Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!spdcc!ima!haddock!news From: news@haddock.ima.isc.com (overhead) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: More Word gripes Message-ID: <16005@haddock.ima.isc.com> Date: 22 Feb 90 20:30:22 GMT References: <90052.210048Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu> Reply-To: suitti@anchovy.UUCP (Stephen Uitti) Organization: Interactive Systems Co Lines: 77 In article <90052.210048Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu> Q8N@psuvm.psu.edu (Scott D. Camp) writes: >Recently, I saw a post where the person was asking about anchoring a graphic >to a page location and then having Word flow text around it. >Unfortunately, I didn't see any repliesposted to the net (or a summary yet). > >To the best of my knowledge, this is not possible with Word 4.0. Not only is it possible, I've done it. Like everything that's a little tricky and/or new in MS Word, it takes about a half hour of playing in order to get it to work. It's something like select the graphic invoke "position" from the menus feed the box with stuff there is a preview button, I think in the upper right this screen allows you to move the graphic where you want it. somehow figure out how to go back to what you were doing. I had problems like: 1) not knowing the trick that lets you graphically put it where you want it. 2) Having the graphic appear on the wrong page. 3) Having the wrong thing be positioned. 4) In subsequent edits, having the graphic un-position itself. >since this is a real problem for me as I need to insert tables, charts, and >graphs into Word to produce draft chapters of my dissertation. Visually, inserted graphs are distracting. I needed them where I needed to distract the reader... You may not really need them. >As it is, I assume that I have to place and then tweak the text >around it myself. Not required. >If not with Word, then how about another Mac product? "Pagemaker", "Ready, Set, Go", and other page layout programs have had this for awhile. Other word processers have it, though I don't know which ones. Word 3.01 didn't. I don't think Word 4.0 will wrap around a non-rectangular object. I've no idea. It does have some options about how far away from the graphic to flow to, which is one of the reasons (but not the main one) why it is complicated to learn. A step by step example in the documentation would help - who knows, maybe there's one in there... >At this point, I am seriously considering a switch. My experience is that Mac software is ahead of PC software in quality and features. Even from the same vendor that does both. >So please don't post responses that I am asking a word processor >to do the work of DTP package. DTP? I do fairly complicated 8 1/2 x 11 newsletters. There are plenty of features in Word 4.0 that I don't use. It generally has the features I need. It is probably true that it is not the best word processor for the Mac for the list price. I got mine at a University discount... This is a ploy on Microsoft's part to hook people into using their products. It is a good ploy - I just wish they'd simply make the list price lower, since that is such a better ploy. >Even with Waterloo Script on my IMB mainframe >(OK, so it actually belongs to Penn State) I can kind of do these types of >things by dumping floating blocks. Machines such as the PC & Mac have generally been years and dollars ahead of mainframe capabilities for things like this. What i'd like to see is something that will take a plain text file, perhaps imported from some other system, and import it into Word, preserving paragraphs. It is a real pain deleting the paragraph marks. Stephen suitti@haddock.ima.isc.com