Placing Text On .tiff File Format Picture

[Rafael Montserrat]

OS 10.4.6
Word 2004
Ibook G4

Hi

I have made a color scan (to get a better black and white rendition) of
a black and white article I wrote which is now in a .tif file format. I wish
to have my byline (my name as "by Rafael Montserrat") in a different
location on the first page of the article. I have already used Adobe
PhotoDeluxe to erase the existing byline and to fill in the blank space with
the surrounding color.
How, and can I with word, put the byline (or any text for that matter)
in a new location on the copy so that when I print the page, the new text is
rendered perfectly and as though it belonged there originally?

Thanks,

Rafael

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Rafael,

you don't mention how exactly you intend to use the scanned article in your
final Word document, so I'm not really sure whether I'd recommend the
insertion of a TIFF file at all, as your Word document will have margins
that, depending on your scan, may appear in a different shade of white than
your article's background. I'd rather use some OCR software to get the
scanner to recognise the text as such, but that's not what you're asking
for; so in this particular case, I'd suggest using a text box, which you can
create by clicking on Insert>Text Box. Just make sure that your TIFF picture
is not selected, otherwise Word will turn that picture into a text box. Your
cursor will then turn into a crosshair, and you will be able to draw your
text box anywhere you like. Next, enter your byline and change the font to
make it match the font face and size used in your article, then right-click
(ctrl-click) the border of your text box. In the menu that shows up, in the
Colors and Lines tab, under Fill, click on the dropdown menu next to Color
and select "No Fill". Under Line, do the same thing ("No Line"), then hit
OK. Your text box should now be transparent, and you can move it around if
you want to put it somewhere else in the article. If anything's unclear,
post back.

OS 10.4.6
Word 2004
Ibook G4

Hi

I have made a color scan (to get a better black and white rendition) of
a black and white article I wrote which is now in a .tif file format. I wish
to have my byline (my name as "by Rafael Montserrat") in a different
location on the first page of the article. I have already used Adobe
PhotoDeluxe to erase the existing byline and to fill in the blank space with
the surrounding color.
How, and can I with word, put the byline (or any text for that matter)
in a new location on the copy so that when I print the page, the new text is
rendered perfectly and as though it belonged there originally?

Thanks,

Rafael

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Word & Entourage)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Hi Michel,

Your instructions worked and I've completed my project to my liking.
Thanks. What I did was scan "Tiff to Preview" on my HP 1610 All In One
printer. In Preview, I picked "Copy" from the drop down menu, and then went
to Word and pasted it as a picture into a document. For purposes of what I
needed as copy, the white margins didn't matter. The copy is black and
white, but included black and white pictures so I printed in color. To make
the new byline seamless, so it didn't stand out from the original copy. I
chose "gray 80%" from the color palette which got it just right.

Your instructions were perfect except for one thing. I suggest that where
you say "... right-click (ctrl-click) the border of your text box.
that after "...text box." before "In the menu that shows up, in the Colors
and Lines tab...", you add that after the right click in the border, a
drop down menu appears, and at the bottom of six or so items it has "format
text box" which needs to be clicked to get to the Colors and Lines tab etc.
menu. I lost my bearings for a while there until I figured out what to do.

My last comment has nothing to do with your instructions. It's a graphics
detail I noticed about the program. Once the text box is created, and the
text is typed in, and the transparency created, the text box can, as you
said, be moved around. Apart from moving it around a lot, what I tried to
do was to get the byline centered perfectly in one spot. What I found is
that in dragging an edge of the text box, Word can give me only fixed
increments of movements (I think of them in terms of 1/8", but smaller).
There is no smooth movement, and being able to stop *anywhere*. I never
found a way around that, so I figure that that's where Word ends in offering
the sort of detail that can only be done on a graphics program like
PhotoShop.

