unpredictable positioning of graphics

[revyakin]

Word XP.
I often write 20-25 page proposals with graphics (averages sizes of 3x3
in) inserted using the "square" layout. The graphics are gif/JPEGs
generated at ~144 dpi (much larger than 3x3 in when at 72 dpi) which I
then manually shrink down to the desired 3x3 in size and align
manually. I usually have to spend 1 whole day just aligning the
inserted graphics. If I could solve the 4 following issues it would
speed up my work dramatically. The first two are the most important.

1. when I position a graphic in the middle of the text height-wise, it
spontanesusly snaps to the very top of the document (going even beyond
the header), and I can't get it from there w/o positinng the grahics
into the lower half of the doc. As a result, most of my graphics end up
being the lower half of the document, to avoid this unpredictable
snapping.

2. I often need to update a graphics when I made some changes to the
original .gif. How do I update the file w/o having to manually
re-align/re-size the graphic all over again (and deal with the above
snapping).

3. how do I leep a graphic in place when the text shifts around?

4. I use an additional floarting text box for a figure's legend. It
addes 2 as much variabilty to align. how do I make the legend
permanently linked with the figure?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Cindy M.]

Word XP.

I often write 20-25 page proposals with graphics (averages sizes of 3x3
in) inserted using the "square" layout. The graphics are gif/JPEGs
generated at ~144 dpi (much larger than 3x3 in when at 72 dpi) which I
then manually shrink down to the desired 3x3 in size and align
manually. I usually have to spend 1 whole day just aligning the
inserted graphics. If I could solve the 4 following issues it would
speed up my work dramatically. The first two are the most important.

Well, best is to not use graphics with text wrapping. Insert them into a
Frame (from the Forms toolbar) or a table cell and wrap that. Updating
the links of graphics in-line with the text won't affect the positioning
of either of these "containers". This is especially useful when you also
need captions or legends: insert the additional text right into the frame
or table (cell) with the graphic.

Next best is to go over the Format/Layout/Advanced tab and set all the
formatting options in the Position dialog box. Check the vertical and
horizontal settings very carefully to be sure you're setting the relative
to the correct part of the document. It sounds like the vertical
placement should be relative to a paragraph, but the horizontal relative
to the margins.

Also, check where the various graphics are anchored, relative to each
other. Graphics anchored in the same paragraph can conflict (although
they won't necessarily do so).

For (4) you should be able to group a graphic with the textbox containing
the legend or caption.

1. when I position a graphic in the middle of the text height-wise, it
spontanesusly snaps to the very top of the document (going even beyond
the header), and I can't get it from there w/o positinng the grahics
into the lower half of the doc. As a result, most of my graphics end up
being the lower half of the document, to avoid this unpredictable
snapping.

2. I often need to update a graphics when I made some changes to the
original .gif. How do I update the file w/o having to manually
re-align/re-size the graphic all over again (and deal with the above
snapping).

3. how do I leep a graphic in place when the text shifts around?

4. I use an additional floarting text box for a figure's legend. It
addes 2 as much variabilty to align. how do I make the legend
permanently linked with the figure?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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[revyakin]

Thank you, Cindy! I am looking into the frames right now.

 

[revyakin]

Cindy, I implemented tables to position my graphics, and they worked
nicely. I greatly appreciate your help.