Ordering autoshapes

[Steve Vincent]

Hello,

I have lots of experience in MS Office apps with drawing objects, and have
used the Order commands (Send to back, Send to front, Send backwards, etc.)
extensively. But this is a real head-scratcher:

I have eight curved block-arrows, "chasing each other" around in a circle.
The arrowhead of each one overlaps (lays on top of) the "tail" of the next,
so the arrowheads are always on top, and the "tails" are always underneath
the previous arrowhead. I can "stack" them just fine, until the "last one",
where the entire block arrow is on top of the previous and next autoshape. I
have been experimenting with a combination of "Send to front" and "Send
backward" and "Send forward", but can't seem to find that perfect combination
to "fan" these objects so they overlap equally all around the "circle".
(Wish I could show you a graphic, that would be much easier to describe).

Any advice on "ordering" objects in this rubicks-cube kind of way?

TIA,
Steve

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hello,

I have lots of experience in MS Office apps with drawing objects, and have
used the Order commands (Send to back, Send to front, Send backwards, etc.)
extensively. But this is a real head-scratcher:

I have eight curved block-arrows, "chasing each other" around in a circle.
The arrowhead of each one overlaps (lays on top of) the "tail" of the next,
so the arrowheads are always on top, and the "tails" are always underneath
the previous arrowhead. I can "stack" them just fine, until the "last one",
where the entire block arrow is on top of the previous and next autoshape. I
have been experimenting with a combination of "Send to front" and "Send
backward" and "Send forward", but can't seem to find that perfect combination
to "fan" these objects so they overlap equally all around the "circle".
(Wish I could show you a graphic, that would be much easier to describe).

Any advice on "ordering" objects in this rubicks-cube kind of way?

TIA,
Steve

Logically, there is no way to achieve this effect with object order alone. There
will always be one object at the top of the stack and one at the bottom of the
stack, and the bottom one _cannot_ overlap the top one.

The way around this (similar to the method used in creating special banner
effects in web pages) is to "fake" the last overlap. Make a triangle shape that
matches the part of the bottom arrow that would overlap the top one, and place
that at the top of the stack so it matches up to the visible part of the
bottom-most shape.

 

[Steve Vincent]

Jay, isn't there an "in between" in the stack, where there is a top object, a
bottom object, and objects in between? I thought the "Bring forward" and
"Send backward" commands moved the object up or down the stack, and the
"Bring to front" or "Send to back" brought them to the top and bottom
respectively. But in between, couldn't you theoretically order them with one
in the middle of a stack? That's what I was asking about. The problem is
the complexity of there being 8 objects in the group (not technically
grouped, not yet anyway).

But thanks for the workaround -- I thought that might be what I'm left with.
I appreciate the response!

Regards,
Steve

 

[Jay Freedman]

There certainly is the ability to move an object up or down the stack by one
position at a time, as well as to the top or bottom ("front" or "back",
depending on how you think about it).

The problem you face, though, is that you want a single object to be both the
top and the bottom at the same time, and that's what is impossible for Word.
It's an 8-object version of the Penrose triangle
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle).

 

[Steve Vincent]

What if the arrows were in a row, instead of a circle, just overlapping? Or
just consider them to be three rectangles in a row, all overlapping
left-to-right. The far left covers the left end of the middle rectangle, and
the middle rectangle covers the left end of the right-most rectangle. The
left-most triangle would be on top, the middle triangle would be in the
middle, and the right-most would be on the bottom.

I think I just answered my own question... spread the autoshapes apart
enough to make them appear in a "row" instead of a circular clump, then after
ordering them properly, move or nudge them into position... I'll try that.
(it's possible that I'm really in denial of the possibility that one of the
shapes needs to be both on top and bottom at the same time... but I'll give
it a try). Thanks for keeping me thinking!

Steve