Some Word help?

by 5 replies
7
I have this Word problem, maybe you can help me out:

I want to indent a paragraph, and in the empty space that now is created, I want to insert some icons. For Dummies readers know what I'm talking about: these books have these tip, remember and warning icons on the left, next to the corresponding paragraph.

Does anyone have any idea how to do this? :confused:

I would Google it, but I don't even know what to search for ... :rolleyes:

#off topic forum
  • One way to do it is to create a table or individual tables. In Word first create a long rectangular table that spans the width of the page. Then with the draw (or whatever they call it) tool strike a vertical line over on the left hand side that creates a small, square box about the size of your image. Now you have a space for your icon on the left and a long rectangular space on the right for text. The table outlines are invisible if you set them to be.

    When I need to do stuff like this I create it in FrontPage because I'm far more familiar with it than Word. Then I copy it into Word. You should be able to find some simple tutorials on Youtube. It's not really that hard.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Thank you so much! I managed to make it work.

      If I only knew what to search for ... This English language of yours can really be a pain in the rear end sometimes. :p

      Edit:

      Dennis, I tried your second suggestion before and I have a hard time formatting and aligning the text. Whenever I change something, the whole thing is ruined. But I use the table solution, and it works perfectly. Thanks.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • I'm no expert on Word, but I know of a couple ways to do what you want. The easiest is probably to make a table. Put the icon in the first cell and adjust the cell width to the icon, then put your text in the second cell. Hit the tab key after that and it will create a new row where you can put another icon in the first cell and more text in the second.

    You can set the table border to "none" so the table doesn't show. Just right-click the table and choose Borders and Shading - I think that's the wording, don't have Word opened to check. You might want to wait until you finish your table before hiding the border. Some folks find it easier to work with tables when they can see theme.

    The other way is to insert your icon, then right-click it, point to Wrap Text from the pop-up menu, and click More Layout Options from the bottom of the list. From there I always select the "Tight" option, and set a margin on the side where the text is going to be so the text doesn't butt right up against the graphic.

    Then I click the Position tab and make sure "Layout in table cell" is not checked. That will allow your text to wrap around the icon like the "float" property does with CSS.

    The main difference in using these two methods is that with the first one, using a table, the text will stay on a straight vertical plane on the left side even after it has cleared the icon. With the second method the text will wrap under the icon once it gets past it.

    Note that these instructions are for Word 2010. If you have a different version, where you find stuff may be different, the procedure may even be different, but should be similar. If you poke around knowing this much you can probably find what you're looking for now if you have a different version.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed

  • 7

    Some Word help?

    I have this Word problem, maybe you can help me out: I want to indent a paragraph, and in the empty space that now is created, I want to insert some icons. For Dummies readers know what I'm talking about: these books have these tip, remember and warning icons on the left, next to the corresponding paragraph.