Australian PC World - Add callouts and vertical lines to Word documents

Add callouts and vertical lines to Word documents

Tip
To highlight and explain key passages in an article, many magazine editors put text in boxes in the margins of a page or in other blank spaces, then include lines pointing to the passages. These are called callouts, sidebars or box items, and you can add them to your own documents in Word 6.0 for Windows and Word 7.0 for Windows 95. Just follow the steps outlined below.
1. With your document open, click the Drawing button on the Standard toolbar to display the Drawing toolbar.
2. Click the Callout button on the Drawing toolbar, then click and hold where you want the line to begin. A box will appear. Keep holding the mouse button down, and drag the box to the desired location, then release the mouse button.
3. Type the text for your callout inside the box. If your callout is too long to fit, resize the box by clicking in the grey frame around the box to select it and then dragging one of its handles. Format the callout text as you would any other text in your document.
4. With the cursor still in the callout box, click the Format Callout button on the Drawing toolbar, and make any changes you wish in the resulting dialogue box. The default settings in this dialogue box allow for the most flexibility in the callout's position. Click OK, then click anywhere outside the callout to continue working on your document.
If you need to change the callout text later, just click inside the callout box. You can then edit the text, drag the box to a new location, or resize the box.
- George Campbell

Category: Word processing
Issue: Dec 1996
Pages: 166