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I can't select text boxes placed over graphics in Word 2013
Thread poster: Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 23:07
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
Apr 27, 2016

Hello everyone,

I'm facing a problem with Word: I can't select text boxes placed over graphics. Here's an example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/86lny29mbe3ifsl/Example%20of%20text%20over%20graphic.docx?dl=0

I looked online but couldn't find anything. Any ideas?<
... See more
Hello everyone,

I'm facing a problem with Word: I can't select text boxes placed over graphics. Here's an example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/86lny29mbe3ifsl/Example%20of%20text%20over%20graphic.docx?dl=0

I looked online but couldn't find anything. Any ideas?

Alain
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Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 22:07
German to English
possible work-around Apr 27, 2016

I don't want to open the file on my computer, so I can't test this out.

I don't know how many text boxes you are dealing with, but if it is only a few, you could try selecting the image, cutting it out, dealing with the (now selectable) text box, and then pasting the image back in.

Does that work?

[Edited at 2016-04-27 09:19 GMT]


 
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 23:07
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
It would take too much time Apr 27, 2016

Thanks for the suggestion, Michael. It would work, but it would take way too much time. I'm interested in making very small changes, it's an in-details job.

 
B D Finch
B D Finch  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 22:07
French to English
+ ...
Do you need to? Apr 27, 2016

Do you actually need to open those text boxes? First of all it should be up to your client to provide the file in editable format, unless otherwise agreed. Why not just insert either text in square brackets, or a comment to indicate the changes/translation?

 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 22:07
German to English
What about usind the search function? Apr 27, 2016

Can you use the search function to get to them?

 
Platary (X)
Platary (X)
Local time: 22:07
German to French
+ ...
The texts are graphics... Apr 27, 2016

I dowloaded and opened the file in Word 2016. You cannot edit the texts in the pictures because these pictures are pictures embedded in a Word file...

Only the "Pièce n°..." are editable texts.

So you have to do it with a graphic application, even if you get the original advertisement pictures.

Good luck!


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 22:07
Spanish to English
+ ...
Basic rates for basic services Apr 27, 2016

I insist that clients using non-workable formats and insertions take responsibility for their actions, or else pay more for these added-value tasks.
Here's my collaboration condition number 6 in French :

6) Les insertions graphiques compliquent très souvent le bon déroulement du service basique de traduction, ce qui par conséquent augmente les honoraires, en fonction du temps nécessaire à la réalisation du travail.


 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:07
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
New text box Apr 27, 2016

As Adrien says, these are images, not text boxes, and are not easily editable. You could place a new text box over the text and enter the new text in those boxes. However, for the header, which has a coloured background, it won't look very good. But it should be enough to do the job.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 22:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
FWIW, and a solution Apr 27, 2016

Alain Alameddine wrote:
I'm facing a problem with Word: I can't select text boxes placed over graphics. Here's an example (...url in first post).


FWIW, when I open your DOCX file in Word 2003, I had no trouble selecting the text in the text boxes, by simply clicking the text and using Ctrl+A. I can also type new text into those boxes.

However, I was unable to select the text box itself in such a way that I could e.g. move it away from the underlying graphic (when I tried that, part of the graphic also moved along). Nor could I cut it or copy it (when I select the text box only, and copy it, and paste it elsewhere, it pastes the entire graphic plus text, not just the text box that I had selected).

==

In Word 2010, I get the same behaviour as other folks here -- I can't select any of the text, at all. I'm no expert, but my googling found something and I figured this out for Word 2010:

Go Home > Select (at the far right) > Selection Pane. This opens up a pane that allows you to select each element individually.

You can then select text box (in the pane), then hover your mouse over the edge of the box (in the document), and right-click and select "cut" and then select "paste" (you can paste directly there, or into a new file, if you prefer). The text box is fully editable (and the text box is resizable), and can be moved back into its original location. Let us know if this works for you.



[Edited at 2016-04-27 12:47 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:07
Member (2008)
Italian to English
What I suggested Apr 27, 2016

B D Finch wrote:

Do you actually need to open those text boxes? First of all it should be up to your client to provide the file in editable format, unless otherwise agreed. Why not just insert either text in square brackets, or a comment to indicate the changes/translation?



That was what I suggested when this same query appeared in another thread that seems to have disappeared now; but for some reason my suggestion was not welcomed.

[Edited at 2016-04-27 12:54 GMT]


 
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 23:07
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Could you please not change the subject? Apr 27, 2016

I'm asking for help with selecting the text boxes, not with dealing with my client.

 
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 23:07
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
They're text boxes Apr 27, 2016

Adrien and John, these are indeed text boxes.

 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:07
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
Save as .doc Apr 27, 2016

Open the file, then save it as a .doc instead of a .docx.

The text is then editable.

However, the original text seems to then be visible through the text box.


 
Alain Alameddine
Alain Alameddine  Identity Verified
Lebanon
Local time: 23:07
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I can edit the text, but I can't select it Apr 27, 2016

I can edit the text, but I can't select it.

 
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman
Sandra & Kenneth Grossman  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 23:07
French to English
+ ...
Superposed pictures Apr 28, 2016

These are two layers of superposed grouped images, where the top one is a text box and the bottom one is an uneditable image in English. After you ungroup the image, you can select the text boxes.

HTH,

Sandra


 
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I can't select text boxes placed over graphics in Word 2013






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