Images Move By Themselves

[Just_Say_Ah]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

I'm not joking.

I'm trying to format a catalogue with lots and pictures in it.
The visual page keeps moving whenever I click on the page - even if it's just to change some text the visual area looks like it zooms in and out marginally everytime.

To add to my frustration and endless hours of trying to fix this the images move by themselves!

I click on one to move it and several others in the background move to where ever they want to on the page?

This is ridiculous.

I can't find any settings in preferences to stop it.

I don't even save and when i open the document presto the images go where they want to?

I'm at my wits end of how to fix this.

Any help welcome

 

[John McGhie]

OK, the piece of the puzzle you are missing is the fact that "Word is a
word-processor"!! And I am not joking, either

In a word-processor, material is SUPPOSED to move by itself. A
word-processor "flows" the text down the page to make up the pages
automatically. That's how they work.

This is the opposite of a "Page Layout" program, where everything but the
text is supposed to stay fixed until YOU move it, while the text flows
around it.

So to work in Word you first need to choose your method of working ‹ the
Layout option you set for each picture. (It's not a preference, it's a
"property" that is individual to each picture. Right-click the picture and
choose "Properties" to see it.)

Either "Inline with text" or "Floating".

Inline treats each picture as a very large character. It is positioned
immediately after the character before it, and Word expands the line to make
room for it.

Floating positions the picture with respect to a paragraph. Remember this:
it MUST be a Paragraph, it cannot be any other object. The fundamental unit
of a Word document is a paragraph.

If you want to work with floating pictures, you need to choose which
paragraph you wish to anchor them each one to. Review the Help topic
"Position a picture anywhere on the page" for more.

But: Don't get confused: if you have a floating picture, Word is adjusting
its position constantly with respect to the paragraph you have it anchored
to. If the paragraph moves, the picture will move. You need to be in
control of which paragraph that is. Great entertainment is available if you
anchor a picture to a paragraph that FOLLOWS the picture in the text

Don't get sucked in by position with respect to "Page" or "Margin". Word is
still positioning the picture with respect to the paragraph it is anchored
to, it simply re-computes the picture position to maintain the same position
on whichever page the paragraph moves to.

For long documents (over 100 pages) always choose "Inline with text" for
your pictures and allow Word to place them automatically. Life is too short
to try to position floating pictures in a long document.

For short documents, you can choose one of the floating options if you want
to wrap text around the picture. But if you do, you need to be prepared to
do more work to ensure that the properties you assign to the picture are
going to work for you.

One of the inevitable results of using floating pictures is that if the
paragraph you have them anchored to moves, the pictures will move. You need
to carefully choose a paragraph above the picture that will not change page,
or you will get some very frustrating side-effects.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

I'm not joking.

I'm trying to format a catalogue with lots and pictures in it.
The visual page keeps moving whenever I click on the page - even if it's just
to change some text the visual area looks like it zooms in and out marginally
everytime.

To add to my frustration and endless hours of trying to fix this the images
move by themselves!

I click on one to move it and several others in the background move to where
ever they want to on the page?

This is ridiculous.

I can't find any settings in preferences to stop it.

I don't even save and when i open the document presto the images go where they
want to?

I'm at my wits end of how to fix this.

Any help welcome

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Although Word is arguably the most powerful *word processing* program on the
planet it is *not* designed for complex or involved page layout work
involving volumes of graphic objects. For what you are trying to do you'd be
better off investing in a decent Page Layout [Desktop Publishing] program.

The learning curve is not all that great - especially since you can continue
to do your copy in Word then place it into the DTP file & add your graphics
there. Even with the availability of Publishing Layout View in Word 2008
you'll run into limitations - especially if the catalog is more than several
pages in length & needs any of the high-end features of Word (such as
Section Breaks, Footnotes/Endnotes, Index, etc.).

If you *must* use Word we can point you to volumes of info on working with
graphics in a Word doc. However, there is not only as much to learn there as
there is to learning a DTP program but using that info effectively relies
heavily on having expert skills in virtually every other aspect of using
Word's more complex features... Even then it can be frustrating

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

 

[Just_Say_Ah]

Thanks for the responses.

I would ordinarily do this style of work in a DTP program however my client wants to be able to update the files themselves.

So I figured it out.

I've placed them in tables SIMPLE.
All works - now just to copy and paste

 

[CyberTaz]

Make sure you maintain current backups - that file may well be on a
collision course with file corruption, especially if others are going to be
editing the file... If the solution were that "easy" it would have been
offered as a suggestion

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

If you set them "Inline with text" you won't need the tables.

However, the tables have the added benefit that if the customer replaces the
picture, it will come in at the correct size.

Warn the customer that they should replace the pictures by using
"Insert>Picture>From File..." If they do it by pasting, they may blow away
the table, depending on how their Word preferences are set.

And warn them to select neatly and edit carefully around tables, or they
WILL break the document and expect you to fix the document. Tell them that
if they edit with their hidden characters display turned off, they will
break the document, and you will be pleased to charge your standard hourly
rate to fix them

Cheers

Thanks for the responses.

I would ordinarily do this style of work in a DTP program however my client
wants to be able to update the files themselves.

So I figured it out.

I've placed them in tables SIMPLE.
All works - now just to copy and paste

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]