Text Boxes Frames


Text Boxes & Frames

Text boxes and frames are containers for text and graphics. Word enables you to position them just about anywhere on a page, format them and their contents, and flow text around them (Figure 29).

Figure 29. In this example, a text box containing a quote from the document is used as a design element. Text boxes only appear exactly as positioned in Page Layout view (shown here) and Print Preview.


Frames have been a Word feature for as long as I can rememberand I've been using Word since 1990. Text boxes were introduced a few versions ago as part of Word's drawing features. But as Word evolved, Microsoft added more and more functionality to text boxes. In Word X and 2004, you can use a command on the Insert menu (Figure 1) to insert a text box in your document; previous versions enabled you to insert a frame instead.

Clearly, Microsoft is encouraging Word users to use text boxes instead of frames. But what's more important is that there are specific instances when you must use one instead of the other.

You must use a text box to do any of the following:

  • Make text flow from one container to another. This is done by linking text boxes; frames cannot be linked.

  • Change the orientation of text in a container using the Format menu's Text Direction command.

  • Format a text container using options on the Drawing toolbar. This includes changing the shape of the text box to one of Word's AutoShapes.

  • Group text containers and change the alignment or distribution of them as a group.

  • Create a watermark that appears on document pages when printed. This feature differs from any watermark capabilities that your printer may support.

On the other hand, you must use frames if your text container includes any of the following:

  • Inserted comments, which are indicated by comment marks.

  • Footnotes or endnotes, which are indicated by note reference marks.

  • Certain Word fields, including AUTONUM, AUTONUMLGL, and AUTONUMOUT, which are used for numbering lists and paragraphs in legal documents and outlines, or TC, TOC, RD, XE, TA, and TOA, which are used for various indexes and tables.

This part of the chapter will concentrate on text boxes that are inserted with the Insert menu's Text Box command (Figure 1).

Tips

  • When you open a document that contains frames created with a previous version of Word, Word keeps the frames.

  • You can convert a text box into a frame. I explain how later in this part of the chapter.

  • I tell you about footnotes and endnotes in Chapter 11. I tell you about Word fields and explain how to insert a page number in a frame in Chapter 9.


To insert a text box

1.

In an open Word document, choose Insert > Text Box. Two things happen:

  • If the document was in any view other than Page Layout view, it switches to Page Layout view.

  • The mouse pointer appears as a crosshairs pointer.

2.

Use the crosshairs pointer to draw a box the approximate size and shape of the text box you want in the location you want it (Figure 30).

Figure 30. Use a crosshairs pointer to draw a text box.


3.

Release the mouse button. The text box appears on the document's drawing layer with selection handles around it and a blinking insertion point within it (Figure 31).

Figure 31. When you release the mouse button, the text box and the Text Box toolbar appear.


4.

Enter the text you want to appear in the text box (Figure 32).

Figure 32. You can enter text into a text box by typing or pasting it in.


Tips

  • By default, text does not wrap around a text box. I explain how to wrap text around graphic objects, including text boxes, later in this chapter.

  • Once text has been entered into a text box, the text can be formatted like any other text. Consult Chapter 3 for more information about formatting text.

  • You can use the Text Box toolbar to change the orientation of text in a text box or link text from one text box to another. Explore the toolbar buttons on your own.

  • You can resize a text box like any other graphic object. I explain how later in this chapter.


To select a text box

Click anywhere inside the text box. A thick hashmark border and white selection handles appear around the text box (Figure 33).

Figure 33. A selected text box.


Tip

  • To select multiple text boxes at the same time, hold down while clicking the border of each one.


To delete a text box

1.

Select the text box you want to delete (Figure 33).

2.

Press . The text box disappears.

Tip

  • To delete a text box without deleting its contents, first select and copy its contents to another part of the document or to another document.


To convert a text box to a frame

1.

Select the text box you want to convert.

2.

Choose Format > Text Box. The Format Text Box dialog appears.

3.

Click the Text Box tab to display its options (Figure 34).

Figure 34. The Text Box tab of the Format Text Box dialog enables you to set text box options or convert a text box to a frame.


4.

Click the Convert to Frame button.

5.

A warning dialog like the one in Figure 35 appears. Click OK. The text box is converted into a frame (Figure 36).

Figure 35. Word warns you before it converts a text box.


Figure 36. A text box converted to a frame. Note that the selection handles are black and text automatically wraps around a frame. I explain how to wrap text around a text box or other graphic object later in this chapter.


Tips

  • By default, text wraps around a frame, as shown in Figure 36.

  • You cannot directly convert a frame to a text box. Instead, create a text box, copy the contents of the frame, paste them into the text box, and delete the frame.




MIcrosoft Word 2004 for Mac OSX. Visual QuickStart Guide
MIcrosoft Word 2004 for Mac OSX. Visual QuickStart Guide
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 199

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