Easily Positioning Pictures in a Word 2007 Document

Inserting a picture into your Word 2007 document can cause aggravation for some users. After inserting the image, the user begins typing in text and suddenly the picture is bouncing all over the page, refusing to stay put. For those users who can't seem to position their images, without the pictures moving around erratically, there really is a quick fix.

After you insert your picture in a Word 2007 document, click on the image. Little handles should appear around the image, which will let you know you have selected the picture correctly. Once the picture is selected, a tab entitled PICTURE TOOLS will appear above your Word 2007 control ribbon. If the picture is deselected, the PICTURE TOOLS tab will vanish.

Once you select the image by clicking it, click the PICTURE TOOLS tab above the ribbon, and a new menu will appear in the ribbon. You will see several sections; Adjust, Picture Styles, Arrange and Size. Under Arrange you will see a little icon that looks like a lined box with a dog in the center, called TEXT WRAPPING. Click on the TEXT WRAPPING icon.

It is in Text Wrapping that you will tell the picture how to behave. This is the setting that will end your aggravation, and stop your picture from hopping around the page. If it is set INLINE WITH TEXT, the picture will move with your cursor as you type.

If you make the Text Wrapping setting to be SQUARE, your type will move around your image. If you were creating a newsletter and wanted to include a photograph, with the text wrapping around the image, this would be the setting to choose.

You can also set the image to be in front, or behind the text. Setting the image to fall behind the text is a good choice if you want to include a headline or other text copy over the image.

Should you want your pictures to always be inserted with the same Text Wrapping setting, you can make that setting by changing your Word Options. To do this, click on the round OFFICE BUTTON icon at the upper left hand corner of the screen. A new menu will pop up, giving printing and saving options. At the bottom of that menu you will see WORD OPTIONS. Click on that, and another menu will open. Choose ADVANCED from that menu, then CUT, COPY AND PASTE. Under that section, change INSERT/PASTE PICTURES AS: to the option you prefer. Then click OK and the menu will close.

If you make this change in your Word Options, and decide you want to change one of your image's Text Wrapping, you can still do that individually, as described in the first part of this article.

With a few simple commands, it is fairly easy to tame Word 2007, and make it behave as you desire.