Microsoft Office Word 2003 Inside Out (Bpg-Inside Out)

If your Word documents leave you with that nagging "it's just missing something" feeling, you might want to add some graphical text. Graphical text works especially well in intentionally eye-catching types of documents, such as brochures, flyers, newsletters, Web pages, and advertisements. If you decide to add graphical text, you're in luck—the WordArt feature helps you create and customize graphical text quickly and easily.

Used creatively (and sparingly), WordArt can add a splash of color, a bit of dimension, a touch of originality, and a professional polish to your documents. The sample document in Figure 12-32 illustrates how a couple of default WordArt styles can be combined to create a Web page logo. These default WordArt styles and colors are certainly adequate, but if creating a unique look is a concern, you should seriously consider customizing WordArt objects whenever you use them—otherwise, people might recognize that you're using a standard WordArt style. If you master the WordArt features described in this chapter, you'll be able to create highly customized graphical text for your documents.

Figure 12-32: Two WordArt styles combined to create a simple fictitious Web page logo.

At the most basic level, including a WordArt object in your document entails selecting a WordArt style and entering the WordArt object's display text. To accomplish these two tasks, you'll use the WordArt Gallery, shown in Figure 12-33, and the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, shown in Figure 12-34.

Figure 12-33: The WordArt Gallery offers 30 base styles that you can use as a foundation when you create a WordArt object.

Figure 12-34: You can enter custom text for a WordArt object in the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, as well as configure font, size, boldface, and italic formatting settings.

Adding WordArt Using the WordArt Gallery

To create a WordArt object, follow these steps:

1. Click in your document where you want to insert the WordArt object.

2. Ensure that you're working in either Print Layout, Web Layout, or Reading view, and then choose Insert, Picture, WordArt, or display the Drawing toolbar (by clicking Drawing on the Standard toolbar) and click Insert WordArt.

3. In the WordArt Gallery, select a WordArt style, and click OK (or simply double-click the WordArt style of your choice). The Edit WordArt Text dialog box appears.

4. Type the WordArt object's display text in the Text box, and configure the Font, Size, Bold, and Italic text attributes. (You can easily reconfigure these settings later, so don't worry about getting them right the first time.)

5. After you configure the WordArt object's text, click OK. The WordArt object appears in your document.

   Tip

   If you want to convert existing text into a WordArt object, select the text before you choose Insert, Picture, WordArt. The selected text will appear automatically in the Text box in the Edit WordArt Text dialog box.

After you insert a WordArt object, you'll most likely want to customize the object to suit your purposes. You can customize WordArt objects in a number of ways. For example, you can adjust a WordArt object's content and style, change the object's shape, combine WordArt objects, control text alignment, and so forth. To help you make changes to your WordArt objects, Word provides the WordArt toolbar, shown in Figure 12-35.

Figure 12-35: The WordArt toolbar contains most of the tools you need to fully customize WordArt objects.

The next few sections of this chapter describe the ways you can alter WordArt characteristics to morph standard WordArt objects into custom graphical text elements. As you'll discover, customizing WordArt is a breeze.

Modifying WordArt Properties

After you create a standard WordArt object, you might decide that you want to change your basic font selection, apply a different WordArt base style, or edit the text. To do this, you'll have to return to the WordArt Gallery or the Edit WordArt Text dialog box. Backtracking is easy, and can be done as follows:

• To apply a different WordArt base style to an existing WordArt object, click the WordArt object you want to modify, click WordArt Gallery on the WordArt toolbar, and double-click a style in the WordArt Gallery.

• To edit text in an existing WordArt object, double-click the WordArt object, or click the WordArt object (which selects the WordArt object and opens the WordArt toolbar by default) and click the Edit Text button on the WordArt toolbar. In the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, make changes, including adjusting text and formatting, and click OK.

When you apply a different style using the WordArt Gallery or edit WordArt text in the Edit WordArt Text dialog box and click OK, the changes are instantly reflected in your document.

Troubleshooting: Formatting applies to the entire WordArt object, but I want to format only part of the object

Conveniently enough, Word provides numerous formatting options when it comes to customizing WordArt objects, but one drawback sticks out like a sore thumb—WordArt formatting options almost always apply to the entire WordArt object. If you want to format various parts of a WordArt object differently, you have to get a little creative. Specifically, you have to create separate pieces of WordArt, format the pieces as individual objects, and then group the objects together. You can accomplish this in two ways: by using the grouping option, or by using the drawing canvas.

Positioning WordArt Objects in Documents

After you create a WordArt object, you'll want to specify how and where the object will appear in your document. By default, a WordArt object is inserted as an inline object. This means that the object is inserted at the insertion point and embedded within a regular line of text, as shown in Figure 12-36. You can drag inline WordArt objects from line to line and from paragraph to paragraph. You can also resize inline WordArt objects just as you resize other objects (by dragging the object's sizing handles or configuring the object's Size properties). But if you want to wrap text around a WordArt object, rotate the object, angle the object's text, position the object behind or in front of document text, or drag the object around a page that doesn't contain text, you'll need to change the format settings for the WordArt object.

Figure 12-36: By default, a WordArt object is formatted as an inline object. You can change an object to a floating object by changing the object's text wrapping setting.

To change a WordArt object's text wrapping setting, follow these steps:

1. Click the WordArt object, and click Text Wrapping on the WordArt toolbar.

2. From the Text Wrapping menu, choose a text wrapping setting.

The Text Wrapping menu, shown in Figure 12-37, provides the following standard text wrapping styles: In Line With Text (the default setting), Square, Tight, Behind Text, In Front Of Text, Top And Bottom, Through, and Edit Wrap Points.

Figure 12-37: You can control how WordArt appears relative to document text by configuring the text wrapping setting.

After you specify how you'd like a WordArt object to be positioned within text, you can move the object by dragging it around your page in Web Layout, Print Layout, or Reading view. In addition, you can specify exact object placement settings by configuring the Layout tab in the Format WordArt dialog box.

To access advanced layout properties for a selected WordArt object, you need to display the Advanced Layout dialog box. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the WordArt object, and click Format WordArt on the WordArt toolbar (or right-click the WordArt object, and choose Format WordArt from the shortcut menu) to display the Format WordArt dialog box.

2. In the Format WordArt dialog box, click the Layout tab. The Layout tab provides basic text wrapping and text alignment settings.

3. In the Layout tab, click the Advanced button. The Advanced Layout dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 12-38. Notice that the Advanced Layout dialog box contains two tabs: Picture Position and Text Wrapping.

   Figure 12-38: The Advanced Layout dialog box enables you to precisely configure a WordArt object's position, alignment, and text wrapping settings.

4. Configure your settings in the Picture Position and Text Wrapping tabs, click OK to close the Advanced Layout dialog box, and then click OK in the Format WordArt dialog box to apply the settings.

   Cross-Reference

   For more information about setting Advanced Layout options, see Chapter 11, "Adding Visual Impact with Pictures and Objects."

If you're attempting to apply advanced layout settings to a WordArt object but find that the Picture Position options are unavailable, change the Wrapping Style setting in the Text Wrapping tab to something other than In Line With Text. The Picture Position tab also contains a Move Object With Text check box. If you want to position a WordArt object on a particular page regardless of text flow, be sure to clear this check box.

Changing the Shape of WordArt

After you insert and position a WordArt object, you'll probably want to resize and reshape the object to suit your purposes. You can resize and reshape WordArt using three key tools: handles, WordArt shapes, and the Format WordArt dialog box.

Putting Handles to Work

As with other objects and graphics, you can display handles on WordArt objects and use the handles to modify the size and appearance of the objects. Both inline and floating WordArt objects provide sizing handles, which you can drag to resize the object.

To display a WordArt object's handles, simply click the object. Inline WordArt objects display standard black square sizing handles that you can drag to resize the object horizontally, vertically, and diagonally (which resizes the height and width proportionally). WordArt objects that aren't formatted as inline objects display a more colorful set of handles. Namely, a non-inline object provides clear circle-shaped handles for resizing, a green circle-shaped handle for rotating, and a yellow diamond-shaped handle for angling text. Figure 12-39 shows a WordArt object and its handles. To use a handle, simply drag the handle to the desired position.

Figure 12-39: Handles enable you to resize, rotate, and angle WordArt text. The handles shown in this image appear when an image is a floating object. Inline objects only provide sizing handles.

Applying WordArt Shapes

In addition to resizing, rotating, and angling WordArt text, you can distort a WordArt object's shape. To do so, select the WordArt object, click the WordArt Shape button on the WordArt toolbar, and choose one of the 40 shapes available in the WordArt Shape menu, shown in Figure 12-40.

Figure 12-40: To get a feel for WordArt shapes, experiment with the WordArt Shape menu by applying various shapes to selected WordArt objects.

