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As well as lines and arrows, you can draw circles, ovals, squares and rectangles.
This is done via the Drawing toolbar.
To display the Drawing toolbar, click on the View menu. Then select Toolbars,
and Drawing. By default this toolbar appears at the bottom of your Word window.
Once the shapes have been added, they can also be modified. You can change
their size, proportions, position, line colour and fill colour/effect.
This article covers how to draw circles, ovals, squares and rectangles. It
also covers modifying fill and line colour. Future articles will cover other
fill effects and different shapes.
(a) Circles and ovals
- Click on the oval button on the Drawing toolbar.
- Click and drag within the document window to draw the shape.
(b) Squares and rectangles
- Click on the rectangle button on the Drawing toolbar.
- Click and drag within the document window to draw the shape.
Tip: Hold down the Shift key
while you drag to draw an accurate square or circle
(c) Colour
The default line colour and fill colour will depend on the Office application
you are using. For example, PowerPoint will give you shapes with a black line
and a green fill. Word will give you shapes with a black line and a white fill.
Once the shape has been drawn, its fill colour and line colour can be changed.
This includes removing fill or removing the line.
Tip: Don’t remove the line until
you have changed the fill. Otherwise you may “lose” your shape (not be able
to see it on a white background). Go to Tools – Options, and the General tab.
Choose Blue Background White Text. Use this if you lose a white object.
Fill Colour
To modify the fill colour:
- Select the object by clicking on it once.
- Click on the Fill Colour button on the Drawing toolbar. This will change
the fill colour to that of the underline on this button.
Tip: Put your mouse over this
button to see its screen tip. The screen tip will also include the name of its
current colour, in parentheses
Click on the arrow just to the left of the button, to view more colours. You
have the choice of 40 different colours in this box.
Other options are:
| No fill |
Useful if you want text to appear inside the
shape, using a text wrapping of Behind Text.
A shape with No Fill will need to be selected by clicking an outside
edge.
A shape with White Fill has a fill colour. A shape with No Fill is a
line that meets up with itself. Text wrap will vary between the two shapes.
To select a shape with fill, you can click the middle. To select a shape
without fill, you need to click on the line. Click when you see a four-headed
arrow. |
| More fill colours |
Displays a dialogue box containing Standard and
Custom tabs. |
| Fill effects |
Adds a gradient, texture, pattern or picture
as a fill for your shape. |
More Fill Colours
Choosing this option displays the Colours dialogue box. This dialogue box has
two tabs, Standard and Custom.
The Standard tab contains a colour wheel. Adjacent colours vary slightly in
shade, with the darker colours around the outside and the lighter colours towards
the centre. This can help you choose matching shades for one document, spreadsheet
or presentation.
Click on the colour you wish to use, and click on OK.
Other options in this dialogue box include:
| New/Current |
Displays the current colour of the object as
well as the colour you have selected. |
| Semitransparent |
Colour the object so that text or other objects
show through it, no matter what its fill colour. These objects will tend
to be fuzzy or shaded. |
| Shades of gray |
Choose a shade of gray, or choose black, for
a different effect or for printing to a black-and-white laser printer. |
Clicking on the Custom tab shows you this screen.
Here you can effectively choose from millions of colours, depending on the
resolution settings of your monitor.
Within the coloured box is a white cross. Pick up this cross and drag it to
the colour area you want to use.
Now, click on the black triangle near the colour bar, and drag it up or down
until you get the right shade of that colour.
Note that again you have New and Current visible. And here too, you can choose
Semitransparent.
If you are a colour whiz, or wish to experiment further, you can manually type
in values for Hue, Saturation and Luminosity for Red, Green and Blue.
Click on OK when you are happy with your colour selection.
Line Colour and Style
Each AutoShape has a line around its edge. You can modify this line, or remove
it.
- Select the object by clicking on it once.
- Click once on the Line Colour button.
- This applies the current line colour. Click on the arrow at the left side
of the button to choose more colours. Again, you can choose More line colours,
and Patterned lines.
- Another option here is No Line.
To modify line style, use the Line Style and Dash Style buttons on the Drawing
toolbar. Or right-click on the shape and choose Format AutoShape. This gives
you the dialogue box.
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