adding space before and/or after anin-line-with-text object in 2008

[rbarline]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

With 2004, I could add space (in points) before and/or after an object that was formatted as in-line-with-text, but in Word 2008 these boxes are dimmed, and I don't see any way to do this. Documents created in 2004, when opened in 2008, still show the space before and after the object (paragraph formatting - spacing before and/or after), but the values (amount of space) cannot be changed. However, if I select an object and clear formatting, it returns to zero space before and after (it reverts to the Normal paragraph style settings), so it appears that 2008 CAN adjust the space! Is there a way to add space before and/or after an object that is formatted as in-line-with-text in Word 2008? Note: I don't use the other wrapping types because in-line-with-text keeps the object where I want it. Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

Yes, it is perfectly possible, but you have to select the paragraph that
your object is mounted in.

The settings are greyed out because you have selected the object. Select
the paragraph it is sitting in, and they will re-enable.

Cheers

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

With 2004, I could add space (in points) before and/or after an object that
was formatted as in-line-with-text, but in Word 2008 these boxes are dimmed,
and I don't see any way to do this. Documents created in 2004, when opened in
2008, still show the space before and after the object (paragraph formatting -
spacing before and/or after), but the values (amount of space) cannot be
changed. However, if I select an object and clear formatting, it returns to
zero space before and after (it reverts to the Normal paragraph style
settings), so it appears that 2008 CAN adjust the space! Is there a way to add
space before and/or after an object that is formatted as in-line-with-text in
Word 2008? Note: I don't use the other wrapping types because
in-line-with-text keeps the object where I want it. Thanks.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Hey John -

It really shouldn't matter - if the graphic is actually In Line you should
still be able to set the Para Spacing just as you could if you selected a
character, a word, a sentence, or the paragraph in its entirety. I believe
there's something else afoot here

Rbarline - Specifically which set of value boxes are you seeing as inactive?

Para spacing can be adjusted in both the Format> Paragraph dialog as well as
in the Alignment & Spacing section of the Formatting Palette. The "bug" is
that if the object is selected the settings *can* be changed in the former,
but they *can't* be changed in the later. The "workaround" is to do a John
suggested - click anywhere in the paragraph that contains the object rather
than selecting the graphic itself & you can use either set of values.

Keep in mind that the spacing is an attribute of the para, not an attribute
of the object. From that perspective the bug is rather insignificant

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[rbarline]

I have done some more experimenting with this and yes there is something else going on. What I failed to mention in my original post (not realizing that it is the cause of the mystery) is that the document I am working in was created in Word 2004, not 2008. It turns out that that makes a big difference.

To replicate what I am seeing you would need to first create a blank document in Word 2004, then open Excel 2008 and copy a chart, then do a Paste Special/Picture in the Word doc, then select the picture and set wrapping to In Line. Now, with the picture selected, you can go to either the formatting palette or the Format Paragraph menu, and adjust the space before and after the picture.

That was Word 2004. But now close the doc and open it in Word 2008. Click on the object and go to either the formatting palette or the Format Paragraph menu and you will see that the boxes to adjust the space are there, but are dimmed. This is what was confusing me.

Now do the same process, but start with a blank doc in 2008. In that case, when you do a Paste Special/Picture with the same chart, and select it and set wrapping to In Line, then, with the object selected, you are not given a chance to set the space before and after, because the Paragraph menu goes nowhere and the formatting palette doesn't offer you an Alignment and Spacing subsection. This is Word 2008, which apparently has revamped how objects are dealt with.

Thanks to John for the tip about clicking on the hosting paragraph to do the spacing adjustment. Yes, that works. I guess the confusion came from the fact that to maintain compatibility between a document created in 2004 but opened in 2008, they had to show those spacing boxes, but just dim them out. Makes sense.

 

[CyberTaz]

Thanks for the clarification - I'm seeing what you describe about 2008, and
your conclusions are pretty much on target. Word 2008 does handle graphics
in a much different way. My interpretation is that selecting the graphic -
even one which is In Line - shifts the focus away from the text layer. Even
the Formatting Toolbar goes away until you shift the focus back to the text.

