S
scef
Hi all,
When I use drawing objects in my Word documents, I want to position
them precisely by entering horizontal and vertical position values.
(Using the mouse to drag them around is far too imprecise, and snapping
to a grid prevents most from being positioned where I want.)
I know how to do this, but at the moment it either requires me to use
the mouse, or a rather ridiculous keystroke sequence (that can be
affected by the position of the mouse pointer).
The general order of actions is as follows:
- Format > (whatever kind of object it is)
- Select the Layout tab
- Choose the Advanced button
- Select the Picture Position tab
- Enter values in the Absolute Position boxes under Horizontal
and Vertical
BUT:
When I use Alt+P to select Absolute Position under Horizontal, the
radio button gets focus, not the adjacent value field. If I press then
Tab, the cursor goes past the adjacent value box and drop-down list,
and ends up in the first item of the next option group. This is rather
ridiculous because when you specify that you want to use an absolute
position, you logically want to specify that absolute position value
next!
A similar thing happens when I use Alt+S to select Absolute Position
under Vertical: the radio button gets focus; when I press Tab, the
first item in NEXT option group (Options) gets focus, NOT the value box
and drop-down list adjacent to Absolute Position.
The only non-mouse way I know of to get around this is pretty ugly. You
have to:
- Use the access key for the drop-down list adjacent to the
Absolute Position value you want. This causes it to drop
down.
- Use Alt+UpArrow or Alt+DownArrow to close the drop down.
You have to make sure your mouse pointer wasn't over the
area where the list dropped down, however, otherwise you
can find that you've inadvertently changed this setting!
- Use Shift+Tab to go back one field, to the Absolute
Position value box.
Is there an easier way around this? Can I customise the Advanced Layout
screen somehow? (The control I want to jump directly to *is* a tab stop
when tabbing backwards... why can't it be one when tabbing forwards?)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
When I use drawing objects in my Word documents, I want to position
them precisely by entering horizontal and vertical position values.
(Using the mouse to drag them around is far too imprecise, and snapping
to a grid prevents most from being positioned where I want.)
I know how to do this, but at the moment it either requires me to use
the mouse, or a rather ridiculous keystroke sequence (that can be
affected by the position of the mouse pointer).
The general order of actions is as follows:
- Format > (whatever kind of object it is)
- Select the Layout tab
- Choose the Advanced button
- Select the Picture Position tab
- Enter values in the Absolute Position boxes under Horizontal
and Vertical
BUT:
When I use Alt+P to select Absolute Position under Horizontal, the
radio button gets focus, not the adjacent value field. If I press then
Tab, the cursor goes past the adjacent value box and drop-down list,
and ends up in the first item of the next option group. This is rather
ridiculous because when you specify that you want to use an absolute
position, you logically want to specify that absolute position value
next!
A similar thing happens when I use Alt+S to select Absolute Position
under Vertical: the radio button gets focus; when I press Tab, the
first item in NEXT option group (Options) gets focus, NOT the value box
and drop-down list adjacent to Absolute Position.
The only non-mouse way I know of to get around this is pretty ugly. You
have to:
- Use the access key for the drop-down list adjacent to the
Absolute Position value you want. This causes it to drop
down.
- Use Alt+UpArrow or Alt+DownArrow to close the drop down.
You have to make sure your mouse pointer wasn't over the
area where the list dropped down, however, otherwise you
can find that you've inadvertently changed this setting!
- Use Shift+Tab to go back one field, to the Absolute
Position value box.
Is there an easier way around this? Can I customise the Advanced Layout
screen somehow? (The control I want to jump directly to *is* a tab stop
when tabbing backwards... why can't it be one when tabbing forwards?)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!