Grouping objects and pictures together????? with word 2007

[Shazza]

Is ther a way that i can group a picture to my shapes and text boxes in word
2007. In previouse versions it was very easy but with 2007 i can not figure
it out. I have magaged to group text boxes with shapes but i can not get my
picture selected to include it in the grouping

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Shazza

In Word 2007 you are no longer able to group Autoshapes with Objects, and Pictures are objects if you're working in 'regular' Word
2007 'mode'. You can do it with a couple of work around.

Microsoft Office 2007 introduced a new graphics engine, the MS Office Art, engine (or Escher v2). It is what Excel and Powerpoint
use, pretty much throughout, but Word uses parts of Escher2 and still uses, for backwards compatibility the Office
Graphics/Drawing/Interface engine (Escher v1).

Inserted Pictures, either individually or multi selected/groups are handled internally as
'Microsoft Office[2007] Graphic Objects' [Escher 2] while
autoshapes are
'MS Office[legacy] Drawing Objects' 'Escher 1]'


The two types don't mix and they can't be grouped together.

However, you can create a Word 2003 'island' within a Word 2007 page by using
Insert Tab=>Shape=>New Drawing Canvas

Items inserted into the canvas have the same Word 2003 'abilities' to tie together so you can keep your items together in a canvas,
or if you drag a picture out of a canvas into a document it should keep its 2003 properties (blue sizing handles rather than 2007's
white pearl ones).

Note that if you insert the Same picture into a document

Insert=>Picture

then use

Insert=>Shapes=>New Drawing Canvas
and then 'Insert=>Picture'
into the canvas and drag it off to be next to the first picture that the Ribbon choices under 'Picture Tools=>Format' are different.

One reflects the Word 2007 tools, the other the Word 2003 tools.

Rather than use the drawing canvas you can also use

Office Button=>Save As

and save as a Word 97-2003 document type while you work on the graphic and then use

Office Button=>Convert

(a menu choice that only appears when it's an old style Word document) to restore the ability to use the Word 2007 (Escher 2)
graphics modelling features such as picture styles.

Note that this can, however, impact other Word 2007 features that you may have in your document.

I added te New Drawing Canvas choice to my Quick Access toolbar to be able to use the canvas then delete it after pulling in the
content I want

=============
Is ther a way that i can group a picture to my shapes and text boxes in word
2007. In previouse versions it was very easy but with 2007 i can not figure
it out. I have magaged to group text boxes with shapes but i can not get my
picture selected to include it in the grouping

--
Thank you for reading my post. Hopefully you can answer my querie <<
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Chris]

Bob,

This is awful!. This makes it impossible to use Word 2007 to create
documents like Application User Guides or other documents where you take a
screen shot of something and then annotate the image with specific details.
Grouping pictures and graphics together "Locks" them together so things do't
wander around accidently.

I've been struggling with Outlook as well regarding this issue. I can now
paste pictures into an e-mail and add graphics but I can't lock them
together. If a user views my e-mail and has a different screen size or
changes the window size for viewing the e-mail, the objects get all jumbled!

This is awful. While your explanation details WHY it doesn't work, how does
this justify removal of a very important feature of using Word! All this
means is that you haven't spend the programming time to make it work...

Chris

Hi Shazza

In Word 2007 you are no longer able to group Autoshapes with Objects, and Pictures are objects if you're working in 'regular' Word
2007 'mode'. You can do it with a couple of work around.

Microsoft Office 2007 introduced a new graphics engine, the MS Office Art, engine (or Escher v2). It is what Excel and Powerpoint
use, pretty much throughout, but Word uses parts of Escher2 and still uses, for backwards compatibility the Office
Graphics/Drawing/Interface engine (Escher v1).

Inserted Pictures, either individually or multi selected/groups are handled internally as
'Microsoft Office[2007] Graphic Objects' [Escher 2] while
autoshapes are
'MS Office[legacy] Drawing Objects' 'Escher 1]'


The two types don't mix and they can't be grouped together.

However, you can create a Word 2003 'island' within a Word 2007 page by using
Insert Tab=>Shape=>New Drawing Canvas

Items inserted into the canvas have the same Word 2003 'abilities' to tie together so you can keep your items together in a canvas,
or if you drag a picture out of a canvas into a document it should keep its 2003 properties (blue sizing handles rather than 2007's
white pearl ones).

Note that if you insert the Same picture into a document

Insert=>Picture

then use

Insert=>Shapes=>New Drawing Canvas
and then 'Insert=>Picture'
into the canvas and drag it off to be next to the first picture that the Ribbon choices under 'Picture Tools=>Format' are different.

