How Do I Control a Text Box Attachment Point?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TC
  • Start date Start date
T

TC

I'm using Word 2003. When I format a text box, one of the properties
of a text box is "Move object with text", but I can find no way to
influence which text the box moves with.

Is there any way to control which text a text box is attached to?

-TC
 
If you display object anchors, then when you select the text box, you will
see which paragraph it is anchored to.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
Floating Text boxes are graphic objects which are attached (anchored) to the
first line of a paragraph. Select the Text Box & you'll see the anchor
symbol at the left end of the line to which the box is anchored. [You may
need to have the non-printing characters (¶) displayed in order for the
anchor to be visible.]

Depending on the options set in the document you can drag the anchor to
attach the box to a different paragraph. This information may be useful:

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/DrawingGraphics.htm

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
If you display object anchors, then when you select the text box, you will
see which paragraph it is anchored to.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
Click to expand...

Thanks. I didn't know about displaying object anchors. That helps.

I know that feature is as good as I'm going to get from Word, but it
seems poorly designed. Since text boxes are clearly attached to
character positions, not lines, it is confusing and unbeneficially
imprecise to show the anchor next to a line instead of showing it in
the exact character position. Why not simply put the anchor inline
with the text, like every other proofing character?

-TC
 
Thanks. I didn't know about displaying object anchors. That helps.

I know that feature is as good as I'm going to get from Word, but it
seems poorly designed. Since text boxes are clearly attached to
character positions, not lines, it is confusing and unbeneficially
imprecise to show the anchor next to a line instead of showing it in
the exact character position. Why not simply put the anchor inline
with the text, like every other proofing character?

-TC
Click to expand...

The text box is anchored to the upper left corner of the paragraph that shows
the anchor symbol, not to any specific character.
 
Hi TC;

<snip.
Since text boxes are clearly attached to
character positions, not lines
Click to expand...
<snip>

I don't understand where you're coming from here ‹ floating Text Boxes
clearly are *not* attached to character positions :-)

If you set their Layout attribute to In Line with Text rather than having
Text Wrapping imposed (floating) they are treated as a character in the
line... But that's the major distinction between floating graphic objects
and In Line graphic objects.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
Hi TC;

<snip.


<snip>

I don't understand where you're coming from here ‹ floating Text Boxes
clearly are *not* attached to character positions :-)

If you set their Layout attribute to In Line with Text rather than having
Text Wrapping imposed (floating) they are treated as a character in the
line... But that's the major distinction between floating graphic objects
and In Line graphic objects.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to start a debate about this, but it really looks to me
like floating text boxes are attached to character positions. If you
try to anchor a text box to, for instance, line 2 of a paragraph, then
insert some text into line 1, the anchor symbol will move down to line
3 as soon as the inserted text pushes the text box's attachment point
down to line 3. The text box clearly follows a character position, not
a paragraph or a line.

Jay Freedman says a text box can be anchored to the upper left corner
of the paragraph, which is not a character position. However, "the
upper left corner of the paragraph" sounds exactly like a character
position to me -- the position between the carriage return and the
first character of the paragraph.

I continue to believe that text boxes are attached to character
positions, and I assert that it would make more sense to show each
anchor symbol in its inline position instead of showing it alongside
the line containing that position.

-TC
 
By default, the vertical position of a text box is an absolute position
relative to (below) Paragraph (and the horizontal position is absolute right
of Column). You can change the vertical position to be absolute relative to
Line, but only by going to the Format | Text Box | Layout | Advanced dialog
(and the setting will still be relative to the top line of the paragraph).
Just dragging the text box will not move the anchor from the top line of the
paragraph, nor can you move the anchor except to another paragraph. Changing
the setting to Line does allow you to move the anchor to a different line
without moving the text box; to move the text box to that position, you have
to return to the Advanced Layout dialog and change the setting to 0".

You can also set the horizontal position relative to a specific character on
the line. The only "advantage" I can see to any of this for most text boxes
is that it makes the effect of dragging the anchor even more unpredictable
than before. If you want a very small text box to move with the text, your
best bet is to make it inline.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Hi TC;

<snip.


<snip>

I don't understand where you're coming from here ‹ floating Text Boxes
clearly are *not* attached to character positions :-)

If you set their Layout attribute to In Line with Text rather than having
Text Wrapping imposed (floating) they are treated as a character in the
line... But that's the major distinction between floating graphic objects
and In Line graphic objects.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to start a debate about this, but it really looks to me
like floating text boxes are attached to character positions. If you
try to anchor a text box to, for instance, line 2 of a paragraph, then
insert some text into line 1, the anchor symbol will move down to line
3 as soon as the inserted text pushes the text box's attachment point
down to line 3. The text box clearly follows a character position, not
a paragraph or a line.

Jay Freedman says a text box can be anchored to the upper left corner
of the paragraph, which is not a character position. However, "the
upper left corner of the paragraph" sounds exactly like a character
position to me -- the position between the carriage return and the
first character of the paragraph.

I continue to believe that text boxes are attached to character
positions, and I assert that it would make more sense to show each
anchor symbol in its inline position instead of showing it alongside
the line containing that position.

-TC
 
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