# Word 2007: Selecting Graphics & Drawn Objects



## xcp (Apr 4, 2007)

Hi, I've searched and surfed for days on this subject, and found nothing. Recently had to switch to Office 2007, only to find that it seems MicroSoft has removed the ability to select graphical and drawn objects en masse as a group. Used to be we could choose the "object select cursor" which was shaped like an arrow, and then draw rectangles around all the many drawn objects we've made, to group them. Now I can't find that object cursor anywhere in Word 2007! MS help only says "to group objects, select them one-by-one by clicking on each, then group." Surely they haven't removed the ability to "lasso" or bound-box a bunch of drawn objects?! 

Note that I don't use the "drawing canvas" because it's so inconvenient; drawings are integral to the text, and losing sight of that text while developing the diagrams is too clumsy to even consider. So I'm drawing objects right onto the page. There can be many dozens of small lines, dots, text boxes, curves and shapes to a drawing, so selecting by manually clicking each is completely obtuse.

Any knowledge of this object selection capability still being buried somewhere in the features? Thanks in advance.


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## laurie_g (May 7, 2007)

The graphics engine for Office 2007 was revamped - you'll see this best in 
Powerpoint. Word, however, wasn't able to completely implement the new graphics 
in this version, so what you get is a mish-mash of the old and the new. And 
these can't really work together. The Group command works only for the old 
stuff (AutoShapes); it can't work with the new or a combination of new and old.

The Drawing Canvas is old, and putting a graphics file in it "converts" the 
file to work with the old commands. That's why Group will work inside the 
canvas with things that won't accept the command outside the canvas.

The Select command is on the Home Tab in Word - in the Editing Group (far right).


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