Enhancing Documents with Graphics


Word 2002 comes with a collection of clip art that is suitable for use in many different types of documents. You can also access an online library containing many more ready-made graphics. In this topic, you will practice locating, inserting, and sizing clip art graphics, and also learn how to personalize your document with a graphic watermark.

Clip art can consist of a variety of media, including drawings, photographs, audio clips, and video clips. You can size and crop clip art graphics, but you can t change or add to them (for example, you can t change a color ). The clip art that comes with Word can be used in any document, without you having to have specific permission to use it. (Be sure to check whether you can safely use graphics from other sources without having to worry about violating someone s copyright.)

Inserting a Graphic

As a demonstration, let s place clip art at both the top and bottom of the press release. Follow these steps:

  1. Click an insertion point to the left of the blank paragraph mark at the top of the second column of the press release, press Enter to add a blank line, and then press the Up Arrow key.

  2. If possible, connect to your Internet service provider so that you can access the clip art available online.

  3. On the Insert menu, click Picture and then Clip Art .

    start sidebar
    Graphics display

    Inserting graphics in a document can slow down the rate at which you can scroll through the text.With inline graphics, you can increase the scrolling speed by displaying empty placeholders for graphics. To display placeholders, click Options on the Tools menu, click the View tab, select the Picture placeholders check box in the Show area, and then click OK. Word substitutes placeholders (empty frames ) for the graphics. Reverse this procedure to redisplay the graphics.

    end sidebar
     
    start sidebar
    More clip art search options

    In the Insert Clip Art task pane, you can narrow your search by clicking the down arrow at the right end of the Search in box and specifying which clip art collection you want Word to look in. You can also use the Results should be drop-down list to specify what media types you want to look for. When Word displays its search results, it displays a small icon in the lower-left corner of any clips that are not available on your hard disk. (For example, a globe icon indicates that the clip can be downloaded from Microsoft s web site or a partner web site.) If the search functions in the task pane don t produce the results you want, you can click the Clip Organizer hyper- link to display the Microsoft Clip Organizer window. Here, you can browse through clips organized in folders (similar to the files in Windows Explorer). You can also open Clip Organizer s Help system to get more tips on finding clips.

    end sidebar
     
  4. If the Add Clips to Organizer dialog box appears, read its information and then click Later .

    You now see the Insert Clip Art task pane shown here:

    click to expand
  5. If you are connected to the internet, in the Search text box, type mountain , and click the Search button.

  6. If you are not connected to the Internet, leave the Search text box blank and then click Search .

    Word then searches for all the graphic files on your computer.

  7. Scroll through the previews, click an appropriate graphic to insert it in the document, and then close the task pane.

    The graphic appears at the top of the template, as shown here:

    click to expand
    start sidebar
    Inserting symbols

    Sometimes you might want to use symbols in a document, such as a pointing hand to draw the reader s attention to a specific item. To insert a symbol, position the insertion point, click Symbol on the Insert menu, and then select the font. (Wingdings is a good one if you are looking for pictures rather than mathematical symbols or foreign characters .) Then click the symbol you want, click theInsert button, and click Close. If you use a symbol often, you can create a keyboard shortcut for it by clicking the Shortcut Key button in the Symbol dialog box and specifying a shortcut that starts with the Ctrl or Alt key or a combination of the two.

    end sidebar
     

Sizing and Cropping an Embedded Graphic

Microsoft Office Specialist : Create, modify, and position graphics

After you import a graphic, you can change its size and shape to suit the needs of your document. For example, you might want to turn the graphic into a small logo. You can also change the size of the frame that contains the graphic without changing the size of the graphic itself. This adjustment has the effect of cropping away parts of the graphic. Follow these steps to first size the embedded graphic and then crop away part of it:

  1. Click the graphic once to select it.

  2. When the Picture toolbar appears, double-click its title bar to dock it at the bottom of the screen.

    If the Picture toolbar doesn t appear when the graphic is selected, right-click the toolbar row, and then click Picture on the shortcut menu.

  3. Point to the handle in the lower-right corner, and when the pointer changes to a two-headed arrow, drag it downward and to the right.

