When you insert clip art objects in earlier versions of Word, including Word 97 and Word 98, Word places them in the drawing layer (i.e., they float over the text) by default. Word 2000 aims to improve clip art manipulation by instead inserting clip art objects in line with the text (i.e., in the text layer) by default. In some situations, this new default placement is quite helpful, since an inline object is anchored to a precise position within your document text. However, in other situations, default inline placement is a hassle, since it limits your ability to move and edit clip art objects. Granted, it's easy enough to use Word 2000's Text Wrapping tools to move a clip art object from the text layer to the drawing layer, but in many instances it would be more convenient if you could just insert it into the drawing layer to begin with.

We've discovered a trick that will do just that. Although it's a bit tricky, it's nonetheless effective, and we hope that you find it useful.

To insert a Word 2000 clip art object into the drawing layer instead of the text layer, choose Insert | Picture | Clip Art from the menu bar or click the Drawing toolbar's Insert Clip Art button to access the Insert Clip Art dialog box. Locate the clip art object you'd like to insert, right-click on it and choose Copy from the resulting shortcut menu. Next, return to your document, but don't close the Insert Clip Art dialog box. (You can simply minimize it to get it out of the way.) Now, right-click anywhere in your document and choose Paste from the resulting shortcut menu to insert the object into the drawing layer. After you've successfully inserted the clip art object into your document's drawing layer, you can close the Insert Clip Art dialog box. (Note: This technique also works with other Copy and Paste commands and shortcuts, including the [Ctrl]C and [Ctrl]V keyboard shortcuts.)

Created Date: 12/10/2001  Last Reviewed: 12/10/2001  Rev. Date: