Monday, December 22, 2008

Placing text in a circle

I've tried to figure this out for years (OK, maybe months) but I've finally found out how to journal in a circle! Most amazing of all is this can be done in Word!

1. Open a blank document in Microsoft Word.

2. On the drop-down menu at the top left of the screen, select View - Toolbars - WordArt. The WordArt toolbar will now appear on your screen.

3. Click on Insert WordArt (the first button on the left - the big A). A box will come up asking you to select a WordArt style. Pick the third option which shows WordArt in a simple arch. Click OK.

4. Now you should have a box that contains an area for you to type in your text as well as a spot to select a font and a font size.

4a. Pick the font you like, I used CK Script.

4b. Don't worry about font because it will be adjusted automatically so that your words form a perfect circle.

4c. Type in your text and click OK.

5. The text box on your screen will now show your words in an arch shape. From now on I will call this your WordArt. Now we're going to change the arch shape to a circle. Click on your WordArt to select it. You should see little black boxes appear at the corners of it, indicating that it is selected.

6. Select WordArt Shape (the middle of the WordArt toolbar, immediately to the right of the paintcan icon). You will see a selection of different shapes. Select the circle in the second row.

7. Your text should now appear in a circle, but the circle will be flattened. Next we will make the circle perfectly round.

8. Make sure your WordArt is still selected, with the little black boxes on the corners of it. Select Format WordArt (the paint can button). This dialog box has several tabs. Select the Size tab. Enter the height for your circle, e.g., 3" whatever size you want it to be. Enter the same number for the width for your circle, so it will be perfectly round. The size of the font will adjust automatically to fit.

If your phrase is short, you might want to repeat it a couple of times like I did in my example above. Click on Edit Text button on the WordArt toolbar to change your text.

I wanted my phrase to fit inside a scalloped circle that I already had. To do this I printed my circle onto a plain piece of paper then attached my scallop over top using removable tape. I put the paper back into my printer and printed again.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent....thanks for sharing and beautiful card by the way!

    ReplyDelete