One reflects the Word 2007 tools, the other the Word 2003 tools.

Rather than use the drawing canvas you can also use

Office Button=>Save As

and save as a Word 97-2003 document type while you work on the graphic and then use

Office Button=>Convert

(a menu choice that only appears when it's an old style Word document) to restore the ability to use the Word 2007 (Escher 2)
graphics modelling features such as picture styles.

Note that this can, however, impact other Word 2007 features that you may have in your document.

I added te New Drawing Canvas choice to my Quick Access toolbar to be able to use the canvas then delete it after pulling in the
content I want

=============
Is ther a way that i can group a picture to my shapes and text boxes in word
2007. In previouse versions it was very easy but with 2007 i can not figure
it out. I have magaged to group text boxes with shapes but i can not get my
picture selected to include it in the grouping

--
Thank you for reading my post. Hopefully you can answer my querie <<
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Chris,

It may make it 'different' but how does it make it impossible? If you put the elements in a drawing canvas, for example, they won't
'wander off' and you can put items in a drawing canvas then drag them out of the canvas and they behave as they did in prior
versions (which also means they lose the ability to use the new Office 2007 picture effects, styles and borders features).

While Outlook 2007 uses a Word based clone for its editor it doesn't, technically use Word itself, but HTML email is basically
'browser based', neither HTML mail or Word documents are 'page layout' oriented, they're text reflow, i.e. they're designed to fit
the receiving parties needs. This isn't new to Office 2007. If you want to be sure things look the same or near the same then you
can save as and send PDF attachments to the email.

FWIW, as this is a peer support group, you're technically correct, 'I' haven't spent money programming Word's feature. I don't work
for Microsoft

===============
Bob,

This is awful!. This makes it impossible to use Word 2007 to create
documents like Application User Guides or other documents where you take a
screen shot of something and then annotate the image with specific details.
Grouping pictures and graphics together "Locks" them together so things do't
wander around accidently.

I've been struggling with Outlook as well regarding this issue. I can now
paste pictures into an e-mail and add graphics but I can't lock them
together. If a user views my e-mail and has a different screen size or
changes the window size for viewing the e-mail, the objects get all jumbled!

This is awful. While your explanation details WHY it doesn't work, how does
this justify removal of a very important feature of using Word! All this
means is that you haven't spend the programming time to make it work...

Chris >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Donna]

First of all, I need to agree with Chris. 2007 has made it tremendously
difficult to group objects - a function that was so easy previously. Although
I see that it is not impossible, it is unusually difficult. I have always
been a proponent of your company and never fail to sing its praises. I do,
however, think an easier way to group objects should be incorporated into
your program.
Donna

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Donna,

As mentioned in the last message you replied to the discussion groups are generally peer support, there are rarely Microsoft folks
posting here, so not sure which "your company" you're referring to.

When Microsoft put the new Office Art engine into Word 2007 they could have chosen to have everything run by that engine and then it
probably could have been more difficult in the grouping and in other areas as well.

To get the ability to group in Word 2007 quickly you can

a. Save as a Word 97-2003 document to reactivate the old graphics handling.

b. Insert=>Shapes=>New Drawing Canvas (also not a Word 2007 new feature) to put your items together then, if you wish drag them
off of the canvas and delete the canvas if you prefer.

While not ideal, and certainly not very obvious it's not much more difficult than remembering that you couldn't group inline and
text wrapped objects together in earlier versions and that stumped folks too 'Tremendously difficult'? Hmmm.

=================
First of all, I need to agree with Chris. 2007 has made it tremendously
difficult to group objects - a function that was so easy previously. Although
I see that it is not impossible, it is unusually difficult. I have always
been a proponent of your company and never fail to sing its praises. I do,
however, think an easier way to group objects should be incorporated into
your program.
Donna <<
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[soonerorlater76]

I have yet to figure out how to 'insert' a screen capture from the clipboard
into the canvas. I can insert the canvas, i can insert the screen shot, i can
insert all the autoshapes i want, but can't get them 'onto' the canvas,
thereby allowing me to group them. Consequently, i have to do all my image
editing in powerpoint, then copy/paste the final product into the word doc.

I'd have to agree with all the other posters that this new 'feature' is more
of a hassle.

 

[RPh]

You have described exactly my problem with using a "canvas" as described in
so many of the postings. No one every tells you HOW to get the stupid picture
INTO the canvas.

Did you ever figure it out??? I would love to know how to do this. This
deficiency in Word is a HUGE problem for me.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I believe you can drag them into and out of the canvas.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org