How do I place concentric circles on top of a photograph?

[Dave]

When I try drawing a circle in Word, it covers up much of the photograph,
plus I'm not sure how to move the circle or change its size once drawn.

 

[Tony Jollans]

What photograph?

And what version of Word?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Give the circle No Fill. You can grab it with the Select Objects tool (if
the mouse alone doesn't work). You can fine-tune the size and position using
the Format AutoShape dialog. For concentric circles, use the Draw | Align
and Distribute menu (use Shift+click to select additional objects).

 

[Dave]

I want to overlay them on an aerial photo. Even with no fill, it does the
same thing. Most of the photo gets whited out, beginning from a vertical line
to the left of the circle and everything to the right, so only the left part
of the photo is still visible.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This has to do with the respective wrapping of your graphics. If you set the
photo to In Line With Text and the AutoShapes to In Front of Text, they
should work. I also found that when I was doing something similar, every
time I grouped drawing objects, the wrapping of the group changed and had to
be set again--very annoying.

 

[Dave]

Thanks. That helped. Unfortunately, when I resized the circles, they don't
keep their shape (I dragged diagonally). Also, I'm not sure how to keep their
spacing equidistant. I'm not sure what you mean by the Select Objects tool.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, that business about dragging a corner instead of a side to resize
proportionally is all guff; if it's ever worked for anyone, it hasn't for
me. But if you use the Format AutoShape dialog, you can resize one dimension
(on the Size tab) and, with the "Lock aspect ratio" box checked, the other
size will be resized to match.

The Select Objects tool is the big white arrow on the left end of the
Drawing toolbar. It allows you to select an object or multiple objects (by
clicking or marquee-selecting) without touching text or inline graphics. You
get the circles concentric by selecting all of them and use the Align and
Distribute command on the Draw menu to center all of them horizontally and
vertically (relative to each other). Once you've got them the way you want
them, group them (realizing that you'll again have to change the wrapping of
the group).

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Dave,

To supplement Suzanne's reply just a tad -

When you 'draw' or 'drag' in Word on a proportional shape, such as a circle, to create or maintain a uniform shape hold the shift
key down while creating or dragging. (For some folks in Word 2002 or 2003

When you use the 'select objects tool'. If you're using 'click on' to choose objects hold the ctrl key when clicking to select more
than one object.

You may notice different behavior if the box for [x] Automatically create drawing canvas... is checked in Tools=>Options=>General as
far as default behavior in working with graphics you want to group together.

If you group autoshape objects that have different layout (wrapping) choices the grouped (newly joined) item in Word may default to
taking on an 'in front of text' wrapping style even though it isn't specified in Tools=>Options=>Edit under 'Insert/Paste
Picture', or saved as the 'Set Autoshape default' setting.

========Thanks. That helped. Unfortunately, when I resized the circles, they don't
keep their shape (I dragged diagonally). Also, I'm not sure how to keep their
spacing equidistant. I'm not sure what you mean by the Select Objects tool. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have found the wrapping style of grouped objects changing, but not to In
Front of Text (which is what I wanted and had already assigned) but instead
to Square. Very frustrating.

Hi Dave,

To supplement Suzanne's reply just a tad -

When you 'draw' or 'drag' in Word on a proportional shape, such as a

circle, to create or maintain a uniform shape hold the shift

key down while creating or dragging. (For some folks in Word 2002 or 2003

When you use the 'select objects tool'. If you're using 'click on' to

choose objects hold the ctrl key when clicking to select more

than one object.

You may notice different behavior if the box for [x] Automatically create

drawing canvas... is checked in Tools=>Options=>General as

far as default behavior in working with graphics you want to group together.

If you group autoshape objects that have different layout (wrapping)

choices the grouped (newly joined) item in Word may default to

taking on an 'in front of text' wrapping style even though it isn't

specified in Tools=>Options=>Edit under 'Insert/Paste

 

[Dave]

Thanks, Bob and Suzanne. The circles do not seem exactly concentric or
perfectly circular. I'm not sure how size and scale affect. For example, if I
set 5" for height and width, it looks oval, but if I have something like 4.89
and 5.02, it looks more circular. And when I Align Center for all, the
handles are not lined up.

Hi Dave,

To supplement Suzanne's reply just a tad -

When you 'draw' or 'drag' in Word on a proportional shape, such as a circle, to create or maintain a uniform shape hold the shift
key down while creating or dragging. (For some folks in Word 2002 or 2003

When you use the 'select objects tool'. If you're using 'click on' to choose objects hold the ctrl key when clicking to select more
than one object.

You may notice different behavior if the box for [x] Automatically create drawing canvas... is checked in Tools=>Options=>General as
far as default behavior in working with graphics you want to group together.

If you group autoshape objects that have different layout (wrapping) choices the grouped (newly joined) item in Word may default to
taking on an 'in front of text' wrapping style even though it isn't specified in Tools=>Options=>Edit under 'Insert/Paste
Picture', or saved as the 'Set Autoshape default' setting.

========Thanks. That helped. Unfortunately, when I resized the circles, they don't
keep their shape (I dragged diagonally). Also, I'm not sure how to keep their
spacing equidistant. I'm not sure what you mean by the Select Objects tool. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Possibly your display is not quite balanced? On most monitors, it is
possible to increase the height and width of your screen real estate
separately, so this could be an issue.

Thanks, Bob and Suzanne. The circles do not seem exactly concentric or
perfectly circular. I'm not sure how size and scale affect. For example, if I
set 5" for height and width, it looks oval, but if I have something like 4.89
and 5.02, it looks more circular. And when I Align Center for all, the
handles are not lined up.

Hi Dave,

To supplement Suzanne's reply just a tad -

When you 'draw' or 'drag' in Word on a proportional shape, such as a circle, to create or maintain a uniform shape hold the shift
key down while creating or dragging. (For some folks in Word 2002 or 2003

When you use the 'select objects tool'. If you're using 'click on' to choose objects hold the ctrl key when clicking to select more
than one object.

You may notice different behavior if the box for [x] Automatically create drawing canvas... is checked in Tools=>Options=>General as
far as default behavior in working with graphics you want to group together.

If you group autoshape objects that have different layout (wrapping) choices the grouped (newly joined) item in Word may default to
taking on an 'in front of text' wrapping style even though it isn't specified in Tools=>Options=>Edit under 'Insert/Paste
Picture', or saved as the 'Set Autoshape default' setting.

========

"Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message

Thanks. That helped. Unfortunately, when I resized the circles, they don't
keep their shape (I dragged diagonally). Also, I'm not sure how to keep their
spacing equidistant. I'm not sure what you mean by the Select Objects tool. >>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends

Pricing and Packages for '2007 Microsoft Office System'
http://microsoft.com/office/preview