Dull colours in MS Word 2011 for Mac using *.doc format

I had a problem where I created a nice diagram in JPG format, but when I inserted it in my Word document the colours appeared dull and washed-out. This was using Mac Microsoft Word 2011 and saving the document in Word 97-2004 compatible format (*.doc). I tried many different ways to insert the image (including dragging and dropping it in), but all resulted in the washed-out image.



Saving the document as a Word document (*.docx) resolves the problem; but unfortunately I need to use *.doc format for backwards compatibility with my corporate clients.

Then I noticed that some of my earlier images in the same document were not washed out. How could this be? Reinserting these older images resulted in nice bright pictures in my *.doc document. So the problem had to be with the new images I was creating. I was using the same method I had always used to create images, but Word did not like my new ones. Something must have changed.

I quick check of the image properties, via the Finder, revealed the answer: The Color Profile



I had created the first images on my laptop which gave them a Color Profile of "Color LCD". The later images had been created on my secondary monitor and got a Color Profile of "DELL 3008WFP".

The Solution

The solution was to preview the image, on my laptop screen, and take a screen shot of it (using Command-Shift-4 and selecting the image). This screenshot had the required "Color LCD" Color Profile. I then dragged that screenshot into MS Word and the colours were perfect! Voila!!