grouping screen prints in 2007

[Guest]

In 2003, I could print a screen, copy it to another Word document, crop it,
and group it with other screen prints, text boxes, other objects, etc.
However, this is not working in 2007. What gives?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Grouping in Word 2007 docx fiels does not work with picture objects due to
changes in how graphics is implemented. You can still group Word drawing
objects. The other actions you describe -- pasting, cropping -- work fine in
Word 2007.

As a work-around, if you work in Compatibilty Mode (save the file in Word
97-2003 format), grouping works. You might do the manipulations in
Compatibility Mode, then copy the finished art and paste it into the .docx
file. Or, simply work in .doc format unless there's a compelling need to do
otherwise.

 

[Jay Freedman]

In 2003, I could print a screen, copy it to another Word document, crop it,
and group it with other screen prints, text boxes, other objects, etc.
However, this is not working in 2007. What gives?

In Word 2007, to be able to group objects you have to insert them into
a drawing canvas first. After they're grouped, you can drag the group
out of the canvas and delete the canvas, and the objects will stay
grouped.

I don't understand Microsoft's reasons for this, nor does anyone else
I've heard from, but it may have something to do with the mixture of
drawing engines in Word 2007 (the legacy tools from 2003 and earlier,
and the new SmartArt tools).

Excel and PowerPoint don't have this problem because their 2007
versions use only the new tools. So you might find it easier to
compose your group in PowerPoint and then copy/paste the whole thing
into Word.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Putting pictures into a compatibility mode document endows them with the
same transferable properties. My guess is that the drawing canvas uses the
"old" technology. For my purposes, I find it easier to work without the
canvas, but ultimately, I guess it amounts to the same thing, having to use
old technology as an intermediary.

 

[Guest]

Thanks much. I guess it's kind of a pain no matter what!

 

[Guest]

In Word 2007, to be able to group objects you have to insert them into
a drawing canvas first. After they're grouped, you can drag the group
out of the canvas and delete the canvas, and the objects will stay
grouped.

I don't understand Microsoft's reasons for this, nor does anyone else
I've heard from, but it may have something to do with the mixture of
drawing engines in Word 2007 (the legacy tools from 2003 and earlier,
and the new SmartArt tools).

Excel and PowerPoint don't have this problem because their 2007
versions use only the new tools. So you might find it easier to
compose your group in PowerPoint and then copy/paste the whole thing
into Word.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.