Use Image Placeholders to Display Documents Faster in Word
Sometimes when we get Microsoft Word documents with several or large images it can take an annoying amount of time to open. Here we will look at how to display the document text quickly, then get the images to display later.
While the images contained in the document may be an important aspect in the information, sometimes it is just nice to quickly get to the text.

First click on the Office button and go to Word Options.

Next, click on Advanced and scroll down to Show document content. Now place a check next to the box “Show picture placeholders” then OK to close out of Word Options.

Now when Word documents are opened there will be a placeholder where the image would be. This allows the documents to be opened and scrolled through much faster.

To get the images you can go back into advanced options and uncheck “Show picture placeholders” or another option is simply click the View tab then select Full Screen Reading. This will enable the images and allow you to keep the original Placeholders.

This quick tip definitely comes in handy on older machines with less power.

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I believe this tip would be enhanced by making "show pictures/placeholders" a shortcut on the Quick Access toolbar. However, there is no command for this in the available controls. I suppose one could record/write a macro and then place it on the developer tab.
This would have been simple in Word 2003, but in Word 2007 this seems more trouble than it is worth.
For Word 2003, go to Tools > Options > View (tab) and check "Picture placeholders".