Drawing Shapes in Word

Mac or Windows

Question

How do I make white letters of the alphabet in black circles?

Answer

You can put text on almost any drawing element in MS Word.

Step-by-Step Directions

  1. Be sure that the Drawing Toolbar is visible.
    1. If not, select it from the View/Toolbars/Drawing menu

  2. Choose Oval from the Basic Shapes selection on the Drawing toolbar.

  3. Hold down the shift key while drawing your shape to make it a circle.

  4. Click the arrow button to the right of the Fill Color button on the Drawing toolbar.

  5. Select the color of your choice for your shape.

  6. Right-click (control-click) the shape then choose Add Text from the popup menu.

  7. Select font size, style and color choices from the Formatting Toolbar, type your text.

  8. To select the object for copying, click the edge of the circle, not the text.

  9. Press Command+c (ctrl+c in Windows) to copy your shape.

  10. Click in an empty area of your document before you paste (Command+v - or ctrl+v in Windows). If you paste while your object is still selected, Word will attempt to place it within the selected shape
  11. Drag the new shape to your desired location.
  12. When you release the button, your new shape will move to the new location.
  13. You can then delete the text in the new shape, and type new text.
  14. You don't have to paste each circle individually, but can select more than one object by holding down the shift key as you select shapes. (You can also click the Select Objects button, 2nd down on the Drawing toolbar, and drag around the objects you wish to select.) Then you can copy the full selection and then repeat steps 10 through 14 until you are finished.

Screen Shots

Step 1
Step 1.1
Step 2
Word Drawing Toolbar
Word- View Menu, Toolbars, Drawing
Word Basic Shapes

Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Circle
Fill Color
Choose Color

Step 6
Add Text

Step 7
Formatting Toolbar

Step 8
Step 10
Step 11
Selected Shape
Pasted Shape
Dragging Shape

Step 12
Step 14
2 Shapes
4 shapes

32 Shapes

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Download Typewriter.doc