Drawing in Word for Office 2003 vs 97

  • Thread starter Thread starter W. Watson
  • Start date Start date
W

W. Watson

I updated to 2003 and see that draw works differently. I inserted a jpg file
in my doc and would like to draw some simple shapes on it. For kicks, let's
say it's an X composed of two lines. When I try to do this, I get a big
frame in the doc saying please draw in this area. In 97, I could just draw
right over the jpg file img. Each time I attempted this in 2003, it insisted
on putting in the frame. Finally, I gave up and dragged the jpg file inside
the frame and added the two lines. I then tried doing a similar thing with
another jpg file. I can draw over the image and never get prompted with a
frame. What's going on?

Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

"He who laughs, lasts." -- Mary Pettibone Poole
 
W. Watson,
Your drawing canvas is active. Go to Tools - options - general tab - remove
the check next to the last checkbox which automatically activates the
drawing canvas.
Luc
 
I updated to 2003 and see that draw works differently. I inserted a jpg file
in my doc and would like to draw some simple shapes on it. For kicks, let's
say it's an X composed of two lines. When I try to do this, I get a big
frame in the doc saying please draw in this area. In 97, I could just draw
right over the jpg file img. Each time I attempted this in 2003, it insisted
on putting in the frame. Finally, I gave up and dragged the jpg file inside
the frame and added the two lines. I then tried doing a similar thing with
another jpg file. I can draw over the image and never get prompted with a
frame. What's going on?
Click to expand...

The frame -- formally called the drawing canvas -- is supposed to let
you make a drawing with multiple lines and shapes that will
automatically be kept together (not quite the same as using the Group
command, but similar). Unfortunately it turned out to be just a PITA
for most people. Fortunately you can turn it off: go to Tools >
Options > General and uncheck "Automatically create drawing canvas
when inserting AutoShapes".

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
 
Note, however, that you must use a drawing canvas if you want connectors to
work.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
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