How to fill enclosed shapes that aren't autoshapes

[Eric55]

I do line drawings in economics where the intersection of lines forms
triangles, rectangles, etc., which I would like to fill with colors or
patterns. Can't figure out how to get "Fill" to work with these. The line
segments of these shapes can be selected, but fill still doesn't work. I know
how to fill autoshapes, but in general it isn't possible to use an autoshape
to overlay exactly on top of the areas in my diagrams that I want to fill in.
Any suggestions? Thanks!

--Eric Crawford

 

[CyberTaz]

Lines drawn with the standard line tool do not have but one dimension so
they cannot be filled - regardles of how you cross them one atop the other
they do not intersect. IOW, think of each crossing line as being on a
separate "layer".

Try using some of the other drawing tools in the AutoShapes, such as the
Scribble tool & the Freeform tool. Shapes created with them can be filled &
you can 'simulate' joining various shapes to one another, but what's
available & how it behaves will vary depending on which version of Word
you're using.