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Using Canvas with Word

Learn how to copy and paste Canvas

images and text into a Microsoft

Word™ document.

Documents created for use within the educational and corporate world can be significantly enhanced

when graphic elements -- drawings, illustrations, and other images -- are included within them. These

visual enhancements can lend a pleasing look to a document that may otherwise be dull and unexciting.

For example, an illustration created within Canvas could be an ideal design element that can be brought

in to brighten a text-heavy Word document. However, what is the best method to do this? More to the

point, what might be the best procedure for a specific project? This tutorial will provide details that

describe some of the various methods that are available when you need to place a Canvas-created image

or text object into a Word document.

Opening the Document

Let‘s begin this tutorial by converting or creating a Canvas

file in preparation for export to a Word document.

If you have an existing Canvas file available, you might want

to open it at this time. If you don’t, choose File > New to cre-

ate a new one. Any Canvas document type will work for this

lesson.

In this case, we already have a Canvas file that we can use;

therefore, choose File > Open to open the existing docu-

ment.

The document to be exported into Word is a lesson that was

created to explain the details surrounding the inner workings

of a typical two-stroke engine. As you can see, this docu-

ment contains both graphic illustrations and text.

Copy Text

To copy text from a Canvas document

into Word, you need to use the Selec-

tion tool. Activate this tool by clicking

on it (see right) and select the text that

you want to copy.

Next choose File > Copy. Or, use the

keyboard commands Control+C

(Windows) or Command+C

(Macintosh).

This procedure will place the selected

text on the Clipboard of your computer.

The Clipboard is a “holding place”

within the system memory of your

computer. Remember that images,

text, and other information will remain

on the clipboard until it is either

replaced by other data or when your

machine is turned off.

Pasting Text -Windows OS

Next, open the Word document into which you wish to paste the text. Place the pointer within the docu-

ment where you wish to insert your text and click. Doing so will establish an insertion point within the docu-

ment. After you have established the insertion point choose Edit > Paste Special from Word‘s menu bar.

At this point, you will be presented with a dialog box that will offer several paste options.

Since we wish to retain text editability after it is pasted into the Word document we will need to choose

Unformatted Text. Selecting this option will insert the copied text into Word; however all text formatting set-

tings will be removed.

Tip: Choosing Canvas Drawing object will paste any text that you have selected as an object. After pasting

into Word, the text will appear to have been formatted; however, due to Microsoft’s OLE technology (Object

Linking Embedding), you will not be able to edit the text directly in Word. OLE technology mandates that

unless the Unformatted Text option is selected, the text that you will paste into Word will be transformed

into an object.

If you select the Canvas Drawing Object option to paste the text into Word, the text can only be edited by

double-clicking the object (text) which will open the item from within Canvas. After you make changes to

the text in Canvas, you must save the document so your Word file will automatically be updated.

(continued)

Pasting Text - Macintosh OS

Open the Word document into which you wish to paste the text. Place the pointer within the document

where you wish to insert your text and click. Doing so will establish an insertion point within the document.

Next, use the keyboard command, Command+V, to paste the text into your Word document.

Note: Within the Macintosh OS environment, text is fully editable and retains its formatting when pasted

into a Word document.

In Windows OS your unformatted text should be similar to the example below.

In Mac OS your text will retain its formatting.

Copying Graphics

Now that we have learned how to copy and paste text into a Word

document, let‘s move on to graphics.

To copy images or objects to the Clipboard, first choose the Selec-

tion tool. With this tool, click on the image. To ensure smooth opera-

tion during this step, we recommend that you group the object with

which you’re working. To completely group the object, you need to

select all of the components that make up the illustration and choose

Object > Group.

Tip: To select an image, you need only to activate the Selection

tool and click on the object.

You can leave the object ungrouped; however, as you can see in the

example below, doing so may lead to confusion.

With the illustration grouped, select the

object and then choose Edit > Copy Special

> Copy Options to open the Copy Options

dialog box.

Copy Options is a highly recommended fea-

ture that you should use when you need to

copy graphics to another program.

Reminder: This tutorial describes various

methods that may be used when working

with Canvas and Microsoft Word. Should you

wish to use these procedures with another

application, please refer to the program‘s

documentation before attempting any of

these methods.

