Project 3: Brochure
Linked Text Boxes

Step-by-Step: Create & Link

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What you will learn:

to create a text box to select a text box to size a text box on ribbon to copy a text box to link text boxes to break a link why text can vanish in a text box to add a custom tab group  how to tell if a text box is linked to create a folder while in the Save As dialog

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Start with:   , a blank document open in Word

You are going to create 4 identical text boxes. You will link them and insert some text to show how the flow of text goes from one box to another.

Create a Text Box

There are several ways to create a text box from the Insert tab.

• Text Box button > choose a Built-In style
• Text Box button > Draw Text Box > drag to create it
•  Shape button > Text Box shape > drag to create it
•  Shape button > choose a shape and drag to create it > Right click on shape > Add Text

The easiest way is with the Shape button by choosing the Text Box shape , which is a rectangle with an A and lines, representing paragraphs of text.

If you want to use a standard pull-quote style, the Built-In styles make that easy.

1. If necessary, open a new blank document.
    
2.   Save this document to your Class disk in the word project3 folder as  textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx 
   How to handle a full disk
    
3. On the Insert ribbon tab in the Illustrations tab group, click on the Shapes button.
   A gallery of AutoShapes appears.
    
4. Click on the Text Box shape in the Basic Shapes section.
   (It may also be in the Recently Used section at the top.)
    
   The gallery closes and the mouse pointer changes to the Precision shape .
     
5. Drag in the upper left area of the blank document to create your text box. It should be about 2 inches square.
    
6.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx] 
   
    

   The anchor symbol at the left in the illustration shows where the text box is attached to the page. You only see the anchor when the text box is selected. You can  move the box around on the page without moving the anchor.

   Warning: Accidentally moving or deleting a text box
   If you select text and include the anchor by mistake, you will be selecting the text box, even if it is out of sight on the page. You can move or delete the text box without knowing that you've done so.
    

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Selecting a Text Box

A text box has two different kinds of selection. You can select the whole text box or you can select it for editing its contents. Of course you can also select only part of the text inside the text box. The border looks different.

Word 2007
Word 2010
	Dashed border = Enter text or edit; cursor shows	Solid border = Format whole box, all text inside at once, no cursor showing	Highlight text to edit just part

Word 2010 only shows the dashes or the solid line on the left and top borders. Harder to see!

1. Click on a blank area of your document to deselect your text box.
    
2. Move the mouse pointer over the border of the text box and click.
   The pointer shape changes to the Move shape: You have selected the whole text box. The border is now a solid line with handles
   
   If you drag when you click, you will move the text box. That's why the pointer has the Move shape.
    
3. Click out of the box to unselect it.
    
4. Move the mouse pointer over the inside of the text box.
   The pointer changes to the I-beam shape which is for editing.
    
5. Click inside the text box.
    
   The border now has a dashed outline and the cursor is blinking on the text line. Simple ... when you know what is going on.
    
6.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
    

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Size a Text Box

You can drag the handles, of course, to change the size of a text box or shape. But sometimes you want exact sizes. You can use the Size boxes on the ribbon.

1. With the text box selected, if necessary, switch to the Text Box Tools: Format tab or Drawing Tools: Format tab.
    
2. Exact Size: At the far right end of the ribbon, set the height to 1" and the width to 1".
   
    
3. Experiment: Format Text Box
   Add some text to the box. Try out various tools on the ribbon. Which apply to the box as a whole? Which affect just the text inside the box? Does it make a difference which kind of selection you have - dashed line or solid line?
    
   When you are ready to continue, undo all of your changes, especially including removing the text that you added.
4.    Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
   

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Copy a Text Box

1. Select the whole text box. Be sure you see a solid border.
    
2. Copy it with the key combo CTRL + C.
    
3. Click off the text box in a blank area of the document to unselect the text box.
    
4. Paste with the key combo CTRL + V.
   A duplicate text box appears on top of the original, but it is offset to the right and down.
    

   Text box pasted inside the original
   If you don't click in a blank area first or have the solid border on the text box, your paste will go into the selected text box itself. This is a common error.
   Solution: Just undo, click elsewhere, and paste again.

   Text box pasted to middle of page
   If you first pasted inside the text box, your next attempt to paste a copy to the page shows up in the middle of the page.
   Solution: Drag the copy to the correct position. If you need more copies, select and copy again before pasting.
    

5. Drag the new text box by its border to the right of the first one.
    
6. Repeat the paste two more times and arrange the text boxes in two rows of two boxes each.
    
   Of course, since these boxes are identical, no one can tell which one you positioned first! It doesn't matter at this time which is which, but it will once they are linked.
    
7. Notice the numbering of the text boxes in the illustration. We cannot type these numbers into the text boxes and then link them! Only an empty text box can receive a link.
    
