In Word 2007 I'm not able to use the standard method of depressing the
[Shift] or [Ctrl] key while select more than 1 shape. I am trying to select
multiple shapes for grouping. How can I resolve this. Thanks.
You have to insert a drawing canvas (the very bottom item in the
Insert > Shapes gallery) and put the shapes on the canvas. For
existing shapes, this means cutting each shape to the clipboard,
selecting the canvas, and pasting; so it's better to create the canvas
first and then create the shapes in it.
Once all the shapes (and pictures and SmartArt) are on the canvas,
they can be grouped.
Note that placing SmartArt on the canvas changes it permanently to a
regular picture, so it's no longer editable by the SmartArt feature.
This may seem -- and is -- unintuitive. The reason is that Word 2007
includes two completely separate graphics engines, an old one that
handles pictures and shapes, and a new one that handles SmartArt (and
in the next version will probably handle everything). The drawing
canvas forces all its contents to the old engine.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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