When the Copy Options dialog box appears, open the

Preset for drop-down menu and select MS Word 97/98.

Reminder: Although this preset states “MS Word

97/98,” this setting will function properly when working

with all of the current versions of Microsoft Word.

Next, select the Anti-Alias checkbox and press OK.

Doing so will lend a smooth appearance to the items. If

you anticipate the need to reapply these same Copy

Option settings, you may want to select the Use Set-

tings For Copy Command checkbox. Doing so will apply

the options that you have activated within this dialog

box during a normal use of the “Copy” command.

Copy Options (Macintosh)

If you are working with a Macintosh, you will

probably notice that the Copy Options dialog

for the Macintosh version of Canvas 8 con-

tains two additional options. These features

are the Embed Canvas native data and

Embed EPS commands. These commands

are only available from within the Macintosh

version of Canvas 8 Professional Edition.

Activating the Embed Canvas native data func-

tion will embed information that is unique to a

Canvas object. Specifically, should you acti-

vate this feature, all data that has been

assigned to a Canvas object from within the

Object Properties dialog box will be retained;

therefore, if you anticipate a need to retain the

values specific to an illustration or drawing,

select the Embed Canvas native data

checkbox.

The Embed EPS function will assign

PostScript information relating to an object‘s

settings for Color Mode, Transparency Ren-

dering, and Rendering Resolution. If your proj-

ect is destined to be printed on a PostScript

device, you should become familiar with these

settings. Especially, if your document contains

Canvas Objects that have SpriteLayers or

SpriteEffects applied to them.

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The Color Mode drop-down menu allows you to specify RGB, CMYK, Black and White, or Grayscale set-

tings.

If your document is a print project, you should select the CMYK setting. Black and White would be optimal

for line art, and Grayscale would be needed when photorealistic (non-color) images are used. Selecting the

RGB setting will ensure that a project destined for electronic distribution (presentation, Web, or slide show)

will retain a precise color setting.

The Transparency Rendering drop-down menu will allow you to turn off all rendering. Turning off the ren-

dering engine will significantly lower the printer spool size and, therefore, speed up the printing process.

This menu will also allow you to select Render The Entire Selection, the Complete Area, or the Smallest

Area.

If you choose to render the Smallest Area, only the transparent areas of an object will be effected; there-

fore, the rendering process is kept to a minimum. However, some color variations may be evident where

the border of the rendered material meets the unrendered object.

The Complete Area setting is the slowest but most comprehensive option. Everything within the document

will be printed and unwanted borders between rendered and unrendered areas will be avoided.

From the Rendering Resolution drop-down menu, you can enter specific DPI setting that will be applied to

the object when it is rendered. Remember that the Rendering Resolution should match the needs of your

project. Print output will be high (150, 300 DPI, or higher), while documents destined for electronic distribu-

tion will be low (72 DPI).

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Pasting Graphics

To paste the graphic we just copied to the Clipboard in the previous step, reopen the Word document that

we are working in and click within it to create the insertion point. (The location where you want to place the

image.)

For our example, we want to have the text wrap around the illustration. To achieve this effect, we must cre-

ate an insertion point in front of the text we pasted earlier.

Then, choose Edit > Paste. Or, use the keyboard command Control+V (Windows) or Command+V

(Macintosh). The image should appear within the document similar to the example below.

(continued)

Now let‘s apply a text wrap command so that our work within the Word document will attain a professional

appearance.

Windows OS: Begin by right-clicking on the image in MS Word. Doing so will bring up a submenu. From

within this menu, choose Format Object.

Mac OS: Double-clicking on the image will bring up the Format Object dialog box.

From the Format Object dia-

log box within Word, select

the Layout tab. Now you will

have access to a variety of

text wrap choices. Choose

“Square” as the Wrapping

style and Horizontally align

the image to the right. This

setting will make the Word

document appear like the

original Canvas file.

(continued)

If you followed the preceding steps correctly, the text and graphics should look very much like the example

below.

Complete your document by repeating the previous steps to copy and paste the remainder of the Canvas

document into Word.

Below is the completed Word document with graphics and editable text.

You might want to go through this tutorial and experiment a little bit with the different settings. Doing so will

allow you to become familiar with these useful features.

Download completed Word document

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