Rotating Graphics Around a Different Center Point

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 20, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003

You already know that in Word 2002 and 2003 you can use the rotation handle to rotate a drawing object. (See Figure 1.) All you need to do is select the object by clicking it once, and the green rotation handle appears at the top of the object. If you click on the rotation handle and drag it left or right, the drawing object rotates around its center point.

Figure 1. A rotation handle.

Notice, though, that there are additional handles around the drawing object. These are normally used for sizing. If you hold down the Ctrl key while you click and drag the rotation handle, the object no longer rotates around its center point. Instead, the object rotates around the center point at the bottom of the object, as marked by the bottom center handle. The upshot is that Word provides two ways to rotate the object, depending on whether you have the Ctrl key depressed or not.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (337) applies to Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Returning Blanks or Asterisks from a Lookup

Want to return more than a value when doing a lookup? Here's one way to do it by adding an IF clause to your formula.

Discover More

Managing Corporate Templates

Templates are used to store styles and lots of other customizations that affect how you use Word. On a single-user ...

Discover More

WordTips: Working with Graphics (Table of Contents)

One way to enhance your documents is with Word's powerful graphics capabilities. Discover how to best utilize graphics ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Understanding Object Anchors

Do you have documents that contain objects? Understanding how Word handles objects and the way they are anchored can make ...

Discover More

Changing the Size of a Graphic

Word allows you to add more than text to your documents; you can also add graphics. Once added, you can modify the size ...

Discover More

Creating Oval Pictures

A couple of ways to create oval shaped pictures in a Word document.

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.