caption, text box, and frame

[Peter T. Daniels]

I inserted a picture (a bitmap), cropped and sized it to fill the page
from side to side, and positioned it 1.5" from the top "margin" so
that it would be at the top of the text area.

I then clicked on Insert Caption and got the usual panel offering
"Figure 1" as its label. Instead of simply inserting a paragraph in
Caption format as usual, it inserted a text box with the caption label
in it. When I typed the content of the caption, the following body
text reduced to a single line. Dragging the picture's anchor to a
different paragraph made whole paragraphs appear or not on the page --
and also made the caption disappear.

I right-clicked the text box to see if it had a "space after" setting,
or some such, and an option was "convert to frame." When I did that,
the body text came back to fill up the bottom of the page.

Why would a text box prevent all but one line of text from appearing
below it?

(All the keep-with options are unchecked -- next, together, and widow/
orphan.)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If your picture were inserted In Line With Text, then the caption would not
be in a text box but rather in an ordinary text paragraph, and none of this
would be an issue. Since you seem to need to have the picture page width
rather than just margin width, it will have to be wrapped, and so,
presumably will the caption, but you need to check the Advanced Layout on
both the picture and the text box to see what is causing the problem you
experienced. Note that both the picture and the caption (as currently
formatted) have to be anchored to some text paragraph. You seem to be aware
of that since you mention moving the anchor. There are also many mysterious
check boxes in the Advanced Layout dialog that may be of significance.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

I've only seen one anchor ... If it's In Line With Text, there's
nothing to keep it at the top of the page. The image is a map in a
circle, and the diameter of the circle is the width of the text area.
If I change the picture to In Line With Text and then insert the
caption, will it be a normal keep-with paragraph? And then when I
change the picture back to something that can be positioned, ...?

I have to do all this because the Berkeley Linguistic Society insists
on using Word as a typewriter -- they want a .doc not a .docx file,
but all vertical spacing has to be done with empty paragraphs, and all
subhead numbering has to be done by typing the numbers -- and it has
to be submitted camera-ready, with all the images placed.

And this year they claim they're publishing on-line only, so the whole
thing is going to get converted to some web format later on anyway!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Ye gods! I feel your pain. Yes, if the picture is inline, the caption will
be inline, and you can then rewrap the picture. But if the map is the width
of the text area (i.e., between the margins), I would leave it inline and
format it as "Page break before" (unless you're wrapping text around it, in
which case you're already not using Word like a typewriter). Unless you can
submit the document as a PDF, I don't see how it can be transmitted
digitally and be guaranteed to be camera-ready.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

I've only seen one anchor ... If it's In Line With Text, there's
nothing to keep it at the top of the page. The image is a map in a
circle, and the diameter of the circle is the width of the text area.
If I change the picture to In Line With Text and then insert the
caption, will it be a normal keep-with paragraph? And then when I
change the picture back to something that can be positioned, ...?

I have to do all this because the Berkeley Linguistic Society insists
on using Word as a typewriter -- they want a .doc not a .docx file,
but all vertical spacing has to be done with empty paragraphs, and all
subhead numbering has to be done by typing the numbers -- and it has
to be submitted camera-ready, with all the images placed.

And this year they claim they're publishing on-line only, so the whole
thing is going to get converted to some web format later on anyway!

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

Get this: They want a Word file, and either a pdf or a paper copy to
guide them as they prepare it for publication! The best part is that
they sent the instructions as both a .doc file and a pdf and suggested
simply replacing the text of the .doc file with the text of the
article, so that the formatting would be correct.

Which would be fine if they'd used Styles for the various required
elements (title, author, affiliation, headings, text, references).

But they didn't. It's obviously a legacy instruction from back when
word processing was new.

(I want the text to simply flow around the images, a snap in
FrameMaker and perhaps in InDesign. But I also want the captions to
stay with the pictures!)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Perhaps we should all barrage them with email telling them they're living in
the dark ages?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Get this: They want a Word file, and either a pdf or a paper copy to
guide them as they prepare it for publication! The best part is that
they sent the instructions as both a .doc file and a pdf and suggested
simply replacing the text of the .doc file with the text of the
article, so that the formatting would be correct.

Which would be fine if they'd used Styles for the various required
elements (title, author, affiliation, headings, text, references).

But they didn't. It's obviously a legacy instruction from back when
word processing was new.

(I want the text to simply flow around the images, a snap in
FrameMaker and perhaps in InDesign. But I also want the captions to
stay with the pictures!)