Exporting photos from iPhoto - using in Word

Question

I'm trying to build a Word document using some of the photos in iPhoto. Using the "Export" command in iPhoto and selecting jpg format I export the desired photo to a folder on the desktop. So far so good. Preview opens this file as does most other applications. But if I use the "Insert Picture from file" command in Word (or Excel for that matter) and navigate to the photo I just exported and select it, I get an error message that says
"This application cannot open this file. This file is an unsupported graphic format or may be damaged. Try opening the graphic in another application"
The rub is that I just tried this with one photo and it inserted fine! Now when I try it with the others I get the error message.
Is there a work around to this does anyone know?
MalcW

Answer 1

Sorry for delay in replying - I've been on travel. The only way I seem to be able to consistently paste pictures into Word is to use Photoshop Elements 3 to simply open the jpg file that has been exported from iPhoto to a folder and then save it again. Interestingly, when I do this the icon - previously only visible as a generic jpg icon becomes a "mini-photo" icon. That's the only difference I can see.
I have tried dragging the original iPhoto exported jpg from the folder on the desk top into Word but the photo usually just pops back again - i.e. it won't paste. (Except that about 1 in 10 photos WILL paste! - and there's no obvious difference in the files - all were taken by the same camera on the same card and imported into iPhoto at the same time! - weird!)
Photos that won't paste this way produce the same effect if I use the Insert Picture command from Word.
I haven't tried dragging direct from the iPhoto window because the files are too big - ~3MB a file. In using the Export command I resize the file down to around 50-100kb and paste that. Although having said that the quality seems a lot poorer than I'd imagine for even a 100kb jpg file. (the quality in iPhoto looks good - most photos are taken with a Nikon D70s SLR).
I agree Word is hopeless - even once I get the jpg files into Word they often seem to have a mind of their own as to where they want to go - and I've lost count of the number of "Unexpected quits"!
It does seem odd that this is inconsistent and maybe Word is at fault. I do wonder though whether iPhoto 4 is not consistent in the way that it exports images? Don't know - probably should have updated to iLife 5 - although maybe in a few hours iLife 6 will be available!