why cant i draw a straight line or arrow in word 2013?

Anonymous
2014-01-04T08:05:17+00:00

hi

in word 2013 when I want to draw an arrow or a line it cant be straight in 180 degree in page and it is always a bit curve to up or down for example draw a rectangle and on its border line draw an arrow ( the arrow must be exactly on rectangle border line ) and you will see that the arrow is curve and is not on rectangle border.

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Anonymous
2014-03-21T15:41:48+00:00

This is easy to recreate, but can be solved by setting the height or width to zero in the ribbon.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-05-09T15:44:32+00:00

    For me:

    • Select the straight arrow
    • on the ribbon click Drawing Tools Format tab
    • At the end of the ribbon (on mine) click the Size launcher (arrow pointing down right)
    • Go down to Scale and put a tick in Lock aspect ratio
    • Click OK
    • Boom!!! when you click and drag on either selection indicator at start or end and make shape longer or shorter it remains straight.

    SO HAPPY to have found this out.  I do loads of diagrams and reference guides so this is really useful and removes a form of irritation I've experienced since using Office 2013 in June 2014

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-04-14T12:26:57+00:00

    Excellent find, thank you very much. This does indeed allow me to straighten the arrows.

    It does, but...  it takes time and it is only good until next movement.

    For me, it only happens for lines with arrow (sometimes all lines) outside drawing canvas. If you draw in canvas, you can move single end of line to horizontal or vertical position.

    This is important bug, don't downplay it. A lot of people use Word for simple sketches in text. It just question of time to hit it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-03-20T21:11:54+00:00

    Turn on Guidelines and zoom in 300% or so. Click one end of the arrow or line and hold down the Alt key while dragging for fine adjustments.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-01-04T08:43:08+00:00

    Please tell us exactly how you are drawing this line / arrow so we can try to recreate the problem. 

    When I use insert tab > Illustrations group > Shapes command > Lines group then I select one of the lines, straight or with an arrow.  I do get straight lines.  You just have to select the correct shape.

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