posted
Perhaps it's after lunch brain drain. How do you reverse lettering in Word? That is, as if seen in a mirror?
I've played around with a graphics box, ended up flipping it 180, but that's not what I want. I could do it in Paint, reverse it, paste it in Word, but surely there is a better way...
And let's say this actaully got up to snuff by some chance and I wanted to send this out. How would it be formated?
posted
I'm not really understanding what you are after. I understand the mirrored writing bit, but what is the application? How big does it need to be? Is it part of a title or something? Are trying for a Russian style of writing for certain letters? Is this something that will need to be repeated throughout a text? Is the whole thing going to be in mirror-view?
One way to do it is to use Word's WordArt function.
Insert -> Picture -> WordArt
When the WordArt Gallery opens, select the style you want (probably top left corner) -- you can always change the fill colour or pattern.
In the Edit WordArt Text box, select the font, size and style then type the text you want to appear.
Go to the View menu and make sure the WordArt toolbar is selected.
On the toolbar, select the icon of the paint bucket and brush (Format WordArt button). Change the Fill Colour to black.
To change the direction of the text so it reads backwards, drag the horizontal anchor on the left side over and past the anchor on the right side. Make sure the box ends up at the same width or else your letters will end up skinny or stretched.
Not sure if this helps, but it beats doing it all in Paint and then pasting it in as graphic.
As for how to properly indicate this in a manuscript format? I haven't the foggiest. If it looks right, print it out and submit.
posted
As a professional graphic designer, let me caution you that WORD is not your most reliable program for formatting. Much of the appearance of text is completely dependant on what fonts the end-user has on THEIR computer. I believe the WORD ART function depends on the end-user using WORD to view the document, not WORKS or any other word processor. The most fail-safe way to present stylized text is to create it in a program like PAINT or PHOTOSHOP, then import the graphic as a GIF or JPG. I'm not a big fan of WORD, even though I'm using it to write my fantasy novel. I wish it had a button I could click that would turn ALL the annoying features off ...<'YES! I know what I'm doing when I spell it that way! LEAVE ME ALONE!'>... and turn it into a simple, dumb, stand-alone typewriter. Now, that IS a fantasy! *sigh*
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Elan has a good point. WordArt would work fine if this is a printed submission, but if you are sending it as an electronic submission, it might not be the best choice.
Posts: 1473 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
In writing, you don't do this. A mirror image of writing is an image, and to include it in the text is including an illustration. If you want to write that something was written backwards, then write "something was written backwards".
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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