Learning Microsoft Word 2007

By Greg Bowden

Chapter 10

Drawing Tools

Guided Computer Tutorials

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© Greg Bowden

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 Chapter

10
Drawing Tools
Microsoft Word has DRAWING TOOLS that allow you to add lines, shapes, shadings, etc.
to documents. You can use these tools to assist in the creation of detailed publications,
newsletters, company logos, etc.

Drawing a Rectangle
The DRAWING TOOLS are contained in the ILLUSTRATIONS group of the INSERT tab of the
RIBBON. Let’s start by drawing a rectangle.
1 Load Microsoft Word or close the current file and start a new BLANK DOCUMENT.

2 Open the INSERT tab of the RIBBON,

click on the SHAPES icon and select
the RECTANGLE shape from BASIC
SHAPES section.

3 Drag a rectangle near the top

left of the screen and the RIBBON
changes to show the drawing tool
commands.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

Resizing Shapes
Notice that the rectangle has ‘handles’ (small solid bars) around it. These allow the
rectangle to be resized. The blue ‘handles’ at the corners allow for diagonal resizing. The
blue ‘handles’ at the centre of the lines allow for either vertical or horizontal resizing.
The green ‘handle’ allows you to rotate the shape.

Move the pointer over the bottom right

corner ‘handle’ until the pointer changes
to a diagonal line with arrows at each end
then drag the corner ‘handle’ towards the
centre of the rectangle to reduce its size.

Drawing Other Shapes

You can select other shapes from the INSERT SHAPES group of the DRAWING TOOLS
- FORMAT tab of the RIBBON or return to the INSERT tab of the RIBBON and use the
SHAPES icon.
1 Draw some ovals, lines and Arrowed Lines
by choosing the OVAL tool, the LINE tool
then the ARROW tool in turn from the
from the INSERT SHAPES group.

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 Drawing Tools 10

2 Hold down the SHIFT key as you

draw an oval then a triangle. Only
perfect circles or perfect triangles
will be possible.

NOTE: i The SHIFT key causes all sides of an object to be the same
size.
ii All objects created using the DRAWING TOOLS can be
resized using their ‘handles’.

Objects
Each shape drawn in Microsoft Word is said to be an OBJECT or separate entity. You
select an OBJECT by placing the pointer over the OBJECT and clicking the mouse
button. ‘Handles’ around the OBJECT tell you that it has been selected. The OBJECT can
then be deleted, resized, copied or moved. (You’ve just seen how to resize.)

A Deleting Objects
1 You should have a number of OBJECTS on the screen at the moment.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

2 Click the mouse button with the

pointer over an OBJECT to receive its
‘handles’.

NOTE: If an object is filled you can click on the centre of the object
to select it. If the object is not filled you need to click on the
border of the object away from a ‘handle’.

3 Press the BACKSPACE key and the OBJECT will be removed.

4 Click on the arrow next to the UNDO

<step> icon in the QUICK ACCESS
TOOLBAR.

5 A list of the steps you have done is

provided with the last one listed first
down to the first object you drew.
Select CLEAR to remove that step
and return t he object to the screen.

NOTE: i If you select more steps from the UNDO icon, more steps will
be removed. Pressing CTRL+Z will also undo previous steps.
ii The CUT icon from the EDIT group of the HOME tab can also
be used to delete OBJECTS.

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 Drawing Tools 10
B Copying Objects
1 Delete all the objects apart from the RECTANGLE then click on the RECTANGLE to
display its ‘handles’.

2 Click on the COPY icon in the HOME

tab of the RIBBON to copy the
rectangle or press CTRL+C.

3 Click on the PASTE icon in the

CLIPBOARD group of the HOME tab
(or press CTRL+V) and a copy of the
rectangle should be placed on the
screen.

NOTE: i You can also hold down the CTRL key and drag a copy.
ii CUT works the same way as COPY except that the original
OBJECT is removed from the screen.
iii An OBJECT can be PASTED as many times as required.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

C Moving Objects

Move the pointer over the rectangle

(not near a ‘handle’) until cross-hair
lines are added to the pointer. The
object then be moved. Position the
pasted rectangle just below and to the
right of the first.

NOTE: i When the pointer has a cross-hair with arrows next to it, it
indicates that the object can be moved in any direction.
ii When moving objects the pointer must not be positioned
over a ‘handle’.
iii The ARROW keys can be used to nudge objects over small
distances.

D Filling Objects
An OBJECT can be filled using the SHAPE FILL icon.

1 Open the FORMAT tab of the

RIBBON, click on the SHAPE FILL icon
and select a colour other than white
to fill the rectangle.

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 Drawing Tools 10
2 A shadowed box can be created by simply sending the coloured rectangle behind
the first white rectangle.

3 Click on the SEND TO BACK icon in

the FORMAT tab to send the pasted
rectangle behind the first rectangle.

4 Click on the first rectangle and

ensure that its SHAPE FILL is set to
WHITE.

5 Try changing the SHAPE FILL of

the rectangle at the back to a
different colour by ensuring that the
rectangle has its ‘handles’ displayed
and selecting another colour from
the SHAPE FILL icon.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

E Removing Fill Colours

An object does not have to have a SHAPE FILL. It can be made transparent (clear).

1 Click the pointer over the white

rectangle and you should have
‘handles’ around that rectangle and
select the SHAPE FILL icon.

2 Select NO FILL to make the

rectangle transparent.

3 Set the front rectangle to a light

FILL COLOUR.

Shape Outlines

A Line Colour
A line’s colour can easily be changed using the LINE COLOUR palette.
1 At the moment your rectangles have borders the colour of the last user (it is
probably black at the moment). Sometimes it is preferable to have the border (or
outline) the same colour as the inside of the shape.

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 Drawing Tools 10

2 Select the front rectangle and click

on the SHAPE OUTLINE icon in the
FORMAT tab of the RIBBON.

3 Select the same colour at the back

rectangle.

B Line Weight
The thickness of the border (or outline) can be adjusted using the WEIGHT section out
the SHAPE OUTLINE icon.
1 The light shaded rectangle should still be selected.

2 Click on the SHAPE OUTLINE icon

in the RIBBON, highlight WEIGHT
and select 3 pt to make the outline
thicker.

3 Experiment with other LINE weights.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

C Dash Styles
The style of a line can be changed to a variety of dotted or dashed lines.

1 Click on the SHAPE OUTLINE icon in

the RIBBON, highlight DASHES and
select a dash style.

2 Experiment with other dash styles.

Changing Shapes
You can change a shape into another.
1 The top rectangle should be selected.

2 Click on the CHANGE SHAPE icon

in the RIBBON and select a shape to
replace the top rectangle.

3 Experiment with changing the shape to other shapes.

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 Drawing Tools 10

Shape Styles
There are pre-prepared styles that can be applied to shapes.

1 Delete the top shape so that just the rectangle is on the screen and select it.

2 Click on the scroll arrow next to

the SHAPE STYLES in the RIBBON to
scroll through the styles and select
one to format the rectangle.

3 Experiment with other shape styles then delete the rectangle.

Shadow Effects
You can add a variety of shadow effects to shapes.

1 In the INSERT tab of the RIBBON

click on the SHAPES icon and select
the PLAGUE shape in the BASIC
SHAPES section.

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