Old Style Word Art in Word 2010?

Anonymous
2010-07-22T19:06:27+00:00

Could anyone tell me whether it is possible to insert Word Art similar to that in versions of MS Word from 2003 and before?  The Word Art in MS Word 2010 only seems to appear in straight lines, whereas I would sometimes prefer to have the writing in the style of a curved banner?  Have MS just removed this option, oram I looking in the wrong place? It just doesn't seem to be an option? Thanks. P.S, I know the text can be offset at an angle, but clicking on the small green circle, but I want the writing to curve?

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Anonymous
2010-07-23T01:15:17+00:00

Word 2010's WordArt is a bit more powerful than you suspect, I believe. Insert a WordArt object, then, in Drawing Tools - Format, look at Text Effects - Transform. Does that give you what you want?

If not, you can still get the old style. Save the file in Word 2003 format, and now when you choose Insert - WordArt, you'll see the legacy choices.

Herb Tyson Microsoft Word MVP

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  1. Jay Freedman 208.2K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-09-03T00:35:16+00:00

    I think you can get close to most of those gradient schemes with this sequence:

    • Select the WordArt text.
    • Click the Text Fill button (top right in the WordArt Styles group).
    • Click Gradient > More Gradients.
    • In the dialog, click the Gradient Fill option button. Then click the Preset Colors button and choose a scheme reasonably close to what you want.
    • Move the sliders on the Gradient Stops to adjust the distances between transitions. Click each slider in turn and choose its color, brightness, and transparency settings if necessary. You can also add or remove sliders with the little buttons to the right of the scale.

    The WordArt itself gives a live preview as you modify the settings.

    To be honest, I haven't tried to duplicate any of the 2003 schemes exactly. It could take quite a lot of finicky adjustment.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2011-09-03T03:07:52+00:00

    My impression is that you can get a lot of nice effects, but it is very difficult to exactly duplicate the effects that could be achieved in "old" WordArt (especially in the 3-D area). The most serious defect, however, is that you cannot use a picture fill. I really hope that ability is restored in a future version.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-09-03T04:00:06+00:00

    Thanks Jay. Just tried it, so that is where it was hidden. I wish they had included a couple of color gradient fill options in the gallery.

    Suzanne: just out of curiosity, have you tried to do a picture fill in 2010 using a 2003 format file. I'm wondering if 2003 compatibility mode will expose the function in 2010.

    Actually, I just tried it in 2010, 2010 docx. With a picture selected I right clicked on it and picked "Format Picture" (or the dialog launcher on the Picture Tools Format conditional tab, picture styles group). At the top of the dialog there is a fill option, but I couldn't get it to work like 2003 (which I also just tried). Is that the problem you are talking about?

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  4. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2011-09-03T13:57:41+00:00

    In Word 2003 WordArt, if you use the Format WordArt dialog, Colors and Lines tab, Color | Fill Effects, there is a Picture tab in the Fill Effects dialog. You can choose any picture to fill the WordArt.

    In Word 2007, you can click the Shape Fill button in the WordArt Styles group on the WordArt Tools | Format tab and select Picture. You can also get to the classic Format WordArt dialog by clicking the dialog launcher Size group, then select the Colors and Lines tab and click Fill Effects..., which gives you  the whole selection.

    In Word 2010, in a .doc file, you get the same WordArt tools as in Word 2007. In a .docx, you get the same Picture option on the Shape Fill menu, but it fills the WordArt bounding box,  not the WordArt text. To fill the actual text, you have to use the Text Fill button in the WordArt Styles group, and it includes gradients but not Picture (and you have to actually select the text, not just click in it, since each letter is individual--not a single object as in previous versions).

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