Whether this has been done out of necessity I don't know, but I'm fairly
certain that part of the rationale is that there is a great deal more
graphic formatting available even for In Lines. That coupled with the fact
that Text & Paragraph formatting technically *don't* pertain to graphic
objects it seems to make sense [to me] but there is a definite difference
from previous behavior.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Linda_GD]

Maybe I'm not getting it. I have Microsoft 2008 and for example in writing an address in a letter, it gives me an extra space when I hit enter. Therefore I have to type what I need for the second line on the first and then tab it to the second line. Is very time consuming and frustrating. The formatting palate says that it is single spaced. It doesn't learn the pattern and am required to do it for subsequent lines. Has anyone figured this out. Linda GD

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Linda -

Your question is related to the same issue but really should have been
posted separately... No big deal, but keep in mind that replying to an
existing thread will often cause your message to be overlooked.

Anyway:

The behavior you're seeing is the result a presumption made by MS which is
based on proper technique but catches many users unaware. The space you're
seeing is caused by the default (Normal) paragraph style having been defined
to include 10 pt Space After. If you reexamine the Format> Paragraph dialog
you'll see the feature for it as well as Space Before immediately to the
left of the Line Spacing. This is the preferred method for controlling space
between paragraphs rather than attempting to do so with Line Spacing (which
affects *all* lines in a paragraph) or multiple presses of the return key.

Although Space After can be set to zero on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis
it's best to learn how to use, define & modify Styles - Word is a
Styles-based program, and anyone who doesn't learn to use them effectively
is in for a lot of needless work & aggravation... Not to mention fragile
documents which may not bear the test of time where revision is involved.

See item #3 on the following page for a starter on this particular issue:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/Word2008Issues.html#DoubleSpacing

Additionally, for something like an address block I prefer to use
Shift+return to create line breaks so the entire block is treated as a
single paragraph. It makes life a whole lot simpler

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Ginny]

With 2004, I could add space (in points) before and/or after an object
that was formatted as in-line-with-text, but in Word 2008 these boxes
are dimmed, and I don't see any way to do this. Documents created in 2004,
when opened in 2008, still show the space before and after the object
(paragraph formatting - spacing before and/or after), but the values (amount
of space) cannot be changed. However, if I select an object and clear
formatting, it returns to zero space before and after (it reverts to the
Normal paragraph style settings), so it appears that 2008 CAN adjust the
space! Is there a way to add space before and/or after an object that
is formatted as in-line-with-text in Word 2008? Note: I don't use the
other wrapping types because in-line-with-text keeps the object where
I want it. Thanks.

 

[John McGhie]

I think I have finally worked out what's going on here. I think this user
is trying to "bump" the item because they did not like the answer.

Sorry: This forum does not work that way!

The majority of people giving help in this forum cannot see the Web version
at all. They are working from a different server. We will never be aware
of ANY of the things that happen with the rating, voting, most popular,
least popular, and similar ratings. All of that nonsense is on a different
server: we will never see any effects from what you do on the web server.

All that will happen if you try to "bump" a post is that we're likely to say
"This question was answered on the 19th of last month, please read the
answer there."

I can't speak for the others, but please believe me what I say that *I* am
not going to type the answer out again because someone is too lazy to either
scroll or search

Cheers

With 2004, I could add space (in points) before and/or after an object
that was formatted as in-line-with-text, but in Word 2008 these boxes
are dimmed, and I don't see any way to do this. Documents created in
2004,
when opened in 2008, still show the space before and after the object
(paragraph formatting - spacing before and/or after), but the values
(amount
of space) cannot be changed. However, if I select an object and clear
formatting, it returns to zero space before and after (it reverts to the
Normal paragraph style settings), so it appears that 2008 CAN adjust the
space! Is there a way to add space before and/or after an object that
is formatted as in-line-with-text in Word 2008? Note: I don't use the
other wrapping types because in-line-with-text keeps the object where
I want it. Thanks.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Ginny -

It's just that you were understandably deceived Space Before/After in
2004 was not being added to the *object* it was being applied to the
*paragraph* the object was in - it's just that you could apply it while you
had the object selected... Because of the new graphics engine in 2008 you
can't. Either place your insertion point into the paragraph adjacent to the
object or click in the selection area (left margin) adjacent to the object.
You'll then be able to format the paragraph in any way you wish.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac