Clipart, Part 2

Ungroup

Clipart is made up of a multitude of parts. To view, or work with, the separate parts, you first need to ungroup the clipart object.

To do this, follow these steps.

1. Select the clipart object.
2. Change its word wrap to Tight using the Picture toolbar.
3. Click on Draw – Ungroup.
   Tip: it is useful to zoom in for more control and to see what you are doing.
4. Click away from the object to de-select the parts.

Note that if you are using Word 2002, you may need to repeat the above steps, after clicking Yes to the message This is an imported picture ...

Once parts are de-selected, they can be combined with other pictures, recoloured, moved or deleted. For example, take a clipart object of a gnome and a rainbow, and remove the rainbow, leaving just the gnome.

The individual parts can have their edit points changed, or have their wrap points changed. They can also be rotated.

           BEFORE                                AFTER

Combine

Take two clipart pictures that match in theme. After adding them to your page, you may want to resize them so they are similar size.

Ungroup each picture, following the steps above.

Click away from the pictures so nothing is selected.

At this stage, to keep the work area cleaner, you may want to delete objects you do not need. Remember, you can use the Undo option if you realise straight away that you need that piece after all.

Click and drag elements from one picture, to the other picture. Locate them as needed.

Regroup the final picture. Instructions for this are found below under the heading Group.

Recolour

The parts of a clipart object can be coloured differently to the original. This recolouring can be in a plain colour, a gradient fill, a texture, or a picture.

Follow these steps.

1. Ungroup a clipart object.
2. Click away from the object.
3. Zoom in if required.
4. Select the part of the picture you want to recolour.
5. Use Fill Colour and/or Line Colour to change the colour. You can also use Fill Effects here.

If the part you are selecting seems to include a number of sub-parts, just do another ungroup of that selection. Remember to regroup afterwards.

For an interesting effect, follow these steps. Insert a clipart object. Ungroup it. Without clicking anywhere on the graphic (i.e., leaving all parts selected), click the arrow next to the Fill Colour box on the Drawing toolbar. Choose Fill Effects. Choose a gradient with two colours (or choose Preset). Click on OK. Regroup the graphic. This works well for landscapes and city skylines.

For another interesting effect: Insert a clipart object. Ungroup it. Without clicking anywhere on the graphic (i.e., leaving all parts selected), click the arrow next to the Fill Colour box on the Drawing toolbar. Choose Fill Effects. Choose the Picture tab. Click on Picture and select a picture. Click on OK. Regroup the graphic. This is best for clipart that can be recognised by its shape. It may also be useful for silhouettes, where the picture or photo is also of the same object. If you do not ungroup first, the picture appears behind the graphic, rather than appearing inside its boundaries.

This is my cat, displayed within a clipart cat.

Group

Very important – remember to regroup after you have finished your editing.

1. Click on the Arrow on the Drawing toolbar.
2. Lasso (click and drag over) the entire graphic, including all its parts.
3. Choose Draw – Group (or Draw – Regroup).

Now the object moves as one, and cannot be changed, accidentally or otherwise. It is too easy to select a part of an ungrouped picture and move it. Regrouping keeps it safe.

Shadows

Another special effect you can add to an object is a shadow.

1. Select the object.
2. Click on the Shadow button on the Drawing toolbar.

Your shadow options are reduced for clipart. However, you can still choose Shadow Settings and modify the shadow position and colour.

Line style

If you want to experiment further, you can ungroup a graphic. Then, leaving all parts selected, change the line style and/or colour. Parts of the menu may be greyed out for this procedure, limiting your options. However, it can give some nice effects.

Remember to regroup afterwards.

Edit Points

Modify a clipart object to lengthen a person’s hair, increase the size of the green spot in the middle, or reshape a piece of the whole. You can do this by using Edit Points.

First you need to ungroup the clipart object. Then you need to select the part you want to change.

Now click on Draw – Edit Points. The piece of the object gets little black dots around it. Zoom in if required. Now just click and drag the dots, inwards or outwards, as required, to modify the shape.

Right-click on a dot to display a shortcut menu. From here, you can add an extra dot. You can also right-click on the space between dots and choose to change it to a curve instead of a straight line.

Click away from the object when done. If you want to regroup, lasso all the parts with the mouse, and choose Draw – Group.

Order

If you have more than one graphic on a page (including clipart or Autoshapes), you can choose their order.

Try this:

1. Open a new blank document.
2. Draw two circles on the page.
3. Give each circle a different fill colour.
4. Drag one circle on top of the other one.
5. Experiment with the options for layering these objects. Click on Draw – Order.

Your options are:

Bring to front	Put the selected object on top.
Send to back	Put the selected object underneath.
Bring forward	Used for when you have three or more objects to work with. Bring the object forward one layer.
Send backward	Used for when you have three or more objects to work with. Send the object back one layer.
Bring in front of text	The object will overlap the text.
Send behind text	The text will show over the top of the object.

If a graphic “faces” a particular way, have it facing into the text rather than off the page (eg., people, faces, cars, animals, arrows). Face them towards the text you want the reader to look at first.

Choose one or two types of artwork for a single document. Choose from photos, graphs, clipart or cartoons. Don’t mix and match too many different types in one document. Where possible, keep clipart a similar size and style. Use the same colours for charts.

Repeat an item on every page to link the document together, eg., a border in one corner of every page.