Drawing in Word 2003

This is a brief introduction to the drawing tool in Microsoft Word. The following was written for Word 2003.  Here is a guide for Word 2007.

In Word, you can draw on the diagram above or create your own drawings using the Drawing toolbar. If this toolbar isn't showing, select View -> Toolbars -> Drawing.

In order to draw on the diagram, first click on the diagram to select it. Then click on the drawing tool (autoshape) that you want in the drawing toolbar. After you've created the autoshape, you can drag it around, resize, and rotate it as needed.

For fine control of the object's position, use the arrow keys. For even finer control, press CTRL while using the arrow keys.

To format colors, etc., right click on the shape and select Format Autoshape. For textboxes, it's usually a good idea to remove the border. (Select No Line for Color.)

In order to save time, you can copy and paste similar types of objects and then edit the copied object. To copy and paste, do the following:

1. Click on the autoshape to select it.
2. CTRL-C to copy.
3. Click away from the object to deselect it.
4. CTRL-V to paste.
5. Move the copied object where you want it and edit as desired.

If an object is covering another object and you want the former to be on top, use the Draw -> Order -> Bring to Front command.

To subscript text, select the text that you want to subscript. Then type CTRL =. For superscripts, use SHIFT-CTRL +.  To remove formatting, use CTRL Space.

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