Objects on the page

What you can place on the page

From the Insert menu:

• Text Box;
• WordArt: a box with curved text;
• Shape: rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, triangle, diamond, hexagon, star, block arrow, callout, line and arrow. You can type inside closed shapes;
• Image on Page…: an image placed freely on the page, unlike Image… (⇧ ⌘ I), which puts it in the line of text. Format › Object › Place on Page moves an in-line image onto the page.

Every object is anchored to a paragraph: it moves with it if Move with Text is on, otherwise it stays put on the page.

Text wrapping

In Format › Object and in the Arrange section of the inspector:

• Around the Object: text flows around the frame;
• Tight: text follows the outline of the shape or the visible part of a transparent image;
• Top and Bottom: no text at the sides;
• In Front of Text and Behind Text.

Selecting, moving, ordering

• A click selects the object: drag it, resize it with the handles and rotate it. The arrow keys move it.
• ⇧- or ⌘-click selects several objects; Edit › Select Objects on Page takes them all.
• Arrange: Bring to Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, Send to Back.
• Align to Page: left, center, right, top, middle, bottom.
• Align Objects (with two or more objects): aligns edges or centers, or distributes horizontally and vertically.
• Group (⌥ ⌘ G) and Ungroup (⇧ ⌥ ⌘ G). Resizing a group scales all its objects.

Appearance

In the inspector, on the object’s tab: fill with color, opacity and gradient, border, size and rotation, and alternative text describing the object.

WordArt

The Curved Text section chooses the curve: Stretched, Arch Up, Arch Down, Circle, Wave and Inflate. You type right on the curve. Letter outline and shadow are set in Effects, in the Font section. WordArt from Word files, including old Word 97-2007 ones, and LibreOffice Fontwork open as curved boxes.

Images

• Crop and rotation really change the image (a PNG stays PNG); you can add a border and a shadow.
• Replace Image… puts another image in place of the selected one.
• File › Reduce Image Size… slims the file: see Formats and compatibility.

In RTF, DOC and plain text, text boxes become text and shapes are lost.