anchoring inserted objects

[JanAdam]

Can somebody advise me on a detailed technical article(s) on handling
inserted graphic objects in Word, like plots, graphs, photos, etc? Once I put
them in, they seem to have a life of their own and a strong opinion on the
place they want to stay in or unexpectedly and unpredictably move around
creating me a lot of grief. I just want to tame them; such that they stay
together with their legends in the place in document, I want them to be.
Every time I am fighting with MS Word, always knowing things better (the
Word that is), I wish it had some of the LaTeX capabilities.

 

[Idaho Word Man]

I don't have a detailed technical article at my fingertips, but the easy way
to tame graphics in Word is to right-click the graphic object, select "Format
Picture" (or Format Object), and then under the Layout tab, select "Inline
With Text." Then it stays where your cursor was when you inserted it.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi JanAdam:

You might like to start here:
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/drwgrphcs/InlineVsFloating.htm

There's some information here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP052409661033.aspx

cheers

Can somebody advise me on a detailed technical article(s) on handling
inserted graphic objects in Word, like plots, graphs, photos, etc? Once I put
them in, they seem to have a life of their own and a strong opinion on the
place they want to stay in or unexpectedly and unpredictably move around
creating me a lot of grief. I just want to tame them; such that they stay
together with their legends in the place in document, I want them to be.
Every time I am fighting with MS Word, always knowing things better (the
Word that is), I wish it had some of the LaTeX capabilities.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[JanAdam]

Thank you John,

How can I link my object to its legend, which is just a line of text (can be
a text box perhaps) such that the two stay always together, without, e.g.,
page break jumping in between, and, then anchor both to a page, or to a
paragraph, different from the legend? Like a cascade, the graph anchored to
its legend and then both anchored to a paragraph with a reference to the
graphic object.

--
JanAdam

Hi JanAdam:

You might like to start here:
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/drwgrphcs/InlineVsFloating.htm

There's some information here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP052409661033.aspx

cheers

Can somebody advise me on a detailed technical article(s) on handling
inserted graphic objects in Word, like plots, graphs, photos, etc? Once I put
them in, they seem to have a life of their own and a strong opinion on the
place they want to stay in or unexpectedly and unpredictably move around
creating me a lot of grief. I just want to tame them; such that they stay
together with their legends in the place in document, I want them to be.
Every time I am fighting with MS Word, always knowing things better (the
Word that is), I wish it had some of the LaTeX capabilities.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi JanAdam:

Use a style for the legend that includes the "Keep With Next" property AND
insert the object "Inline with text".

Or

Create both caption and figure in the same drawing. I use
Insert>Object>Microsoft Word Picture. That opens a separate window (it's a
document within a document).

Draw a large square then hit "Resize" in the little floating toolbar to
expand the drawing so you have room to work.

Construct/insert/paste both your picture and its caption in there.

Delete the square and hit Resize again.

When you get back to the document, you have a solid single object that
cannot split over pages.

Use this second technique only if you wish to flow text around the picture.
Otherwise, the first method is far easier.

This second method (and text boxes...) both have the limitation that they
are "graphics" and exist in the "Drawing layer" of the document. If you
think of a document as a three-layer sandwich, there is the text in the
filling, and the drawing layers Behind the Text and In Front of the Text are
the bread.

The limitation is that the two drawing layers are invisible to the Index and
table of contents generators, and you cannot cross-reference to anything in
them. It's a design bug, but there's nothing you can do about it, other
than avoid the technique wherever possible, and duplicate the captions in
small white text in the text layer if you need them cross-referenced.

Cheers

Thank you John,

How can I link my object to its legend, which is just a line of text (can be
a text box perhaps) such that the two stay always together, without, e.g.,
page break jumping in between, and, then anchor both to a page, or to a
paragraph, different from the legend? Like a cascade, the graph anchored to
its legend and then both anchored to a paragraph with a reference to the
graphic object.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[JanAdam]

Sorry for not replying earlier. I was away for a few days.
I think I understand the layers concept well. Thanks for making the comment
on indexing and cross-referencing. I was not aware of it.
My graphic objects are usually plots made in SigmaPlot, drawings imported
from PowerPoint or Illustrator and microscope photos in jpeg. I use paste
special and select an option that does not affect the quality too much. I
will thus experiment with your option two but try to use the first as much as
possible

Thanks again John,

--
JanAdam

Hi JanAdam:

Use a style for the legend that includes the "Keep With Next" property AND
insert the object "Inline with text".

Or

Create both caption and figure in the same drawing. I use
Insert>Object>Microsoft Word Picture. That opens a separate window (it's a
document within a document).

Draw a large square then hit "Resize" in the little floating toolbar to
expand the drawing so you have room to work.

Construct/insert/paste both your picture and its caption in there.

Delete the square and hit Resize again.

When you get back to the document, you have a solid single object that
cannot split over pages.

Use this second technique only if you wish to flow text around the picture.
Otherwise, the first method is far easier.

This second method (and text boxes...) both have the limitation that they
are "graphics" and exist in the "Drawing layer" of the document. If you
think of a document as a three-layer sandwich, there is the text in the
filling, and the drawing layers Behind the Text and In Front of the Text are
the bread.

The limitation is that the two drawing layers are invisible to the Index and
table of contents generators, and you cannot cross-reference to anything in
them. It's a design bug, but there's nothing you can do about it, other
than avoid the technique wherever possible, and duplicate the captions in
small white text in the text layer if you need them cross-referenced.

Cheers

Thank you John,

How can I link my object to its legend, which is just a line of text (can be
a text box perhaps) such that the two stay always together, without, e.g.,
page break jumping in between, and, then anchor both to a page, or to a
paragraph, different from the legend? Like a cascade, the graph anchored to
its legend and then both anchored to a paragraph with a reference to the
graphic object.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410