    If you drag the corner handles, you change the width and height of the graphic proportionally, without changing its aspect ratio. If you drag the handles in the middle of the sides of the frame, you do change this ratio. You can control the graphic s size more precisely by changing it in a dialog box instead of by dragging.

  4. Double-click the graphic to open the Format Picture dialog box. Then click the Size tab.

    Word displays the options shown in this graphic:

    click to expand
  5. In the Scale area, deselect the Lock aspect ratio check box. Then in the Size and rotate area, set the Height option to 2.25" and the Width option to 1.2" , and click OK .

    The image becomes smaller and relatively taller and narrower, as shown in this graphic:

    click to expand

    You might need to enter different percentages to get this effect, depending on the graphic you are using.

  6. With the graphic selected, click the Format Picture button on the Picture toolbar.

  7. On the Picture tab of the Format Picture dialog box, change the Top setting in the Crop from area to 1.5" , and click OK .

    Word crops away some of the picture, as shown in this graphic:

    click to expand

    You might need to crop from the bottom or one of the sides to use an appropriate part of your graphic.

    You can also crop graphics manually. Select the graphic, click the Crop button on the Picture toolbar, use the cropping tool to drag the appropriate handle to change the size of the graphic s frame, and then click the Crop button again to turn off the cropping tool.

  8. On the Picture toolbar, click the Reset Picture button to restore the graphic to its original size and proportions .

Positioning a Graphic

Information about : Inline objects vs. floating objects, page 166

Like WordArt objects, graphics are by default inline objects that are attached to the paragraph containing the insertion point when you insert them. You learned earlier how to convert inline objects to floating objects and how to manually position them on the page. In this procedure, you ll see how to be more precise about a graphic s size and location. Follow these steps:

  1. 1. On the Picture toolbar, click the Format Picture button.

  2. 2. On the Size tab, set the Height to 1" and the Width to 4" .

  3. 3. On the Layout tab, change the Wrapping style setting to Square .

    To enter an absolute position for the graphic on the page, you must select a wrapping style other than In line with text to turn the graphic into a floating object just as you did with the WordArt object earlier.

    start sidebar
    Editing graphics

    Although you cannot edit the content of clip art graphics, you can make some changes to them using the buttons on the Picture toolbar. You can create a gray- scale, black and white, or washed-out color version of the original; you can increase or decrease the color or brightness; and you can fill transparent backgrounds with a color of your choice.

    end sidebar
     
    start sidebar
    Creating text boxes

    For more flexibility with the placement of blocks of text, you can insert a text box in a document and then type the text directly in the box. Word treats text boxes as objects that can be positioned and sized on the page just like any other object. To create a text box, either click Text Box on the Insert menu or click the Text Box button on the Drawing toolbar. Drag a box using the crosshair pointer. When you release the mouse button, Word displays a box containing the insertion point, waiting for you to type your text. You can format and edit the text in the usual way. You can also use buttons on the Drawing toolbar to format the text box, or click Text Box on the Format menu to adjust its size, position, and text-wrapping settings. You can use buttons on the Text Box toolbar to change the direction of the text, link text boxes, and move among linked boxes.

    end sidebar
     
  4. Click the Advanced button to display the Advanced Layout dialog box.

  5. On the Picture Position tab, enter 1.7" and Margin as the Absolute position setting in the Horizontal area, and enter 0" and Margin as the Absolute position setting in the Vertical area. Click OK .

  6. Click the Picture tab, and in the Crop from area, enter 1.6" as the Top setting and 0.3" as the Bottom setting, and click OK to return to the document.

  7. If necessary, repeat steps 1 through 6 to adjust the settings so that the graphic is sized and positioned exactly as you want it.

    Now let s duplicate the graphic at the bottom of the page.

  8. With the graphic selected, click the Copy button, and then click the Paste button.

  9. Click the Zoom box s down arrow, and in the drop-down list, click Whole Page so that you can see the entire page.

  10. Drag the copy of the graphic below the press release text to create a duplicate graphic at the bottom of the page.

  11. Position the graphic precisely using the Advanced Layout dialog box (see step 4), and then click away from the image.

