Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Wrapping Text Around a Graphic.

Wrapping Text Around a Graphic

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 7, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

After you have inserted a picture in your document, you can control how surrounding text flows around it. You can either turn wrapping off, or you can cause Word to flow text around the image. To control text wrapping for a graphic, follow these steps:

Insert your graphic as you normally would.
Right-click your mouse on the graphic. Word displays a Context menu.
Choose the Format Picture option from the Context menu. Word displays the Format Picture dialog box.
Click on the Layout tab (or, in Word 97, the Wrapping tab). (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Layout tab of the Format Picture dialog box.

Select a method of text wrapping in the Wrapping Style area of the dialog box.
Click on OK.

Once you have selected a wrapping method, you can modify the wrapping points using the techniques described in other WordTips. (Modifying the wrapping points allows you to get text very close to your image, including on top of it, if desired.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3518) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Wrapping Text Around a Graphic.

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

Unhiding Multiple Worksheets

You can hide a bunch of worksheets at the same time, but Excel makes it impossible to unhide a bunch at once. You can, ...

Discover More

Changing a Macro Description

Part of documenting macros is to provide a good, succinct description of what they do. Changing the description of an ...

Discover More

Finding Circular References

If you have circular references in a workbook, you may see an error message appear when you first open that workbook. If ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Best Quality for High Resolution Graphics

You want your documents to look as good as they can. If those documents include graphics, then you also need to make sure ...

Discover More

Merging Graphics from Access

An Access database can store all types of data, including graphic images. Merging most data from Access into Word is ...

Discover More

Determining Picture Size in a Macro

When processing a document using a macro, you may need for your macro to figure out the sizes of the images in your ...

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 one more than 9?

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.