High Wilson wrote:
>It is difficult to get 9 to 12 boxes or banners or star
>burst, etc. arranged, the same height, same spacing apart.  Is there an
>automatic way in Word to create one of the items then duplicate it for
>the rest of the page? If so can you also include the line color in the
>duplication?  I could make up several pages with each one on it as a
>template and save it for future use, but I still would like to have an
>easier way of doing it.

There are a few items in Word that you might make use of:
- first, are your objects grouped? This way, a shape, for example, with a
text box inside, can be treated as a unit. Select an item, hold down the
shift key, and select another item, then right click and select "group".

- now you can select the entire unit, and use either ctrl + c or Edit/Copy,
then Edit/Paste or ctrl + v to paste the copy. This will include all your
formatting such as line colors etc.

- On the drawing toolbar (View/Toolbar/Drawing), use the Draw button, and
select "Align or Distribute"; you can then align the objects relative to
your page. You will need to select the objects first, so that Word knows
which items you are working with.

- To use a grid in order to make your objects "snap" in place, rather than
doing it manually, use the drawing toolbar again, and select Draw/Grid. you
can now set the distance you want between your objects.

This is just a brief overview. The Word Help files have a fairly detailed
explanation of this. Do a Help search for "Arrange text and graphics on a
page" for more info...there are lots of options.

A tip: if you have drawn a shape and you wish to add a text box inside of
the shape, right click on the shape and select "add text." This way, you
get a text box the right size for your shape; also, no dark lines appear
around the text box (which you would have to set manually if you simply
drew one with the Text Box tool); also, the text box is automatically set
to "group" with the shape....saves a bit of fussing.

It takes a bit of playing to get all this to work, but it can work. It's
possible you may have "outgrown" Word as your tool for this job. You might
want to try some graphics-type programs for these tasks; then you can save
the graphics and insert them in your Word document as images. Graphics
programs have a higher learning curve, but are more powerful and flexible.

Susan Sutherland

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