Frames vs. Text Boxes

[HT]

WindowsXP
Word2003

I'm confused..when would i need frames and when would i need text boxes.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

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..

 

[Jay Freedman]

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...

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

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).

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

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..

 

[Jay Freedman]

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???" ;-)

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

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..