Inserting image into userform controls strictly through code

no-the code copies the picture and pastes it into the image. that's the whole point of this thread, is it not?

Yes. But if I close the file and reopen, without a reference to the data to repopulate the controls in the userform...pictures, text, whatever..., when the userform is opened the controls are blank unless the data is stored permanently in the controls, which it isn't. If I want to load and show Userform1.Image1.Picture with information that was input prior to the file or the userform being closed, I will need to have a valid reference to the photo. The next time the file is opened, the photo's original source file may no longer be available, hence the need for a reference to the date stored in the excel file.