PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet · error · SpreadsheetException

Item is not a drawing

Error message

Item is not a drawing

What it means

DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL ('drawingCell') is the one datatype whose value must be a BaseDrawing instance (Drawing, MemoryDrawing). setValueExplicit() checks instanceof BaseDrawing and throws for anything else, because in-cell drawings store the drawing object itself, not a path or string.

Source

Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Cell/Cell.php:352

                break;
            case DataType::TYPE_FORMULA:
                $this->value = StringHelper::convertToString($value, true);

                break;
            case DataType::TYPE_BOOL:
                $this->value = (bool) $value;

                break;
            case DataType::TYPE_ISO_DATE:
                $this->value = SharedDate::convertIsoDate($value);
                $dataType = DataType::TYPE_NUMERIC;

                break;
            case DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL:
                if ($value instanceof BaseDrawing) {
                    $this->value = $value;
                } else {
                    throw new SpreadsheetException('Item is not a drawing');
                }

                break;
            case DataType::TYPE_ERROR:
                $this->value = DataType::checkErrorCode($value);

                break;
            default:
                throw new SpreadsheetException('Invalid datatype: ' . $dataType);
        }

        // set the datatype
        $this->dataType = $dataType;

        $this->updateInCollection();
        $cellCoordinate = $this->getCoordinate();
        self::updateIfCellIsTableHeader($this->getParent()?->getParent(), $this, $oldValue, $value);
        $worksheet = $this->getWorksheet();

View on GitHub (pinned to 65b080eef4)

Solutions

  1. Construct and pass a BaseDrawing instance: $drawing = new Drawing(); $drawing->setPath('logo.png'); then setValueExplicit($drawing, DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL)
  2. Or use the classic drawing API instead: $drawing->setWorksheet($sheet); $drawing->setCoordinates('A1')

Example fix

// before
$cell->setValueExplicit('images/logo.png', DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL); // throws

// after
$drawing = new Drawing();
$drawing->setPath('images/logo.png');
$cell->setValueExplicit($drawing, DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

if ($drawingOrPath instanceof BaseDrawing) {
    $cell->setValueExplicit($drawingOrPath, DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL);
} else {
    $drawing = new Drawing();
    $drawing->setPath((string) $drawingOrPath);
    $cell->setValueExplicit($drawing, DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL);
}

Type guard

function isAcceptableDrawingValue(mixed $value): bool
{
    return $value instanceof BaseDrawing;
}

Try / catch

null

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: setValueExplicit('logo.png', DataType::TYPE_DRAWING_IN_CELL) or passing a URL/array/resource instead of a Drawing object; code that assumes the drawing type takes a file path string.

Common situations: Adopting the in-cell drawing feature and guessing the API from the constant name; porting code that used external drawings (where you set a path) to the in-cell variant.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet@65b080eef4 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b0148f13f50536fd. Report an issue: GitHub.