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#1
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Frames vs. Text Boxes
WindowsXP
Word2003 I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes. |
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#2
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HT
Having just had a play with both, frames display differently and their main purpose seems to be to divide the page into sections.. Text boxes, on the other hand, are specifically for text and can be moved around the page at will.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "HT" wrote in message ... WindowsXP Word2003 I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes. |
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#3
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It's a bit more than that...
Text boxes are in the draw layer, not in the text layer (see http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/DrwGrphcs/DrawLayer.htm). For that reason, headings, captions, and other things in text boxes are "invisible" to a table of contents or a table of figures. Frames are in the text layer, so things placed in them are available to the TOC. Text boxes can do some tricks that frames can't, such as the box-to-box linking that lets you arrange continuation into another box that may be several pages away -- neat for magazine and newsletter layouts. A frame can be made part of a paragraph style, while a text box can't. So for marginal notes you could create a style that includes a frame positioned to the left of the main text. OTOH, you can format a text box -- e.g., line weight and fill color -- and click the Default button in the Format dialog, and that will become the default formatting for new text boxes. There's more, but that gives you the flavor... -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:59:19 -0400, "Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)" wrote: HT Having just had a play with both, frames display differently and their main purpose seems to be to divide the page into sections.. Text boxes, on the other hand, are specifically for text and can be moved around the page at will.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "HT" wrote in message ... WindowsXP Word2003 I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes. |
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#4
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Some more differences:
* A text box border is all or nothing. You can format it with all the formatting options available for drawing lines, but it will always be on all four sides; a frame border can be applied selectively, but there are fewer formatting options. * Text boxes can be in front of text or behind text; frames are either wrapped or not. That is, they're either In Line With Text or have what amounts to Square text wrapping. * As Jay said, a frame can be part of a paragraph style; the also implies that you can insert a particular style that includes not only the frame but also font and paragraph formatting. A text box is always in Normal style until you change to something else (AFAIK, the AutoShape defaults don't include this). -- 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. "Jay Freedman" wrote in message ... It's a bit more than that... Text boxes are in the draw layer, not in the text layer (see http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/DrwGrphcs/DrawLayer.htm). For that reason, headings, captions, and other things in text boxes are "invisible" to a table of contents or a table of figures. Frames are in the text layer, so things placed in them are available to the TOC. Text boxes can do some tricks that frames can't, such as the box-to-box linking that lets you arrange continuation into another box that may be several pages away -- neat for magazine and newsletter layouts. A frame can be made part of a paragraph style, while a text box can't. So for marginal notes you could create a style that includes a frame positioned to the left of the main text. OTOH, you can format a text box -- e.g., line weight and fill color -- and click the Default button in the Format dialog, and that will become the default formatting for new text boxes. There's more, but that gives you the flavor... -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:59:19 -0400, "Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)" wrote: HT Having just had a play with both, frames display differently and their main purpose seems to be to divide the page into sections.. Text boxes, on the other hand, are specifically for text and can be moved around the page at will.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "HT" wrote in message ... WindowsXP Word2003 I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes. |
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#5
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Jay
Quite a lot more than that, I am sure, but there is nothing like taking a look and having a play.. I was in Word for less than two minutes, because I had never bothered to look to see what the frames feature was all about.. it was long enough for me to decide that text boxes might be more use to me than frames.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "Jay Freedman" wrote in message ... It's a bit more than that... Text boxes are in the draw layer, not in the text layer (see http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/DrwGrphcs/DrawLayer.htm). For that reason, headings, captions, and other things in text boxes are "invisible" to a table of contents or a table of figures. Frames are in the text layer, so things placed in them are available to the TOC. Text boxes can do some tricks that frames can't, such as the box-to-box linking that lets you arrange continuation into another box that may be several pages away -- neat for magazine and newsletter layouts. A frame can be made part of a paragraph style, while a text box can't. So for marginal notes you could create a style that includes a frame positioned to the left of the main text. OTOH, you can format a text box -- e.g., line weight and fill color -- and click the Default button in the Format dialog, and that will become the default formatting for new text boxes. There's more, but that gives you the flavor... -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:59:19 -0400, "Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)" wrote: HT Having just had a play with both, frames display differently and their main purpose seems to be to divide the page into sections.. Text boxes, on the other hand, are specifically for text and can be moved around the page at will.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "HT" wrote in message ... WindowsXP Word2003 I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes. |
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#6
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Mike Hall (MS-MVP) wrote:
Jay Quite a lot more than that, I am sure, but there is nothing like taking a look and having a play.. I was in Word for less than two minutes, because I had never bothered to look to see what the frames feature was all about.. it was long enough for me to decide that text boxes might be more use to me than frames.. I have no problem with that. It's just that, like many seemingly similar pairs of features (think AutoCorrect and AutoText), text boxes and frames have a lot of overlapping functions but some places where one is better than the other. Folks who have been through many versions of Word remember that frames used to be more prominently offered (for example, they were on the default Insert menu). Then someone at MS -- probably in Marketing (ptui) -- decided that text boxes are "cooler" than frames, and frames were relegated to an obscure button on the Forms toolbar. Now we have a FAQ that goes, "I put my headings/captions/whatever in text boxes, and the TOC doesn't show them. Why???" ;-) -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
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#7
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Jay
I haven't always been a fan of MS Word, though I do use it exclusively now.. I must be honest and say that I have never looked at frames before.. whenever I get something new, I always have a play with most features, but 'frames' in Word?.. I remember having to use frames in AmiPro way back when, and thought to myself "oh no, not them again''.. lol.. frames are for Publisher, Page Plus and PageMaker.. I will have a longer play with frames, and see why I may not ever have a use for them.. the knowledge will be useful however.. Have a great day, and thanks to the both of you for your insights into Word frames.. -- Mike Hall MVP - Windows Shell/User "Jay Freedman" wrote in message ... Mike Hall (MS-MVP) wrote: Jay Quite a lot more than that, I am sure, but there is nothing like taking a look and having a play.. I was in Word for less than two minutes, because I had never bothered to look to see what the frames feature was all about.. it was long enough for me to decide that text boxes might be more use to me than frames.. I have no problem with that. It's just that, like many seemingly similar pairs of features (think AutoCorrect and AutoText), text boxes and frames have a lot of overlapping functions but some places where one is better than the other. Folks who have been through many versions of Word remember that frames used to be more prominently offered (for example, they were on the default Insert menu). Then someone at MS -- probably in Marketing (ptui) -- decided that text boxes are "cooler" than frames, and frames were relegated to an obscure button on the Forms toolbar. Now we have a FAQ that goes, "I put my headings/captions/whatever in text boxes, and the TOC doesn't show them. Why???" ;-) -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org |
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