Objects in a Document
Senior 2 · ICT
Objects in a Document
Lesson 1 of 5
15 min
Let's begin
The school club is making a one-page notice for the next Umuganda day. The main text explains the plan, but the date, time and meeting point must stand out in a box at the top right of the page. Typing them into the paragraph would bury them. A text box lets you place them exactly where you want.
An object is an item placed in a document that you can select, move, resize and format separately from the normal text. Text boxes, shapes, WordArt, pictures, equations and tables are all objects. When you click an object, small squares called selection handles appear around it.
The steps below use LibreOffice Writer, which is free. Microsoft Word works the same way: where the menu differs, the Word path is given too.
A text box is a container for text that can be placed anywhere on the page.
| Task | How |
|---|---|
| Select the box itself | Click its border, not the text inside. |
| Resize | Drag a selection handle. A corner handle changes the width and height together. |
| Move | Drag the border to a new place, or use the arrow keys. |
| Fill colour | Right-click the border > Area. (Word: Shape Format > Shape Fill.) |
| Border line | Right-click the border > Line to set the style, width and colour. (Word: Shape Format > Shape Outline.) |
| Text wrapping | Right-click > Wrap, then choose how the page text flows around the box. (Word: Wrap Text.) |
| Delete | Select the border and press Delete. |
Text wrapping decides how the main text behaves around an object: it can flow around one or both sides, stop above and continue below, or pass behind or in front of it. An anchor is the point that fixes an object to the document: the page, a paragraph or a single character. If an object is anchored to a paragraph, it moves when that paragraph moves.
Tip
Border first. To format the box, click its border. To format the words, click inside it and select them.
Give one reason for putting information in a text box instead of an ordinary paragraph.
Solution: A text box can be placed anywhere on the page and given its own fill and border, so important information such as a date stands out.
Keza clicks inside her text box and chooses a blue fill, but only the words are highlighted. What went wrong?
Solution: She selected the text, not the box. She should click the border of the box and then apply the fill (Area in Writer, Shape Fill in Word).
The main text disappears behind Keza's text box. Which setting should she change?
Solution: The text wrapping. She should choose a wrap that makes the text flow around the box.
Why might a text box jump to the next page when a paragraph is added above it?
Solution: It is anchored to a paragraph. When that paragraph moves to the next page, the box moves with it. Anchoring it to the page keeps it in place.
Remember
Sources and credits
