Cannot align objects in a drawing canvas

Anonymous
2010-07-08T15:31:05+00:00

I have several clipart objects in a drawing canvas and I want to align them with each other and within the canvas. The alignment options are all greyed out regardless of whether I have "align to page" or "align to canvas" selected.

This happens in Word 2010 on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-09-02T09:38:03+00:00

Summarising:

1 - Inside the canvas you cannot align objects

2 - You have to move object outside the canvas in order to align them, BUT:

3 - Outside the canvas you cannot use connectors...

A bit frustrating for people who work every single day with word...

Was this answer helpful?

30+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

88 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-08-16T12:15:15+00:00

    I haven't been following the thread closely, but looking back at the original question, it seems the OP says the objects cannot be aligned with one another or with the canvas "regardless of whether I have 'align to page' or 'align to canvas' selected." But I would think that neither of these should be selected if one wants to align objects with each other. After they're aligned with each other, perhaps they could be grouped and aligned with the page or the canvas. Or perhaps each object could be aligned with the canvas individually, though it sounds as if this is something that cannot be done, either.

    In any case, it appears that (a) Word 2010 is even more unsatisfactory than Word 2007 in this regard, and (b) the developers are aware of the issue (the OP says, "I have spoken to the Research team and they added it to my list of 'things that don't work in 2010'"), though it's depressingly likely that it will come back as "won't fix."

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Stefan Blom 352K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-08-16T07:30:22+00:00

    So it's the reverse of what's been stated in this thread?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-08-15T21:07:07+00:00

    Don't have my Word 2010 system up to check, but I know the Align options don't work except in a drawing canvas in Word 2007.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Stefan Blom 352K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-08-15T17:24:27+00:00

    reshadi,

    In the meantime, note that you don't have to put objects inside a drawing canvas; you can position them directly (right-click and use the appropriate Text Wrapping option), and then use the Align options.

    I'm assuming that the Align options work correctly outside of a drawing canvas in Word 2010.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments