Project 2: AutoTools
Text Boxes

Step-by-Step: Text Boxes

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What you will learn:

to create a text box to change the shape of a text box to edit a text box to group a text box with an image

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Start with: , letter-AAA3.doc

The AAA Sales logo looks a bit lonely. It needs an address to keep it company. You will take the address that is at the bottom of the letter and put it into a text box underneath the AAA Sales logo.

Create Text Box

1. On the Drawing toolbar click on the Text Box button. Your pointer changes to the Precision Select shape. 
    
2. Drag to create a text box around the WordArt logo that is large enough to hold the logo and the address below it.

   Your logo vanishes!! Not to worry. It is hidden by the opaque text box. You will fix this shortly.
   

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Add Text

1. Select the address lines at the bottom of the page and cut them.
   
2. Paste the text you cut into the text box you created.
    
   
3. Click in front of the first line of the address and press the ENTER key repeatedly to move the address down to the bottom of the text box.
    

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Change Stacking Order

You need to put the text box behind the WordArt logo. You must change the order of these drawing objects.

1. If necessary, select the text box. (Its borders can be wide diagonal lines or dots.)
    
2. If necessary, open the Drawing toolbar by clicking the button.
    
3. On the Drawing toolbar, select  Draw  |  Order  |  Send to Back . This moves the text box to the bottom of the stack of objects underneath it. In this case the AAA logo is the only object.
   

   If you positioned your text box correctly, you can now see both the address and the logo.
    

4. Make adjustments if the address and logo don't seem in quite the right positions. Drag the logo or the text box until you are satisfied. Be sure the pointer has changed to the Move shape or you will be resizing instead of moving!
   
   If the text box is not large enough, click on its border to get handles and resize the box.
   
   To move WordArt, you must move the pointer over one of the letters.
   To move a text box, the pointer must be over its border.

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Format Text Box

1. Click in the text box, but not on the logo, to select the text box.
    
2. On the Drawing bar, select  Draw  |  Change AutoShape  |  Basic Shapes  and choose the rounded rectangle shape.
    
   
3. On the Drawing bar, change:
        line color to Dark Blue 
       text color to Dark Blue 
          line style to 4½ single solid line

   Part of the address is now hidden because of the wider line and the rounded shape around the text box. You can fix this by deleting one or more of those blank lines you put in above the address. Its a tiny bit trickier than it looks at first. Your mouse cannot get to the lines underneath the logo so that you can delete one or two. You could change the stacking order, but then you couldn't see where the logo was to know when things were lining up right. There is an easier way to get underneath object.
    

4. If necessary, show marks by clicking the Show/Hide Marks button.   
    

5. Click in the first line of the address. Use the up arrow to move the cursor up to a line underneath the AAA Sales logo.  
    

6. Press the DELETE key to remove the paragraph. Repeat if necessary to move the full address into view.   
    

7. Adjust the placement or size of text box if needed.

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Group Objects

As a safety precaution, it is wise to group objects that should stay to together. That way you won't accidentally mess up the arrangement you worked so hard to get just right.

1. Select both the logo by clicking on one of its letters.
   
   Handles appear around the logo. 
    
2. Hold down the SHIFT key and click on the border of the text box. Both the logo and the text box are now selected. Handles show for both objects.
   
   
3. From the Drawing bar, select  Draw  |  Group 

   This merges the two objects. Now they are treated as one object and can be moved together without changing their relationship to each other.
   
   Handles appear only for the combined object. The heavy selection border for the text box does not appear for the new group.
   
   Later you can ungroup a group with  Draw  |  Ungroup . If you have ungrouped, you can get your group back without having to click on each object again. (A great idea!) Use  Draw  |  Regroup  .

   
   
4. Save as  letter-AAA4.doc  in the  word project2  folder of your Class disk.
   How to handle a full disk

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Header vs. Drawing object

1. Add a header (Double-click in the header! This only works after a header has been created, but the Letter Wizard did that for you unless you erased it.)
    
2. Type your name, 2 spaces, the date, tab twice, and  Word Project 2 .

   
   

   Notice that the AAA logo is very close to or is overlapping the header area and blocks the text you typed on the right.
    

3. Enlarge the margin by dragging the boundary between the white and gray parts of the vertical ruler down just a little. The letter text and the logo move down as you enlarge the margin. Keep dragging until the header text is entirely visible.
   

   
   

4. Close the Header/Footer bar.

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Preview & Print

The whole signature block will move to a second page together if there is not room for it.

1. View your letter in Print Preview. It should be one page long.

   Letter is longer than one page:
   Delete any blank lines at the end of the letter.  If necessary, make changes to the margin widths in Page Setup to fit the letter onto one page. Perhaps you got the top margin TOO tall.
    

2. Save. [ letter-AAA4.doc]
   How to handle a full disk
    
3. If all is correct, print.
    
4. When your printout is done and you have verified that it is correct, close the document window.

Congratulations on using a wizard and making a logo!