Add and format text boxes

A text box is a rectangle on the page that holds text.

Draw a text box

1. Click Home > Objects > Draw Text Box. (Insert > Text > Draw Text Box does the same thing.)
2. Drag on the page to draw the box. Or click the page once for a box 2 inches wide and 1 inch tall.
3. Type. The blinking line (the caret) is already inside the box.

After one box, the pointer goes back to normal.

Select the text or select the box

• To work on the text: click inside the box. Double-click a word to select it. Triple-click to select a paragraph. Press Ctrl+A to select all the text in the box.
• To work on the box: click its edge. Drag the edge to move the box, or drag a handle to resize it. Press Delete to remove the box.
• To switch: press Esc while you type, and the box stays selected. With a box selected, press Enter or F2 to type in it again.

With a box selected, font and paragraph commands change all of its text. A selected text box also shows the Text Box tab. See The Text Box tab.

Margins, columns, and alignment

A margin is the space between the edge of the box and its text. A new box has a margin of 0.04 inch on every side.

1. Select the box.
2. Click Text Box > Alignment > Margins and choose None, Narrow, Moderate, or Wide (0.2 inch).
3. To split the text into columns, click Text Box > Alignment > Columns and choose a number from One Column to 4 Columns. Text fills one column, then the next.

For exact numbers, right-click the box, choose Format Object…, and open the Text Box tab of the Format Text Box dialog. It sets each margin, the columns, and the space between them. Align Top, Align Middle, and Align Bottom place the text up or down in the box.

Make text fit the box

Choose Text Box > Text > Text Fit, or right-click the box and choose Text Fit.

• Do Not Fit: changes nothing. New boxes start here.
• Best Fit: draws the text larger or smaller to fill the box.
• Shrink Text On Overflow: draws the text smaller only when it does not fit.
• Grow Text Box to Fit: changes the height of the box to match the text.

Best Fit and Shrink Text On Overflow work only on a box that is not linked to another. They change how large the text is drawn, not the font size you set.

Turn text sideways

Click Text Box > Text > Text Direction. Lines of text now run from top to bottom. Click it again to undo.

When the text does not fit

Extra text is hidden, not deleted. Select the box and look at its lower-right corner. A small red box that says A… is the overflow indicator. Enlarge the box, choose a Text Fit option, or cut words. You can also click the red box to continue the story in another box. See Flow text between text boxes.

Related

• Flow text between text boxes
• Format text
• The Text Box tab
• Select, move, resize, rotate, align, group, and layer