8.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
    
   

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Link Text Boxes

You cannot link to a text box that already has text in it or that is already in a chain of linked text boxes. You cannot link backwards, only forwards in the chain. Be sure you removed any text that you put in while experimenting.

1. Select Text Box #1, at the upper left.
    
2.  In the Text Box Tools: Format tab or Drawing Tools: Format tab in the Text tab group, click the button Create Link . 
   The mouse pointer changes to one of two pitcher shapes:  a pouring pitcher if you can link at this location; a standing pitcher if  you cannot link at this spot.  The pitcher represents excess text that you want to "pour" from one box to the next.
     
3. Move the pointer to Text Box 2 at the right. 
   The pointer changes to  the pouring shape since this text box is available for linking.
    
   
4. Click on Text Box 2 to link Text Boxes 1 and 2. Text that is entered into the first box will flow into the second, when there is no more room in the first. 
   
    Get out of linking mode: ESC key
   Suppose you start to create a link but change your mind or find that you don't have a text box available yet. How do you get your pointer back?? Press the ESC key.
    
5. Click on the border of Text Box 2, click the button Create Link again.
    
6.  Click in Text Box 3, which is directly underneath Text Box 1.
    
7. Repeat to link Text Box 3 to Text Box 4, which is directly under Text Box 2.
    
   Hmmm. The only change is that the paragraph marks have vanished from boxes 2, 3, and 4. That's because they are linked to box 1 but there is not any text to flow into those boxes yet.
    
8.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
   
   

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Problem: Is it linked?

Word has not yet made it easy to see whether or not a text box is linked, and if it is, to what. There are some ways to see if a text box is linked, depending on the version of Word. Nothing will tell you which text box is linked to which. <sigh> Desktop publishing programs like Microsoft Publisher show you clearly whether or not a text box is linked. It can still be hard to know which text boxes are linked to which.

Experiment: Is it linked?

1. Ribbon: Select each text box in turn and observe changes on the ribbon -
   Text Box Tools: Format tab or Drawing Tools: Format tab in the Text tab group

2. Word 2007: Right Click Menu - Right click on the border of each text box and observe the difference in the commands that show. You might need to select the box first and then carefully right click on the border. If your right click is on the inside of the box, you get a different set of menu items.
    
3. Quick Access Toolbar or Custom Tab Group:
   Add the commands Previous Text Box and Next Text Box to the Quick Access toolbar or, in Word 2010, to a custom tab group in the Drawing Tools tab.
   These commands are in the list 'Commands not on the ribbon'.
    
   Click on each text box in turn and observe which commands become active.
    
   When you are ready to continue, you can remove the commands from the Quick Access toolbar and/or the custom tab group, if you wish.
   
   Breaking links: Until you put text into your text boxes, you can change the linking by just clicking again with the pitcher shape. The old link is broken without a warning, but nothing looks different! Once you have text in the text boxes, it's not so easy to break the chain accidentally. You must break an old link before you can create a new link. 
   

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Vanishing Text in Text Boxes

1. Click in Text Box 1.
    
2. If necessary, on the toolbar, set the font size to 11 and the font to Calibri.
    
3. Type the number  1  and press the ENTER key to start a new paragraph. Continue typing numbers in order up in separate paragraphs, up to  12 . Watch how the text flows through the linked text boxes.

   Surprise! The last several numbers don't show anywhere!

   There is no warning in Word that there is not enough room for all of the text in the final text box. These lines still exist but are hidden below the visible lines in Text Box 4.
   
   Publishing programs like MS Publisher put a symbol at the bottom of a text box when there is overflow text hiding there.
    

4. Enlarge Text Box 4 to 2.25" in height.
   All of the numbers show now.

Hidden text:  Always check carefully that ALL the text is showing and is not hiding out of view below the bottom of the last text box. There is no automatic way to do this! You must know what you put into the text box(es).
 

5.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
    
   

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Break Forward Link

1. Select Text Box 3.
    
2. Click the Break Link button on the ribbon.

   The numbered lines disappears from Text Box 4 and overflow out the bottom of Text Box 3.
    

3. Drag the bottom handle of Text Box 3 downward to verify that more numbers are hiding down there.
    
4.    Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]

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Create Folder in Save As

Sometimes you start to save your work and realize that you need to create a new folder for it. Not a problem! The Save As dialog has a button to help you create a new folder.

1. Put in the header on the left your name, the date, and on the right type  Word Project 3 .
    
2. Click the Office button or the File tab and select Save As.
    
3. Navigate, if necessary, to display the contents of your Class disk in the Save As dialog.
    
4. Click the New Folder button to create a new folder. Name it word project3 .
   
    
5.   Save.
     [textboxes-Firstname-Lastname.docx]
    
6. Print.

In the next lesson you will play around with formatting these boring rectangle text boxes.