Sizing, Rotating, and Scaling WordArt with Precision

As you've seen, you can use handles to resize, rotate, and adjust WordArt objects until they look just right, but you can also perform these actions by specifying precise measurements. Using precise measurements to define your WordArt objects is an effective method when you want to create a uniform appearance across documents or among similar components within the same document. To control WordArt size and rotation settings precisely, you configure the settings in the Size tab in the Format WordArt dialog box, shown in Figure 12-41. To access the Size tab, right-click a WordArt object, choose Format WordArt from the shortcut menu (or double-click the WordArt object), and click the Size tab. You can set sizing options for WordArt objects just as you set sizing options for other graphics or objects. After you configure Size And Rotate and Scale options, click OK to apply the settings.

Figure 12-41: The Size tab enables you to precisely configure the size, rotation, and scale settings for WordArt objects. Notice that the Size tab includes a Lock Aspect Ratio check box, which allows you to resize the height and width of a WordArt object proportionally based on a percentage of its current size.

Modifying WordArt Colors and Line Properties

Whenever you use WordArt, you should modify the default style to present custom graphical text. Because so many people use Word, applying a default WordArt style without adding your own flair can result in others recognizing your use of WordArt. This recognition isn't necessarily a negative factor, but you'd probably prefer people to admire your graphical text, read the content, and move on, without pondering the sources of your design. Originality has its benefits. You can easily customize a WordArt object by changing the object's colors, texture, and line properties.

Changing a WordArt object's color scheme is as simple as selecting the WordArt object, clicking Format WordArt on the WordArt toolbar, and configuring the Colors And Lines tab in the Format WordArt dialog box. Figure 12-42 shows the Colors And Lines tab with the Color menu open. The Color setting in the Line section comes into play when you use a WordArt style that incorporates an outline around the graphical text.

Figure 12-42: You can modify WordArt colors and line settings by configuring the Colors And Lines tab in the Format WordArt dialog box.

The Color menu includes the standard color palette as well as options that allow you to access additional colors and fill effects. If you select the Fill Effects option, the Fill Effects dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 12-43. You can use this dialog box to configure shading colors and gradients, textures, patterns, and pictures used to fill the WordArt object.

Figure 12-43: If a default WordArt style uses gradients, multiple colors, textures, or patterns, you can change the default settings using the Fill Effects dialog box.

Some WordArt objects use a two-color (or more) gradient and shading scheme. If you apply a single color to this kind of WordArt object, the objects will look a bit flat because of the change to a one-dimensional coloring scheme. If you want to change the color of a two-tone WordArt object, you have to modify the object's colors in the Gradient tab in the Fill Effects dialog box. You can also select a preset gradient color scheme by choosing the Preset option in the Gradient tab.

If you want to change the texture used in a default WordArt style, click the Texture tab in the Fill Effects dialog box. You can choose from a number of additional textures as well as navigate to any textures or graphics stored on your system.

Formatting WordArt as Vertical Text

At times, you might want to display WordArt vertically instead of horizontally. You can create a vertical WordArt object by choosing one of the five vertical WordArt styles in the WordArt Gallery, or you can select an existing WordArt object and click WordArt Vertical Text on the WordArt toolbar.

You can also create columns of WordArt text by pressing Enter after each word you type in the Edit WordArt Text dialog box. Then, after the WordArt appears in your document, click WordArt Vertical Text. Your WordArt text will look something like the example in Figure 12-44.

Figure 12-44: You can convert horizontal WordArt to vertical text by using the WordArt Vertical Text button on the WordArt toolbar.

Aligning and Justifying WordArt Text

If your WordArt object includes multiple words on more than one line, you can control how the WordArt text is aligned. Aligning WordArt text is similar to aligning standard paragraph text. To view the available WordArt alignment options, select the WordArt object, and click WordArt Alignment on the WordArt toolbar, as shown in Figure 12-45.

Figure 12-45: You can align WordArt text within the object's frame by choosing alignment options from the WordArt Alignment menu.

The WordArt Alignment menu provides the following alignment commands:

• Left Align Aligns the text along the left edge of the WordArt frame.

• Center Centers the text within the frame.

• Right Align Aligns the text along the right edge of the frame.

• Word Justify Justifies the text within the frame by adding space between words.

• Letter Justify Justifies the text within the frame by adding space between letters and increasing existing spaces between words. Single-word lines are treated the same as they would be using the Word Justify option.

• Stretch Justify Justifies the text within the frame by stretching the letters and the spaces between words.

