short text data type.  The image is shown in a form by referencing the text column as the ControlSource property of the Image control.  The images can be shown in a report in the same way. 

    Image files of high resolution can be slow to load, so it is best to reference an image file of a resolution no greater than that which you need for display in the database.  Any image editing software will enable you to save a copy of a file at a lower resolution than the original if necessary.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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  1. George Hepworth 22,220 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-23T11:01:54.0833333+00:00

    Giving us details about your context and about the steps you've tried will be helpful in offering you ideas and suggestions.

    Where are the images stored?

    Why do you need them not to be static? How do you determine which image to load and display?

    SHOW us the actual VBA (VB is a different, albeit related, language) you can't get to work. Maybe an experienced developer can spot problems in it by seeing it.

    The more context and detail you share, the better the odds of finding a usable answer.

    Thank you.

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