Text Wrap

Learning Outcomes

  • Change image layout options.

Notice that wherever the image is placed, the line spacing dramatically increases to fit the size of the picture. This is because images are treated as an inline text character. In other words, Word treats the image like it would treat any word or letter of text. You can change this by applying a text wrap. Text wrap causes all of the text to wrap around the image so that the image does not interfere with line spacing.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. The text has been wrapped around the image forcing the image to go to the right of the document.

Text wrap

There are a couple of ways to get to the text wrap options and apply a text wrap.

Method 1: Quick Apply

Click the box to the right of the image with a rainbow-shaped icon.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. In the top right corner of the image is a button which opens up a dropdown menu for layout options. A large green arrow is pointing at the button on the top right of the image.

Method 2: Format Tab

When you click on the image, the Format tab will appear in the ribbon. From the Format tab, you can choose Warp Text.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. Under the format tab on the ribbon menu the option to wrap text has been selected which has as a result opened up a new dropdown menu allowing different ways to wrap text around an image.

Method 3: Position

Go to Format>Position for options that not only apply text wrap but also position the image on the page.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. Under the format tab on the ribbon menu the option to position the image has been selected resulting in a new dropdown menu. A green arrow is pointing at a green oval which is highlighting which text wrap option has been selected.

A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. The text has been wrapped to either side of the image, making the image the center of the page.

Position in Top Center with Square Text Wrapping

Text Wrap Options

Regardless of which method you use, the text wrap options are the same. The text wrap you will probably use the most is the square text wrap, but there are other text wraps too.

  • Square—Text wraps around the image in a square shape
  • Tight/Through—Text wraps around image, regardless of what shape the image is. This text wrap works best with images that have no background.
  • Top and Bottom—Text stops when it hits the top of the image and continues at the bottom of the image; no text is to the left or right of the image
  • Behind text—Image is behind text. Text will cover image.
  • In front of text—Image is in front of text. Text behind the image is not visible.
A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. This is showing an image with "Square Wrap Text".

Square text wrap
A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. This is showing an image with "Tight Text Wrap".

Tight text wrap
A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. This is showing an image with "Top and Bottom Text Wrap".

Top and bottom text wrap
A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. This is showing an image with "Behind Text" being applied.

Behind text
A Microsoft Word document is open with text on it. On the document an image of a colorful kingfisher is visible. This is showing an image with "In Front of Text" wrapping.

In front of text

After the text wrap is applied, you can click and drag the image to anywhere in the document, and the text will wrap around it accordingly.

Practice Question

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