Text Wrapping is a setting within Word and Publisher, which defines how text behaves around images, or other objects, inserted into a document.

Basic Options

By default, images are inserted "inline". This means they will act as text for the purposes of layout.

With text wrapping enabled, you can move images freely around the document, and the text will reformat itself based on the image's position. To enable text wrapping, select the image and then click the Layout Options button which appears alongside it.

Here is an example of each of the layout options, and what it looks like in a document. They are fairly self-explanatory, but some are not quite as clear as others without seeing it in action.

Square

Wraps text in a square shape around the image.

Tight / Through

Wraps text around the image itself, disregarding any transparent areas around the edge. Through will take into account transparent areas in the centre of the image, too.

Note that by default, these options only work on images with transparent backgrounds.

Top and Bottom

Wraps text above and below the image, but not to the sides.

Behind Text

Does not wrap text at all. Instead, the text is drawn over the top of the image.

In Front of Text

Also does not wrap text. The image is drawn over the top of the text.

Advanced Options

The above options represent the majority of tasks you're likely to use Text Wrapping for. However, if you need them, there are additional settings you can configure to make sure your images look just right. To access these, go to the Picture Format tab on the ribbon, and open the Wrap Text menu. Then, select More Layout Options.

This will open a new window, full of additional options to tweak how text is wrapped around your image. You can choose to have text wrapped only on one side of the image, and you can also change the margin to which text will be constrained.

The best way to learn what these options do, and how they affect a document's layout, is to try them out yourself. Open a Word document and get exploring!

Here is the image from before, with Wrapping style set to Square, Distance from Text reduced to 0, and Wrap Text set to 'Left only'. I have also changed the paragraph alignment to 'Justified'.

One final point about text wrapping: if you open the Wrap Text menu and select Edit Wrap Points, Word will show you the border of the image for the purposes of Tight and Through text wrapping. You can also modify this, in case Word hasn't got it quite right. As you edit, you can see how it affects the text in real-time.

The document used in this article is available to download below.