Working with Anchors

Article contributed by Bill Coan

When a graphic or drawing object floats, it remains anchored to a particular paragraph. If that paragraph is cut and pasted or simply displaced to a new location by text entered somewhere upstream, the anchor also moves to the new location and in general so does the floating object. That is, if a paragraph lands on a new page, the floating object anchored to it will land on the new page as well.

On the other hand, if a paragraph moves up or down without changing pages, the floating object may or may not move, depending on whether it has been positioned relative to the paragraph or the page. This setting can be controlled from the Format Picture or Format Object dialog box, under the Position Tab.

To view an anchor, you can either click on the ShowAll button , or choose Options on the Tools menu, then click the View tab and place a checkmark next to Object Anchors.  You should then see something like this:

Note: Even with this option turned on, an object must be selected in order for its anchor to be visible.

Important tip: If grouping several drawing objects, it is very important that they are all anchored to the same paragraph as each other, or you're likely to get very unexpected results! You can move an anchor's position by clicking on it and dragging.