# Copy/Paste Excel - Both an Image and text

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [19 Maio , 2015 22:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009 "2015-05-19T22:44:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![strager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@strager](https://meta.discourse.org/u/strager)
#### Post date: [19 Maio , 2015 22:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009/1 "2015-05-19T22:44:46Z")

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When copy/pasting data from excel it currently does two things:

It creates a text block with all of the contents completly unformatted  
It creates an image of the contents that looks good but cannot be edited within discourse

The handling of this feels very clunky and without some manual cleanup looks terrible. Here is an example:

Clue Answer  
Police officer. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ copper  
Lone Ranger’s horse. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ silver  
If they are not here, they \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. argon  
To press a blouse. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ iron  
Motto for an oil well‑drilling company. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ boron  
What should you do with dead people’s bodies? \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ barium

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/9/c/9c8549d9662c4419448f884a154097af5d7d1676.png)

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### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [20 Maio , 2015 00:05 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009/2 "2015-05-20T00:05:04Z")

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I wonder what the correct action is here.

We can easily either ignore text or image if we are given both. But both options have major disadvantages.

Not sure how this can be handled cleanly, have you seen any other web app that handles this particular case nicely?

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [20 Maio , 2015 01:45 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009/3 "2015-05-20T01:45:58Z")

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I think this is browser specific. What browser are you seeing this in?

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### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [20 Maio , 2015 01:49 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009/4 "2015-05-20T01:49:40Z")

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![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/0/f/0f0a30dc5541c7f8b44a253f64a99c815dd73aa1.png)

* * *

## hello world 1 12 33 33 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/6/3/63af11a06ac6c4eb33e97387b346e92302023c6b.png)

chrome ⬆

* * *

hello  
world

1  
12

33  
33

* * *

firefox ⬆  
(note: all lines are indented by 2 spaces)

* * *

hello world  
1 12  
33 33

* * *

IE ⬆

* * *

Conclusion … all browsers are sucking a bit here, but Firefox is sucking most of all.

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### Author: ![chapoi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/chapoi/32/537252_2.png) [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [4 Dezembro , 2025 11:35 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/copy-paste-excel-both-an-image-and-text/29009/5 "2025-12-04T11:35:56Z")

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