Position object relative to line

[Tobias Weber]

Hi,
the mechanics behind the draggable anchor icon and relative positioning
of objects in Word X still elude me.

http://www.celvina.de/tmp/anchor.jpg

The drawing should be directly above the red text. With "top and bottom"
wrapping an object anchored to the top of a line should be displayed
above that line, right? But there's one line in between! I can fix this
by dragging the anchor one line lower, but then the object moves with
the wrong line.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Tobias -

Try setting your Vertical Position relative to Paragraph rather than
relative to Line. You may have to reposition the graphic after you change
the setting, but the result should give you what you want.

I believe the Line setting only behaves as you would like if the object is
anchored to & placed within a multiple-line para *or* the line height is set
large enough to accommodate the size of the graphic.

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

 

[Tobias Weber]

Try setting your Vertical Position relative to Paragraph rather than
relative to Line. You may have to reposition the graphic after you change
the setting, but the result should give you what you want.

"Relative to paragraph" is only available for absolute positioning.
Entering a value like "0.1cm *below*" does give me the desired result.

After applying a power drill to my temple I may even understand the
reasoning behind this.

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry for the laxity of terms - should know better by now , but am glad
the issue is resolved.

It becomes easier if you learn to accept the fact that Word's approach to
handling graphics is beyond reason!

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

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Tobias:

Don't confuse the term "line" with the term "paragraph".

A graphics anchor is a "property" that a paragraph can have. A line cannot
have it.

A graphics anchor is attached to the "origin" of a "paragraph". In other
words, to the top left extremity of a paragraph. It cannot be anywhere
else.

So if you attempt to drag the anchor down, it will not move at all until you
come to the next paragraph, when it will then click into place on the
paragraph below.

If you have your "wrapping" set to "Top and Bottom" this means that text can
be either above or below the graphic, but not to either side of it.

So when the anchor moves down, the text that previous flowed below it, will
now be paginated to appear above it.

Clear as mud? Need a bandaid for that nasty hole in your temple?

Cheers

Hi,
the mechanics behind the draggable anchor icon and relative positioning
of objects in Word X still elude me.

http://www.celvina.de/tmp/anchor.jpg

The drawing should be directly above the red text. With "top and bottom"
wrapping an object anchored to the top of a line should be displayed
above that line, right? But there's one line in between! I can fix this
by dragging the anchor one line lower, but then the object moves with
the wrong line.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Tobias Weber]

A graphics anchor is a "property" that a paragraph can have. A line cannot
have it.

If the picture position dialog says "vertical alignment Top relative to
Line" I can drag the anchor to any line inside any paragraph.

http://www.celvina.de/tmp/anchorline.jpg

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Tobias -

Although it may *appear* that the image is anchored to the Line, John is
totally correct. Positioning the anchor designates which line of the
paragraph the specifications pertain, but the object is technically anchored
to the paragraph containing that line.

To put it into a different perspective, perhaps - take a look at the Format
Menu. You will find reference to Font and to Paragraph, but the only
reference to 'Line" formatting will be found in the Format *Paragraph*
dialog specific & limited to the spacing of the lines within a paragraph.
IOW, the graphic cannot be anchored to a line because Word recognizes no
such element in the structure of the file.

If you want to test it, try this - Place the anchor adjacent to any line of
a multiple-line paragraph, then select & delete that line. You'll find that
the graphic remains (although it may move a little.) as long as any part of
the paragraph continues to exist. Undo that, then delete the paragraph
containing the line & you'll find that the graphic is deleted because the
*paragraph* to which it is anchored no longer exists.

Seems weird perhaps, but keep in mind that Word is a text-based environment
- Any graphic element is a foreign body that is being tolerated at the
request of the user. I don't know of anyone (whose opinion I value) that
lauds the praises of Word as a layout program regardless of how cleverly &
expertly they may be at overcoming it's shortcomings & ironies. Success
comes from understanding & acceptance of how the program works & learning to
deal with it accordingly - or using other software for projects that require
more sophisticated graphics handling capability.

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

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Tobias:

Yeah, I see the problem. I can't understand how the word "Line" got into
that dialog box (well, yeah, the programmer coded it there...) but "why?"

Within the Word file, there is no such thing as a "line" to anchor things
to.

I am wondering if what they meant was "relative to the line generated by the
paragraph that contains the anchor."

A paragraph does indeed have a baseline and X and Y heights for its line.
But there's nothing in the file to indicate the line. Lines are generated
by the pagination engine at output time.

So: Sorry, I cannot see how this could work the way you want it to, and I am
not surprised that it doesn't.

Jeffrey Weston from Microsoft was cruising around here yesterday, maybe he
will have time to look into this for us.

Cheers

If the picture position dialog says "vertical alignment Top relative to
Line" I can drag the anchor to any line inside any paragraph.

http://www.celvina.de/tmp/anchorline.jpg

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410