Pictures in Access

[Max]

Access 2007. Database size 11MB, table has 9 fields already, and 5k records.

Want to add a picture from a digital camera to be displayed on a form. I
know I can make an OLE field to store them but I am concerned about the size
of the database.

Is it better to put the picture in a folder and just set the picture's field
to point to the picture or is it better to put the picture directly into an
OLE field?

Can I store or display the picture as a thumbnail? If so, can I save space
doing this? If I do this, will the form display the thumbnail or the picture
itself?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Larry Linson]

OLE Fields in Access 2007 have, at least to some extent, resolved the
problem of database bloat. But, pictures still tend to require large
amounts of memory. But, an access DB can be up to 2GB. But, you can still
store the pictures outside the application and store only a path in the
tables in the app.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP

 

[m3]

In a HR program I used employee number (a unique number for every employee)
as the photo filename so I don't need any extra field to store the
information. When I need to refer to individual photo I use the storage path
+ the employee number to form the link. It works (in my case!). I have over
1500 stored employee photos.