Use Drawing Objects: MS Word

The buttons on the Drawing toolbar have useful tools for -- what else? -- drawing objects, such as shapes and lines.

Not only can you make simple squares, circles, ovals, and lines, but MS Word provides AutoShapes, a gallery of typical shapes such as stars, pentagons, block arrows, etc.

A special type of AutoShape, a callout, combines a text box and indicator line and is used to attach explanatory text to a specific part of the document, much as a speech balloon in a comic strip attaches to a character, or a label points to part of a cell or organism in a biology diagram.

Other buttons on the Drawing toolbar are useful for modifying these objects, such as changing their fill color, borders, line style, rotation, shadow, or 3-D effect.

You can't always find clip art to express your ideas; sometimes you need to draw a quick diagram. You might also want to use an arrow to draw attention to a particular component of your document, but you can't just scrawl something by hand; that wouldn't do. The drawing tools make it easy to draw, modify, and position objects such as these.

Use the buttons listed below to utilize various drawing objects. Use AutoShapes to draw certain present shapes.

• Line: drag on the page to draw a straight line. CTRL + drag on the page to draw a line extending both directions from a center point. SHIFT + drag to constrain the line to 15 degree angles.
   
• Arrow: drag from the tail to the head of the arrow. SHIFT + drag to constrain the line to 15 degree angles.
   
• Rectangle: drag from corner to corner to draw a rectangle. Click once to draw a one-inch square. SHIFT + drag to draw a perfect square of any size. CTRL + drag to draw a rectangle outward from a center point.
   
• Oval: drag to draw an oval. Click once to draw a one-inch circle. SHIFT + drag to draw a perfect circle of any size. CTRL + drag to draw an oval outward from a center point.
   
• AutoShapes: click once to draw the shape a preset size (usually about an inch). Drag to draw the shape any size. SHIFT + drag to keep height and width in proportion. CTRL + drag to draw outward from a center point.

To resize an existing object while keeping it in proportion, press SHIFT as you drag a corner sizing handle.

When you draw an object, whether it's a shape or a line, the item appears as a floating object above the text, surrounded by sizing handles. Just as with pictures, you can use the sizing handles to size the object or drag it to position it on the page. To change the way text wraps around it, click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar and choose Text Wrapping.

To draw curved lines, arcs or irregular objects, use AutoShapes.

You can add text inside a shape, as well. For example, you may want a star shape containing the words, "Brilliant Idea!" To do this, right-click and choose Add Text.

(c) Carol Bratt, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Duplication is forbidden without express consent of author. Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!