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#1
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Frames, Captions, and Graphic Placement
I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes
them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#2
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You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text
box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#3
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Thanks, I'm in the process of trying the inline option and it does seem to
help. I see it maintains the benefit of frames of keeping the captions available for referencing and performing field updates. I recall that I had decided at one point to change the default paste behavior to Top and Bottom instead of Inline. I think I did that to keep the picture always separated from the text. But if it's creating more problems than it's solving, I'll revert back to the inline default. Related question: should I use frames at all in this case? I practically turn red and want to throw my computer out a window when I drag around a text or graphics box and Word magically throws it onto another page or just refuses to move it, or disappears it altogether. I haven't yet observed if frames are immune to this behavior, but I think I've seen some indication that they can also cause those horrible problems (let's just admit that they're bugs). If they do bounce around like that, I'd rather just keep everything inline and loose, except for those few cases where I need to position the graphic in a fixed fashion relative to the page, rather than a paragraph. Of all the problems I have with Word, the inability to control placement is by far the worst to me (especially coming from WordPerfect, which just plain works - this is easily enough to drive me back to WordPerfect and forgo the compatibility benefits of Word, and let's face it, that's about the only reason to prefer Word to WordPerfect). It seems this has been an ongoing bug since at least Word 97, the last time I used Word and dumped it in frustration for WordPerfect (at that time over Word's inability to do any advanced controls over data in a mail-merge). Do you know if this is something MS is even trying to fix? I truly don't understand how this can be considered acceptable behavior in a mainstream application. - Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#4
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Aha, in changing one of my graphics back to inline, I remembered what the
problem was. But I'll bet there is another solution (I hope). If the picture is wider than the margins (for a full bleed graphic or just one that's larger than the margins would allow), Word lines it up with the left margin and then lets the right edge fall off the page. I want to center the image. How can I do this when it's inline and wider than the margins? Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#5
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Yes. You can give the paragraph negative indents as needed. Or you can put
the graphic in a single borderless table cell. In most cases tables are not required to conform to the margins, and you can set their position as Center. There's a Compatibility Option in Word 2003 for "Allow tables to extend into margins" (which is off by default), but I believe this is the default for previous versions. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... Aha, in changing one of my graphics back to inline, I remembered what the problem was. But I'll bet there is another solution (I hope). If the picture is wider than the margins (for a full bleed graphic or just one that's larger than the margins would allow), Word lines it up with the left margin and then lets the right edge fall off the page. I want to center the image. How can I do this when it's inline and wider than the margins? Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#6
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My general rule is to keep everything inline unless there's a compelling
reason to use a frame or text box and then to prefer a frame over a text box when possible. Floating graphics, of course, need neither frame nor text box, and putting one in a frame by itself can make it difficult to select and format the frame and graphic separately. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... Thanks, I'm in the process of trying the inline option and it does seem to help. I see it maintains the benefit of frames of keeping the captions available for referencing and performing field updates. I recall that I had decided at one point to change the default paste behavior to Top and Bottom instead of Inline. I think I did that to keep the picture always separated from the text. But if it's creating more problems than it's solving, I'll revert back to the inline default. Related question: should I use frames at all in this case? I practically turn red and want to throw my computer out a window when I drag around a text or graphics box and Word magically throws it onto another page or just refuses to move it, or disappears it altogether. I haven't yet observed if frames are immune to this behavior, but I think I've seen some indication that they can also cause those horrible problems (let's just admit that they're bugs). If they do bounce around like that, I'd rather just keep everything inline and loose, except for those few cases where I need to position the graphic in a fixed fashion relative to the page, rather than a paragraph. Of all the problems I have with Word, the inability to control placement is by far the worst to me (especially coming from WordPerfect, which just plain works - this is easily enough to drive me back to WordPerfect and forgo the compatibility benefits of Word, and let's face it, that's about the only reason to prefer Word to WordPerfect). It seems this has been an ongoing bug since at least Word 97, the last time I used Word and dumped it in frustration for WordPerfect (at that time over Word's inability to do any advanced controls over data in a mail-merge). Do you know if this is something MS is even trying to fix? I truly don't understand how this can be considered acceptable behavior in a mainstream application. - Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#7
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In between my posting and seeing your suggestion, I decided to create a
