Resizing a Text Box
The way you can resize a text box depends on how you created it:
- If you drew the box (or inserted the Simple Text Box building block), resize it by doing any of the following:
- Drag any of its handles.
- On the Format tab, click the Size button; then use the Height and Width spin controls to set specific dimensions for the box.
- Click
the Size group’s dialog box launcher to open the Layout dialog box. On
the Size tab, set specific dimensions in the Height and Width sections,
or use the Scale section to set the text box’s size as a percentage of
its current size. Click OK when you finish.
- If you created the text box from a building block, its sizing options may be restricted, as shown in Figure 4.
If you can’t resize the box by dragging its handles or by using the
Size tools on the Format tab, open the Layout dialog box. On the Size
tab, click Absolute in both the Height and Width sections; then click
OK. Now you can resize the box as if it were drawn.
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For some building blocks, the height and/or width
may be set to Relative in the Layout dialog box. The Relative option
ensures that the box’s height or width always stays in proportion to
some aspect of the page. For easy resizing, change the text box’s
Height and Width options to Absolute.
By default, a text box’s aspect ratio is not locked; if you leave it that way, you can resize the text box freely by dragging.
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Moving a Text Box
To move a text box, click its border and drag it to a new location, as shown in Figure 5.
If the text box was created from a building block (other than the
Simple Text Box building block), the document’s text wraps around the
box as determined by the building block’s text wrapping setting.
If you created the box by drawing it or by using the
Simple Text Box building block, the box appears in front of the
document’s text. You can change this by applying a different text
wrapping option to the text box. Then you can move the text box by
dragging.
Formatting a Text Box
A
text box is basically the same thing as an AutoShape (a rectangle), but
this shape is special because it’s already set up to hold text. You can
format a text box by using the shape-formatting tools on the Format
tab.
By default, Word formats a text box with an outline
and a fill. The outline and fill can be the same or different colors,
or you can apply a special effect to either one. However, in some
cases, it’s a good idea to remove both the outline and the fill. For
example, if your document has a colored background, you can make the
background show through the text box by removing its shape formats. If
you ever use text boxes for laying out a page (as shown back in Figure 1), the document will look cleaner if you omit the fills and outlines from the text boxes.
