Arrow Pointers in MS Word: Drawing Tips

Have you ever needed to add directions (like a map) on top of a graphic in MS Word? There are a couple of ways to achieve this, but one method in particular can produce a clean and uninterrupted line.

To do so:

1. Launch MS Word.
    
2. Display the Drawing toolbar (hint: click View -> Toolbars -> Drawing).
    
3. Choose either the 'Line' or 'Arrow' tool, and then draw the first segment of the line with your mouse.
    
4. For the next step: rather than using multiple line objects to draw the rest of your path, simply expand this first line by right-clicking on the line and choosing 'Edit Points'.
    
5. Now when you put the mouse over the line object, the cursor will change to a crosshair with a circle in the middle. Click on the line and drag in any direction to bend the line in a new angle.

That's it!

If you want to add a new segment to the existing line, right-click on the line and choose 'Add Point'. When you do, Word will add a new bending point to the line object. You can then click and drag on that point (as discussed above) to create yet another segment -- and you're guaranteed that all of the individual segments will be connected in an uninterrupted fashion.

Visit Carol's web site to learn more tips like this one!