Exact sizing of text box in Mac (like I did on PC)

[caranew]

Hello,
I'm just familiarizing myself with Word for Mac and can't figure out
how to do miniscule sizing changes to a text box or other graphic box.

On a PC, I would click on the box, hold Control down and then could
use the arrow keys to move boxes tiny amounts and line things up
perfectly. This does not work with Mac (and I tried using the Apple
key instead of Control, since that seems to be the typical
replacement). How can I do this?

Thank you very much for your help!

New to Mac in DC

 

[PhilD]

Hello,
I'm just familiarizing myself with Word for Mac and can't figure out
how to do miniscule sizing changes to a text box or other graphic box.

On a PC, I would click on the box, hold Control down and then could
use the arrow keys to move boxes tiny amounts and line things up
perfectly. This does not work with Mac (and I tried using the Apple
key instead of Control, since that seems to be the typical
replacement). How can I do this?

Thank you very much for your help!

New to Mac in DC

One possibility is to double click the border of your box, then in the
menu that appears specify the size to 2 decimal places of an inch (and
no doubt in similar sized increments in metric units, if you have
them).

Similarly for position on the page.

PhilD

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi, and welcome to the Mac!

Try holding down the Alt ("Option") key instead. While you are right that
the Apple ("Command") key is used for most PC keyboard combinations
involving the Control key, it does not apply to this particular situation.

Also, you might find the following website useful, in case you ever run into
problems using Word on a Mac:

<http://word.mvps.org/Mac/index.html>

Hello,
I'm just familiarizing myself with Word for Mac and can't figure out
how to do miniscule sizing changes to a text box or other graphic box.

On a PC, I would click on the box, hold Control down and then could
use the arrow keys to move boxes tiny amounts and line things up
perfectly. This does not work with Mac (and I tried using the Apple
key instead of Control, since that seems to be the typical
replacement). How can I do this?

Thank you very much for your help!

New to Mac in DC

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Hello,
I'm just familiarizing myself with Word for Mac and can't figure out
how to do miniscule sizing changes to a text box or other graphic box.

On a PC, I would click on the box, hold Control down and then could
use the arrow keys to move boxes tiny amounts and line things up
perfectly. This does not work with Mac (and I tried using the Apple
key instead of Control, since that seems to be the typical
replacement). How can I do this?

With the textbox selected (the box itself, not the text area inside),
you can use the arrow keys to position it one point at a time. AFAIK,
that's as fine as you can get the positioning.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

With the textbox selected (the box itself, not the text area inside),
you can use the arrow keys to position it one point at a time. AFAIK,
that's as fine as you can get the positioning.

Whoops- disregard: I forgot which newsgroup I was posting in...

XL doesn't require anything special to position a textbox by points,
Word requires the option-key.

 

[CyberTaz]

What type of Mac are you using? OS, Office versions?

No disrespect for what's been offered by others, but the Command (Apple) Key
works fine here to make infinite adjustment to the size of AutoShapes & Text
Boxes. For confirmation I just set the size of a text box to 1.5" through
the Format Text Box > Size dialog, then reduced the height to 1.48" using
the Command-Drag method.

This is 10.4.9, Office 11.3.4 on a G5 - not a notebook. I don't recall
having made any settings changes that toggle the capability on/off- nor can
I find one other than the alternative described below. If you're working
with a MacBook you may have to use a combination of modifier keys (such as
Opt+Command) - don't have one to test on

Additionally you can turn on the Drawing toolbar, click the Draw button &
select Grid. In addition to the other settings you can remove the check from
the Snap Objects to Grid checkbox. That enables infinite size adjustment
without having to use any modifier keys at all.

BTW, Option-Drag changes the size equally from opposite sides &
Command+Option-Drag provides that capability with infinite control.

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