  Tip

  Align vertical columns  You can use the alignment options to align vertical columns of WordArt text as well. To top-align vertical columns of text, choose the Left Align option on the WordArt Alignment menu; to bottom-align vertical columns of text, choose the Right-Align option.

Using the WordArt Same Letter Heights Option

Another effect you can apply to WordArt is to display lowercase letters the same height as uppercase letters. You might want to use this option to create a somewhat avant-garde artistic effect in a flyer or newsletter. To apply this formatting option, select the WordArt object, and click the WordArt Same Letter Heights button on the WordArt toolbar. Like other WordArt formatting options, you can't selectively apply this format setting within a WordArt object—it's an all-or-nothing proposition unless you use a workaround, such as grouping WordArt objects or arranging objects on the drawing canvas.

Adjusting WordArt Character Spacing and Kerning

Before word-processing applications came along, most people left concepts like character spacing and kerning to professional typesetters. But now everyone who uses a word-processing application is a bit of a typesetter. Thus, character spacing and kerning issues have made it to the fringe of mainstream document creation. If you've been ignoring character spacing and kerning options, here are a couple of quick definitions to get you going:

• Character spacing Refers to the space between characters. You can expand or condense space evenly between all WordArt characters.

• Kerning Refers to adjusting spacing between pairs of characters to create the appearance of even spacing. For example, you might want to tighten the space between letter pairs such as YO and WA.

To adjust character spacing and kerning in WordArt objects, you can click WordArt Character Spacing on the WordArt toolbar, as shown in Figure 12-46. The WordArt Character Spacing menu lets you specify whether you want to set character spacing as Very Tight, Tight, Normal, Loose, Very Loose, or Custom. In addition, you can turn the Kern Character Pairs option on or off.

Figure 12-46: The WordArt Character Spacing menu provides options for expanding or condensing WordArt text.

Using WordArt in Online Documents

Web page creation has introduced an entire new genre of word processing, and Word offers a number of features for Web design. Among the plethora of Word features, WordArt is a natural for creating Web page components. In fact, WordArt can be customized using a couple of options specific to the Web. In particular, you can add alternative text (usually referred to as ALT text by Web designers) to WordArt, and you can format WordArt objects as hyperlinks. The next two sections describe these two basic Web formatting options.

Adding ALT Text to WordArt

ALT text is text that appears on Web pages in place of graphics if a user has graphics capabilities turned off or if the user is using a text-only browser. ALT text also appears while graphics are loading (to give users a hint about the graphic before it loads) and when users hover the pointer over a graphic. Basically, ALT text helps users identify the purpose of a Web page graphic. To add ALT text to a WordArt object, follow these steps:

1. Select the WordArt object, and click Format WordArt on the WordArt toolbar, or right-click the WordArt object, and choose Format WordArt from the shortcut menu.

2. In the Format WordArt dialog box, click the Web tab. By default, the WordArt text appears as the ALT text, as shown in Figure 12-47.

   Figure 12-47: The Web tab in the Format WordArt dialog box is used to set the ALT text that appears for a WordArt object.

3. To change the ALT text (by default, the ALT text is the same as the WordArt text), select the existing ALT text, type the text you want to associate with your WordArt object, and then click OK.

When your WordArt appears as part of a Web page, the ALT text will appear in place of your graphic as the graphic downloads and whenever users opt to hide graphics or use a text-only browser.

Creating WordArt Hyperlinks

Another way you can configure a WordArt object for the Web is to format the object as a hyperlink. Often, graphics (and remember, graphical text is fundamentally the same as a graphic) also serve as Web page hyperlinks. When you use WordArt on a Web page, you're basically inserting a graphic in your page. You might want to convert your WordArt object to a hyperlink for a number of reasons. For example, you might want to use a WordArt object as a button that links to a subordinate page, or you might want to use WordArt to create a linked logo image that users can click to return to your home page.

To configure WordArt as a hyperlink, you use the same procedure you use to add a hyperlink to other graphics or objects. To link a WordArt object, follow these steps:

1. Select the WordArt object, and click Insert Hyperlink on the Standard toolbar, or right-click a WordArt object, and choose Hyperlink from the shortcut menu. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 12-48.

   Figure 12-48: The Insert Hyperlink dialog box enables you to format a WordArt object as a hyperlink.

2. In the Link To list, specify the type of link you want to create. You can link to an existing file, another place in the current document, a new file, or an e-mail address. Then insert the link's address by navigating to a file or typing it in the Address box.

Using linked WordArt, you can easily add clickable banners, logos, buttons, and icons to your online documents.