Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

The art of text

In a recent article on creative ideas for the computer, I mentioned “WordArt.” It resides in Microsoft Word. (If you have Corel WordPerfect, it is called Text Art and it is accessible from the graphics button on the upper toolbar.)

To find WordArt after you have Word open, click on View and then Toolbars. When WordArt is checked it will appear as a floating bar with about 10 buttons on it. For starters, click on the A at the left end. A large selection of shapes for your word art appears in a grid. For the purposes of this lesson, I am selecting the curved shape that is in the top row, the 3^rd from the left on my computer. I have selected this as I am going to explain how to put your name in a pair of concentric circles. This selection will get us started. Later, try out some more of them

Double click on the third grid from the left, in the top row. A place to change the text now appears. Since it is already highlighted, all you need to do is start typing. Using all caps, type your name. Click on OK at the lower end of the window. If you have made a typo or want to change the words, select Edit Text from the WordArt toolbar, change the text wording, color or font size, and click on OK again. Point (with your cursor) to any letter on the now partially curved name. You will see a 4-headed arrow. Click; hold down the mouse to drag it to the lower part of the screen so we can put in the first circle. Go to view, and then Toolbars and click Drawing. That toolbar will appear at the lower end of the screen. Click on the oval to the right of the square on that tool bar. You won’t see anything happen but if you move your cursor on to the main part of the screen, you will see that it has changed it’s shape to a cross. Click on the cross and start dragging it. Move it around the screen and you will see you can make any continuous round shape like an oval or a circle. Try to make the roundest circle you can, using up about half the width of the sheet on your screen. Move the cursor within the circle you have formed, and when you see the 4- pointed arrow, click and drag the circle to where you want it. In order to make the line thicker, move your cursor back to the drawing tool bar and click on the button that has several short horizontal lines (Line Style).

Select 2-1/4 pt. line thickness. If you think that the circle is not quite round, go to any of the little square boxes that surround the circle (called handles) and drag the circle to the shape you want. Now click on your name, which we left lower on the screen and using the 4-point arrows drag the name up into the circle. You will notice that the words want to go under the circle rather than be on top of it. To correct this, click on the word Draw on the Drawing tool bar, select Order and then click on Bring to Front. Now the words are in front and we will continue. Click in a blank space in the screen to clear the menus from the screen. Go to the lowest right handle on your name and drag the letters more in a circular path. Using the various arrows that appear on your name drag the name around until it fits in the circle nicely. This part is tricky and will take some time getting the hang of it. You may want to stretch the circle to fit the words at some point and so you will want to click on the circle to see it’s handles and then find the arrow s to stretch it. You can get some additional aides by clicking on Draw and selecting Align or Distribute to see if any of these directions can help you.

Once you have it in the circle evenly, locate the inner circle by repeating what we did for the first circle. Click on the oval next to the square on the drawing toolbar. When you seek the cross on the screen, click it at about 4:30 (like a clock face) just inside your name and drag it diagonally up and to the left. Even if it is not exactly right, get it the right diameter before you let go of it. You can then use the 4-point arrow to move it to where you want it. Next, you can repeat the process of making the line thicker by clicking on the 3 horizontal lines button on the Drawing tool bar and selecting 2-1/4 point.

The last thing is to click on all three shapes in turn to move them exactly where you want them. The inner and outer circle and your name are all separate elements. To group them as one element so that they will not move about, hold down Shift as you select each of the 3 objects so you see all the handles of all three objects, then click on Draw and then Group. Now the only set of handles you see are the outer ring and you can move them all where ever you want by dragging.

Next, you can click on Draw again; select Rotate or Flip and then click on Flip Horizontal. This will make a mirror image such that you can print it to a Transfer sheet and iron it on a tee shirt.

Amazing what you can do in Word!

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and can be reached at mouseclix2@yahoo.com