10.1. Drop Caps, Text Boxes, and WordArtDrop caps, text boxes, and WordArt let you turn text into a design element. Although these elements lose their impact if you overdo them, putting a little pizzazz in your text can direct your audience's attention to important information. For example, you can use a text box to create a pull quote that highlights your company's stellar performance. Drop caps, text boxes, and WordArt take color, font, and design cues from the theme you've selected for your document. When you see color choices, the theme colors are usually presented at the top of the menu. Later, if you decide to change the theme for your document, the accent colors and font styles in your graphics change to match.
Note: To work with pictures, drawings, and SmartArt, you need to be in Print Layout or Web Layout view. In Draft or Outline view, your graphics appear as placeholder boxes. In these views, you can position the placeholder boxes, but you can't modify the graphics. (If you don't see a placeholder box in your document, just click the empty space where the graphic should be. You then see a box that you can drag to a new location.) 10.1.1. Adding a Drop Cap to a ParagraphDrop caps are a decorative feature with a practical purpose. They give a paragraph an added sense of importance as the beginning of a chapter or document. Drop caps attract readers' attention and draw their eyes to the beginning of the text, inviting them to start reading (Figure 10-1). With Word you can easily add a drop cap to any paragraph, and if you're in the mood, you can fiddle around with it to create your own special effect.
Here are the two simple steps for creating a drop cap:
10.1.1.1. Modifying a drop capWhen you create a drop cap, Word places the initial character in the paragraph in a frame of its own and positions it either in the paragraph or in the margin, but you can do lots of things to modify the design. Word provides a Drop Cap dialog box where you can make some changes (Figure 10-2), but it's just as easy to edit the drop cap right in the document.
Because the cap is in a frame, you can drag it anywhere you want. To resize the drop cap, simply drag on a corner or side of the frame. Click inside the frame, and then select the letter to format it. Use any of Word's font formats to modify the letter. The color, shadow, emboss, and engrave options are great for drop caps. You can even add letters to the Drop Cap frame, so you can create a drop word, as shown in Figure 10-3.
10.1.1.2. Removing a drop capUse the same menuInsert Text Drop Capto remove a drop cap from your paragraph. Just select the None option, and the drop cap and the frame disappear. The paragraph goes back to its regular shape, with the initial letter back in line and sized like its compatriots. 10.1.2. Bending Words with WordArtWordArt is a lot more fun than it is useful. How often do you really need arched headlines in your documents? On top of that, you can waste a lot of time fiddling with all the options to see the cool effects you can produce (Figure 10-4).
To transform a word in your document into WordArt, double-click to select the word, and then choose Insert Text WordArt to see the menu of WordArt designs. If you click the one that suits your artistic purposes, you see your word transformed. 10.1.2.1. Modifying WordArtWhen you click to select your WordArt creation, the WordArt Tools contextual tab appears on the right side of the ribbon. You can use this tab to make adjustments to 3-D effects (Alt+JW, U) and drop shadows (Alt+CW, V) and specify the text wrapping options (Alt+JW, TW). In spite of the incredible ways you've transformed your word, it's still text to Microsoft. So if you catch a misspelling or need to make other changes, choose WordArt Tools Format Text Edit Text to open the Edit WordArt Text box, where you can fix things up. |