Word 97's new text boxes, which you create painlessly by selecting InsertûText Box, are great for document layout. You can assemble very complex objects by embedding additional text boxes, WordArt objects, and other discrete objects inside a single text box. After you've created such a complex text box, you may want to copy and paste it several times on a page ù to create a sheet of gift certificates or name badges, for example. If so, here's a nifty trick you should know:

If you simply select the text box, copy it to the Clipboard, and paste it into a new location, only the main text box and its basic contents will be copied. If you've nested other text boxes or objects inside, you need to select all the objects as a group.

Caption: To duplicate a text box, select all its objects and copy them to the Clipboard

To do this, first drag the mouse pointer over the edge of the outermost text box, clicking when it turns into a four-pointed arrow. Next, hold down <Shift> as you drag over each of the remaining objects, and click when the pointer changes. Each object will display its border, signalling that it is selected. If the four-pointed arrow doesn't appear when you drag over an object, that object will be copied with the surrounding text box automatically. Now you can copy the entire group of objects to the Clipboard for pasting.