DRAWING

Draw a freeform shape

On the Drawing toolbar, click AutoShapes, and then point to Lines.

Do one of the following:

Click Freeform to draw an object with both curved and straight segments. Drag to draw freehand shapes; click and move the mouse to draw straight lines.

Do one of the following:

To end a shape and leave it open, double-click at any time.

To close a shape, click near its starting point.

Click Scribble and drag to draw a shape that looks more like it was drawn with a pen or to create smooth curves.

 

Draw a curve

On the Drawing toolbar  click AutoShapes , point to Lines, and then click Curve .

Click where you want the curve to start, and then continue to move the mouse and click wherever you want to add a curve.

To end the curve, double-click at any time.

Tip

To close the curve and make a shape, click near its starting point.

 

Draw a line or connector

If you want to use a line to connect shapes and keep them connected, you may want to draw a connector instead of a normal line. A connector looks like a line, but it stays connected to the shapes you attach it to.

Do one of the following:

Draw a line

1. On the Drawing toolbar, click AutoShapes, point to Lines, and then click the line style you want.
2. Drag to draw the line.
3. Do one or both of the following:
• To constrain the line to draw at 15-degree angles from its starting point, hold down SHIFT as you drag.
• To lengthen the line in opposite directions from the first end point, hold down CTRL as you drag.

Tip

If you just want to draw a straight line, click Line on the Drawing toolbar, and then drag to draw the line.

Draw a connector

1. On the Drawing toolbar , click AutoShapes, point to Connectors, and then click the connector line you want.
2. Point to where you want to attach the connector.

Connection sites appear as blue circles as you pass the pointer over a shape.

3. Click the first connection site you want, point to the other object, and then click the second connection site.

Locked or attached connectors appear as red circles. Unlocked connectors appear as green circles.

 

Change the drawing grid

You can change the spacing between gridlines and the starting point for gridlines. To temporarily override grid (grid: A set of intersecting lines used to align objects.) settings, press ALT as you drag or draw an object.

Change the spacing between the drawing gridlines

1. To display the Drawing toolbar , click Drawing on the Standard toolbar.
2. On the Drawing toolbar, click Draw, and then click Grid.
3. In the Horizontal Spacing and Vertical Spacing boxes, enter the spacing you want.

Change the starting point for gridlines

Initially, the grid begins at the upper-left corner of the page.

Note  Word displays gridlines only within the margins of the page, even though the grid may extend beyond the margins.

1. To display the Drawing toolbar, click Drawing on the Standard toolbar.
2. On the Drawing toolbar, click Draw, and then click Grid.
3. Clear the Use margins check box if it is selected.
4. In the Horizontal origin and the Vertical origin boxes, specify where you want vertical and horizontal gridlines to begin, relative to the edges of the page.

 

Reshape a shape

1. Select the AutoShape.

If the shape has a yellow adjustment handle, it can be reshaped. Some shapes do not have adjustment handles and can only be resized.

2. Position the mouse pointer over the yellow adjustment handle.
3. Hold down the mouse button and drag the handle to change the shape.

Rotate an object

1. Select the AutoShape (AutoShapes: A group of ready-made shapes that includes basic shapes, such as rectangles and circles, plus a variety of lines and connectors, block arrows, flowchart symbols, stars and banners, and callouts.), picture (picture: A file (such as a metafile) that you can ungroup and manipulate as two or more objects or a file that stays as a single object (such as bitmaps).), or WordArt (WordArt: Text objects you create with ready-made effects to which you can apply additional formatting options.) you want to rotate.
2. Do one of the following:

Rotate to any angle

1. Drag the rotate handle on the object in the direction you want to rotate it.
2. Click outside the object to set the rotation.

Rotate 90 degrees to the left or 90 degrees to the right

• On the Drawing toolbar ,click Draw, point to Rotate or Flip, and then click Rotate Left or Rotate Right.

Tip

• To constrain the rotation of the object to 15-degree angles, hold down SHIFT while you drag the rotate handle.