    The results are shown in the graphic on the next page.

    start sidebar
    Using the drawing canvas

    If you want to create a drawing that consists of several drawing objects ”AutoShapes, curves, lines, and WordArt ”you can use the drawing canvas to group the objects so that they can be manipulated as a unit. To open the drawing canvas, click Picture and then New Drawing on the Insert menu. Then use the buttons on the Drawing toolbar to draw the objects as usual. You can then move and size them as a unit. To arrange the objects, click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, click Align or Distribute, and click the command you want. To format the drawing canvas, select it, and on the Format menu, click Drawing Canvas. Then change the size of the canvas, the colors and lines, and the layout as necessary. To specify that you want any drawing object you create to be surrounded by a drawing canvas, click Options on the Tools menu, click the General tab, select the Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes check box, and click OK.

    end sidebar
     
    start sidebar
    Drawing simple graphics

    On the Standard toolbar, click the Drawing button to display theDrawing toolbar across the bottom of your screen. Then use theLine, Arrow, Rectangle, and Oval buttons to draw the corresponding shapes. You can also click theAutoShapes button to display a pop-up menu of options that allow you to create more complex shapes , such as stars. Use the remaining buttons to manipulate your drawing in a variety of ways ”for example, to change its color and orientation.

    end sidebar
     
    click to expand
  12. Return the document magnification to 100% .

Using a Graphic as a Watermark

Information about : Inserting a picture or text watermark, page 186

Let s add another graphic to the template to serve as a water- mark. A watermark is a logo, picture, or text that appears behind the content of a document. (Diplomas and stock certificates often display watermarks.) Graphic watermarks are used as backgrounds; text watermarks are often used to convey a specific message about a document such as Draft, Final, or Confidential.

In this procedure, you ll insert a clip art graphic watermark in the template s header so that it will appear on every page of the document. As you ll see, adding this graphic makes the template very busy-looking. For your own documents, you ll want to limit the use of graphics to avoid a cluttered look that makes your message hard to read, but since this example is just for purposes of demonstration, follow these steps:

  1. On the View menu, click Header and Footer .

  2. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click the Show/Hide Document Text button.

    Word hides all of the text and graphics in the press release.

  3. On the Insert menu, click Picture and then Clip Art to display the Insert Clip Art task pane.

  4. Enter compass as the search text, and click Search .

    If you are not connected to the Internet, click Search without entering anything.

  5. Click any graphic to insert it in the document header, and then close the task pane.

  6. Double-click the graphic to open the Format Picture dialog box.

  7. In the Image control area of the Picture tab, click the down arrow at the right end of the Color box, and click Washout . Then change the Contrast setting to 75% .

  8. Click the Size tab. Then change the Height setting in the Scale area to 125% , and click the Width setting, which adjusts to 125%.

  9. Click the Layout tab, and click Behind text .

  10. Click the Advanced button, enter 1.7" and Margin as the Absolute position setting in the Horizontal area, and enter 1.7" and Margin as the Absolute position setting in the Vertical area. Click OK twice to see your watermark.

    The page is shown in this graphic, zoomed to Whole Page:

    click to expand

    Depending on the graphic you have chosen , you might need to repeat steps 6 through 10 to adjust your settings.

  11. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close .

    The results zoomed to Whole Page are shown in the graphic on the next page.

    click to expand
    start sidebar
    Adding a watermark to one page only

    In our example, you add a water- mark to the header so that the watermark appears on all the pages of the document. If you want to add a watermark to just one page, insert the graphic in the document itself, and then follow steps 6 through 12 of the procedure on this page.

    end sidebar
     

    To make further adjustments to the watermark, click Header and Footer on the View menu, click the Show/Hide Document Text button, and click the watermark graphic to select it. Then either manually move or resize the graphic, or double-click it to open the Format Picture dialog box where you can make other changes.

  12. When you are satisfied with the watermark, save and close the masthead template.




Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Word 2002
Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Word 2002
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 74

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net