Align, Stack and Group Object: MS Word

When you have created several drawing objects that together make up the diagram or art for your document using MS Word, you may want to align them precisely, arrange them in various layers on top of one another, or group them to be a single unit. The choices via the Draw menu of the Drawing toolbar make this very easy for you.

To align several objects, select them, choose Draw | Align or Distribute, and specify an alignment. You align them relative to each other or relative to the page, depending on whether Relative to Page is checked at the bottom of the menu.

Objects that overlap each other are stacked in several layers. To change the stack order, first click to select just one of the objects. Choose Draw | Order and specify one of the options:

• Bring to Front
   
• Send to Back
   
• Bring Forward
   
• Send Backward
   
• Bring in Front of Text
   
• Send Behind Text

After objects are grouped, they no longer have individual sizing handles, but a single set. This means that you can size, position and modify them all at the same time.

If you would like to make changes to clip art and the clip are you select is a Windows Metafile (WMF), you can convert it to a drawing object so you can modify its color, line style, shadow, rotation, etc. To convert it, select the picture and choose Draw | Ungroup, using the menu on the Drawing toolbar.

(c) Carol Bratt, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Duplication is forbidden without express consent of author. Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!