Need a "fairly simple" Outlook 2010 Macro

You can do this by accessing the "WordEditor" property of the contact .. that is the underlying instance of Microsoft Word that is embedded in Outlook.  In the Contact Item this equates to the contents of the Notes field.

Try the following code. It pastes the image at the end of the note, ie doesn't mess with existing contents.

For more flexibility (eg if you want to paste more than one image, set wrapping format etc). I would recommend adding Microsoft Word to the "Tools/References" section of your VBA editor and defining the "Objects" below as "Word.Document" , "Word.InlineShape" etc. That makes it easier to figure out what is going on. However, if this is all you need, it works.

You can attach the macro to a Quick Access toolbar button.

Sub autoPaste()
Dim oC As ContactItem
Dim ww As Object, oIL As Object, oSH As Object, oRR As Object

On Error GoTo errortrap
'get current item (will trigger error if not a contact)
Set oC = ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
'get the "Word inspector" for the item
Set ww = oC.GetInspector.WordEditor
'paste at end of note text range
Set oRR = ww.Range
'shrink to end
oRR.Start = oRR.End
'paste image
oRR.Paste
'set oIL to the last pasted image
Set oIL = ww.InlineShapes(ww.InlineShapes.Count)
'convert from "inLineshape" to "Shape"
Set oSH = oIL.ConvertToShape
'lock aspect ratio
oSH.LockAspectRatio = msoTrue
'scale to 40% relative to original
oSH.ScaleHeight 0.4, msoTrue
'set top and left
oSH.Top = 10
oSH.Left = 10
Exit Sub

errortrap:
'handle various errors
Select Case Err.Number
Case 13: MsgBox "Please open a Contact and try again"
Case 5941, 5855: MsgBox "Can't find picture in Notes"
Case Else: MsgBox ("An unknown error has occurred")
End Select
End Sub

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Hi Neil & thanks for posting!

Well, this is pretty close and will provide some utility to me but ideally, I would like to be able to Insert/Paste the image at the location where the cursor presently resides when the macro is executed. As is, to re-locate it from the end of the Notes field to my preferred location is also a little strange:  Normally, I can just drag a pasted image to a given location and drop it where I want it and it is inserted at that spot.  However, the image pasted with this code doesn't do that; rather it just "floats" over the other content unless I insert enough blank lines to accommodate the image size.  I *suspect* that it due to this code:


... but I'm not sure.  IF that is the cause, is it necessary to do this conversion?  And/or, is there a way around this issue so that the image is inserted at the cursor location?

No, the conversion to Shape is not necessary. Sorry.. was adapting some other code.

This inserts a straightforward inlineShape at the cursor location, without modifying it.

Sub autoPaste()
Dim oC As ContactItem
Dim ww As Object, oIL As Object, oRR As Object

On Error GoTo errortrap
'get current item (will trigger error if not a contact)
Set oC = ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
'get the "Word inspector" for the item
Set ww = oC.GetInspector.WordEditor
'paste at end of note text range
Set oRR = ww.Application.Selection
'paste image
oRR.Paste
Set oIL = ww.InlineShapes(ww.InlineShapes.Count)
oIL.LockAspectRatio = msoTrue
oIL.ScaleHeight = 40
oIL.ScaleHeight = 40 'set top and left
Exit Sub

errortrap:
'handle various errors
Select Case Err.Number
Case 13: MsgBox "Please open a Contact and try again"
Case 5941, 5855: MsgBox "Can't find picture in Notes"
Case Else: MsgBox ("An unknown error has occurred")
End Select
End Sub

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Actually, if you have some text selected, it will paste the image in place of the selected text. So you may want to add the line

orr.collapse

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to collapse the selection for safety reasons before the line

orr.paste

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Also I inadvertently put the ScaleHeight command in twice.

Here's the clean version, with the "collapse" command added

Sub autoPaste()
Dim oC As ContactItem
Dim ww As Object, oIL As Object, oRR As Object

On Error GoTo errortrap
'get current item (will trigger error if not a contact)
Set oC = ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
'get the "Word inspector" for the item
Set ww = oC.GetInspector.WordEditor
'paste at end of note text range
Set oRR = ww.Application.Selection
oRR.Collapse
'paste image
oRR.Paste
Set oIL = ww.InlineShapes(ww.InlineShapes.Count)
oIL.LockAspectRatio = msoTrue
oIL.ScaleHeight = 40

Exit Sub

errortrap:
'handle various errors
Select Case Err.Number
Case 13: MsgBox "Please open a Contact and try again"
Case 5941, 5855: MsgBox "Can't find picture in Notes"
Case Else: MsgBox ("An unknown error has occurred")
End Select
End Sub

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Hi Neil,

That's much closer but I'm still getting inconsistent results:

1) If there are no other images existing in the Contact, it works as desired, pasting the image where the cursor is AND reducing the size to 40%
2) If there are other images existing in the Contact, the new image is pasted in the desired location but it is not reduced to 40% (also, there is no error)
3) If there is a Horizontal Line existing anywhere in the Contact, the image is pasted, but at 100% (no reduction) and it throws the following error:


Also, I note that the text to be replaced is not actually replaced when the image is pasted; however, that is not an issue for me as I would prefer it to not replace any existing text (or to have to remember to enter any bogus text).

Hope this is clear and there is a resolution available.

Thanks again,

Jeff

No, the text highlighted would not be replaced. I made that change.

I'll look into the "horizontal line" excitement. It would have been helpful to know that you had a bunch of other stuff in the "notes" field already.

Sorry I didn't make that clear, Neil. It's kind of haphazard - some Contacts may have that other stuff, and others don't.

Thanks, Neil !  That's exactly what I was hoping to achieve and a sweet piece of code (far more complicated than the "fairly simple" Outlook 2010 Macro I envisioned at the start.  I appreciate your persistence in bringing this all the way home.

Cheers,

Jeff

My pleasure.

Neil Fleming provided a very professional and timely solution, and worked through a couple of clarifying refinements to deliver exactly the results I was seeking.  Thanks again, Neil!