Style, "Graphics and Tables", which extends the outer margins by an inch and then centers everything. I now put all my wide graphics and tables and their captions in that style. The downside is that captions now appear centered under the image, instead of left-aligned with it. I can live with that - this only has to be good enough to go to an editor, but is there a way to center the graphic, then automatically left align text with the wherever the left edge of the centered graphic ends up? I think no, and to be fair, that would be asking a lot of a word processor, but if you know of a way, I'd love to use it. Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Yes. You can give the paragraph negative indents as needed. Or you can put the graphic in a single borderless table cell. In most cases tables are not required to conform to the margins, and you can set their position as Center. There's a Compatibility Option in Word 2003 for "Allow tables to extend into margins" (which is off by default), but I believe this is the default for previous versions. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... Aha, in changing one of my graphics back to inline, I remembered what the problem was. But I'll bet there is another solution (I hope). If the picture is wider than the margins (for a full bleed graphic or just one that's larger than the margins would allow), Word lines it up with the left margin and then lets the right edge fall off the page. I want to center the image. How can I do this when it's inline and wider than the margins? Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |
#8
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I don't know of a way to do what you want short of putting the graphic and
caption in a frame together and centering the frame, but then you're back where you started. If graphics are going to be variously aligned on the page, it's probably better that the captions also be centered, but that doesn't always work very well with run-in captions. What you might consider, however, is something like this: Table 1/Figure 1 Title of Table/Figure instead of Table 1/Figure 1. Title of table/figure using a line break at the end of the table/figure number. I would also suggest that, if this is manuscript to be typeset into a book, you should definitely consult with the publisher about the desired format. I'm sure much has changed since the last time I typed such a manuscript, but at that time the publishers wanted all figures and tables separately (even in separate files), with callouts indicating their approximate placement, such as [Insert Figure 1 about here] -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... In between my posting and seeing your suggestion, I decided to create a Style, "Graphics and Tables", which extends the outer margins by an inch and then centers everything. I now put all my wide graphics and tables and their captions in that style. The downside is that captions now appear centered under the image, instead of left-aligned with it. I can live with that - this only has to be good enough to go to an editor, but is there a way to center the graphic, then automatically left align text with the wherever the left edge of the centered graphic ends up? I think no, and to be fair, that would be asking a lot of a word processor, but if you know of a way, I'd love to use it. Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... Yes. You can give the paragraph negative indents as needed. Or you can put the graphic in a single borderless table cell. In most cases tables are not required to conform to the margins, and you can set their position as Center. There's a Compatibility Option in Word 2003 for "Allow tables to extend into margins" (which is off by default), but I believe this is the default for previous versions. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... Aha, in changing one of my graphics back to inline, I remembered what the problem was. But I'll bet there is another solution (I hope). If the picture is wider than the margins (for a full bleed graphic or just one that's larger than the margins would allow), Word lines it up with the left margin and then lets the right edge fall off the page. I want to center the image. How can I do this when it's inline and wider than the margins? Thanks, Colin "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message ... You might try a different approach instead. Word inserts a caption in a text box only if the object you're captioning is wrapped (not In Line With Text). If the graphic is inline, Word puts the caption in an ordinary text paragraph. You can insert your graphic inline, add the caption (in a separate paragraph, so that each paragraph can have its own style), then select both graphic and caption together and insert a frame (using the Insert Frame button on the Forms toolbar or the Frame command that you add back to the Insert menu). The graphic and caption will then stay together, and you have many of the same wrapping and positioning options you have with a text box or wrapped object. You can't put a frame in front of or behind text, but usually you won't be wanting to do this for a figure or table, anyway. Whenever possible, just leave the graphics inline (this is especially appropriate for Tables, which can be broken across pages). Format your graphic paragraph style as "Keep with next" (assuming the caption is below it), and the graphic and caption will stay together (if the caption is above the table/figure, then set the caption style as "Keep with next"). -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Colin Higbie" wrote in message ... I understand that the default way Word inserts captions and references makes them unsearchable, unable to be autoreferenced (in a TOC or index), and inaccessible to the Update Field command (a real pain if the numbers end up off for any reason). I'm using Word 2003 with all the latest patches on Windows XP w/SP2. I have been converting all my caption text boxes to frames, as recommended. It does seem to address these problems. I hope this is the right thing to do? My main question: Assuming that's correct (that I should be using frames for captions instead of the default text boxes), is there any way to get Word to insert Captions automatically in frames instead of text boxes? I have dozens of figures and tables and still need to insert dozens more. I number each like: Table CH#-TBL# (e.g. Table 10-3, would be the third table in Chapter 10). The document so far is about 150 pages. I really don't want to have to insert every caption manually, then re-select the text box, go into the properties, and convert it to a frame. There must be an easier way... right? Related question: regardless of how a I get my captions to be frames, should I then put the associated graphic (all the figures and tables are actually graphics) inside the frame with the caption, or can I just leave that loose as a pasted picture, each anchored to a nearby paragraph? If it makes any difference, the vast majority of these graphics are paste-linked to another file so they can be edited easily. Some of the graphics I want to appear at specific places on the page (it seems to work well for those to specify a position relative to the page), but most I want to flow with the text (these seem to be more troublesome). Any advice here would be very helpful. I'm quite frustrated with Word bouncing my graphics to the edges of the page or other pages, breaking widow-orphan settings, etc. Thanks, Colin |