Rafael



5/12/06 1:50 PM

Hi Rafael,

you don't mention how exactly you intend to use the scanned article in your
final Word document, so I'm not really sure whether I'd recommend the
insertion of a TIFF file at all, as your Word document will have margins
that, depending on your scan, may appear in a different shade of white than
your article's background. I'd rather use some OCR software to get the
scanner to recognise the text as such, but that's not what you're asking
for; so in this particular case, I'd suggest using a text box, which you can
create by clicking on Insert>Text Box. Just make sure that your TIFF picture
is not selected, otherwise Word will turn that picture into a text box. Your
cursor will then turn into a crosshair, and you will be able to draw your
text box anywhere you like. Next, enter your byline and change the font to
make it match the font face and size used in your article, then right-click
(ctrl-click) the border of your text box.

In the menu that shows up, in the

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Rafael,

yes, you're right, I forgot the "Format text box" subentry in the contextual
menu, sorry. By the way, did you know that you can also double-click the
border of a text box to get the same menu? It's slightly quicker, and I
normally do it that way when I'm not using the formatting palette.

And to reply to your last comment: you *can* position your object (text box
in this case) anywhere you like, only it's not that obvious: when dragging
your text box, hold down the Cmd key (or Apple key). Though it's probably
too late for your current project, you might find it useful for future
projects.

Hi Michel,

Your instructions worked and I've completed my project to my liking.
Thanks. What I did was scan "Tiff to Preview" on my HP 1610 All In One
printer. In Preview, I picked "Copy" from the drop down menu, and then went
to Word and pasted it as a picture into a document. For purposes of what I
needed as copy, the white margins didn't matter. The copy is black and
white, but included black and white pictures so I printed in color. To make
the new byline seamless, so it didn't stand out from the original copy. I
chose "gray 80%" from the color palette which got it just right.

Your instructions were perfect except for one thing. I suggest that where
you say "... right-click (ctrl-click) the border of your text box.
that after "...text box." before "In the menu that shows up, in the Colors
and Lines tab...", you add that after the right click in the border, a
drop down menu appears, and at the bottom of six or so items it has "format
text box" which needs to be clicked to get to the Colors and Lines tab etc.
menu. I lost my bearings for a while there until I figured out what to do.

My last comment has nothing to do with your instructions. It's a graphics
detail I noticed about the program. Once the text box is created, and the
text is typed in, and the transparency created, the text box can, as you
said, be moved around. Apart from moving it around a lot, what I tried to
do was to get the byline centered perfectly in one spot. What I found is
that in dragging an edge of the text box, Word can give me only fixed
increments of movements (I think of them in terms of 1/8", but smaller).
There is no smooth movement, and being able to stop *anywhere*. I never
found a way around that, so I figure that that's where Word ends in offering
the sort of detail that can only be done on a graphics program like
PhotoShop.

Rafael

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Beth Rosengard]

There's an even easier way (though it couldn't be less intuitive if
Microsoft tried!). Open the Drawing Toolbar. Click on the Draw icon at the
very top of it. Click on Grid (the last item on the popup menu). Uncheck
"Snap objects to grid".

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>

 

[Michel Bintener]

Now that's what I'd call perfectly obvious (note the heavy use of sarcasm).
Thanks, Beth, I wasn't aware of that option, but then again, I hardly ever
use the drawing toolbar.

There's an even easier way (though it couldn't be less intuitive if
Microsoft tried!). Open the Drawing Toolbar. Click on the Draw icon at the
very top of it. Click on Grid (the last item on the popup menu). Uncheck
"Snap objects to grid".

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Rafael Montserrat]

Thanks Michel and Beth. Also I'm finally getting close to where I can make
those teeny little lines on the 100 dollar bill. The Ben Franklin is going
to be tough though. Word...what an amazing program.

Rafael


5/16/06 10:10 AM

 

[Beth Rosengard]

John McGhie tipped me to that a few years ago. I never cease to be amazed
by how much he knows about Word (and several other dozen topics!) and, even
more, how much he remembers. I seem to forget things unless I've used them
a lot.

Beth