Can't cross-reference a figure caption
Topher Cawlfield
Hi,
I'm using Word 97 and want to have it automatically number my figures. I
insert an image from a file (wish I could drag-n-drop BTW), select the
image, and select Insert->Caption... . The default behaviour is fine. I
then want to reference the figure in my text ("As shown in Figure 2 ..."
for example), so I choose Insert->Cross-Reference. Under the list of
Figures, I don't see anything.
I find that if I select some text in the body of my document, and make a
figure caption for it, I can then reference it elsewhere. But it seems
that I cannot create cross-references for any figure captions that are in
text boxes. That's strange since I think figure captions go into text
boxes by default. I must be doing something wrong. What am I missing?
While I'm at it, I wonder if there are any fixes or planned improvements
for a couple other minor problems I've had: I can't rotate a CGM picture
(the rotate option is greyed out). Also I can't insert an encapsulated
postscript picture that doesn't have a low-res preview -- neither Word nor
Power Point have a postscript interpreter. Finally, I would love an
"export to postscript" or "print as postscript" option in Word. The
closest I can come is to select a postscript printer then choose print to
file. But that file will often have some goofy additions to the postscript
which is specific to the printer I chose but won't work in general. Those
three issues are my current wish-list. :-)
Thanks in advance for any help.
- Topher
Joe Ventola
Captions:
You aren't missing anything. I can' figure why MS made text boxes the
default for captions and then wouldn't let you cross-reference text in
captions. Maybe it will be fixed in SR-2.
In the meantime you can convert those text boxes to frames by right clicking
the text box, xhoose Format Text Box, Text Box tab, Convert to Frame.
Rotating pictures
Word won't rotate, flip or otherwise modify anything but Word Drawing
Objects. You can convert most types of clipart (including cgm I believe) by
clicking on it and choosing Dissasemble Picture. Drag this command to your
drawing toolbar from Tools, Customize, Commands. I use it all the time.
EPS graphics
Never have been able to do that; don't know why. Just a limitation of the
program.
Print to Postscript
Publisher comes with a Postscript Printer driver that also works with other
Office programs. I use it regularly and it may be worth the cost of buying
Publisher.
--
Joe Ventola
Modus Management
Microsoft Word MVP
MS Beta Site 259060
Joe_V...@msn.com
Topher Cawlfield wrote in message <35980D42...@uiuc.edu>...
Bulent Abali
Joe Ventola wrote:
> Captions:
>
> You aren't missing anything. I can' figure why MS made text boxes the
> default for captions and then wouldn't let you cross-reference text in
> captions. Maybe it will be fixed in SR-2.
>
> In the meantime you can convert those text boxes to frames by right clicking
> the text box, xhoose Format Text Box, Text Box tab, Convert to Frame.
Good tip. I am having the same problem. However, if I convert a text box to a
frame,
then Word97 doesn't let me group the figure and the caption. Then the problem
becomes "how do I keep the figure and caption together." If one moves
for some reason the other doesn't necessarily follow. What do we do about that?
--
Topher Cawlfield
Hi,
I might be able to answer that one myself. You can first create a text
box, put your cursor in it (make sure it's nice and big too since these
darn things won't auto-size I don't think), and then insert your
"picture". Hopefully the figure will not be in its own picture box, but
rather acting like a character in your text box. You can then add the
caption to the figure, and the caption also should not be in its own box,
but rather it will be text written below the picture, all in the same text
box. If that's not working right, you can deselect "float over text" in
the format picture or format text box dialog boxes for either the figure or
the caption. You can then convert that original text box into a frame, and
you'll have your caption and figure all stuck together inside one frame!
I'm sure I am not the first to whine about how much this drives me crazy.
I am also an experienced programmer, and I know how important debugging is,
and how one must be honest. These flaws in Microsoft Word deserve
ridicule, not acceptance. There is just no excuse for them. As a very
minimum everyone should expect to see an acknowledgment of these bugs with
all the documentation, but what I've read so far details how to caption
figures in a way that just doesn't work. Either the person who documented
this has never actually tried it, or they are just lying. Neither one of
these behaviors should be accepted. Unfortunately they are common practice
today.
Okay I'm mostly finished blowing off steam. Does anyone know how I can
make the default text box or frame have no border, and no text wrapping?
If the defaults can't be set, has anyone made up a macro that allows you to
just insert figures and caption them without going through a two minute
Mickey-Mousey-clickey game every time? When you have several dozen figures
in your average document, it can get more than a little tiresome.
I have also experienced undue frustration dealing with figures that are
anchored to a paragraph that is near the bottom of the page. I can't
explain in detail all of what happens, but many strange things do happen.
The main problem seems to be that the paragraph wants to be set in fixed
relation to the top of a paragraph, but if you move the picture around,
often that paragraph will move to another location, and hence the figure
after you release the mouse button. I've also experienced some strange
un-deletable page breaks after a little figure-jostling. Is there some
proper technique that must be learned?
There must be workable solutions to all these problems. Surely Microsoft
wants to make a useable product?
- Topher