VBA Code

Different Types of Shapes

Shapes can be classified to be any of the following:
     ● Pictures
     ● OLE Objects
     ● AutoShapes
     ● FreeForms
     ● ActiveX controls.

Shapes can appear in 2 places

• In the Drawing Layer

• In the Text Layer - any shapes in this layer are referred to as inline shapes.

What is a Shape ?

A shape object is an object that is in the drawing layer of the document.
They are anchored to a range of text but are free-floating and can be positioned anywhere on the page.
The shape object is a member of the Shapes collection, which includes all the shapes in the main story of a document or in all the headers and footers of a document.

There are two objects that represent shapes.
1) The shapes collection which represents all the shapes in the document
2) The shaperange collection which represents a subset of all the shapes, typically for the current selection.

Dim objShape As Shape 
   
   For Each objShape In ActiveDocument.Shapes 
       With objShape 
           If .Type = msoShapeType.msoLinkedOLEObject Then 
               .LinkFormat.Update 
               .LinkFormat.BreakLink 
           End If 
       End With 
   Next shapeLoop 

Converting Shapes and InlineShapes

You can use the ConvertToInlineShape and ConvertToShape methods to convert shapes from one type to the other.
You can only convert pictures, OLE Objects and Active X objects to inline shapes.
This code converts all the inline shapes to actual shapes ??

Dim objShape As Shape 
For Each objShape In ActiveDocument.InlineShapes 
   objShape.ConvertToShape 
Next objShape 

Selection.PasteSpecial Placement:=wdInLine 

The following line generates an error if track changes is on.

Shapes(2).ConvertToInlineShape 

Sub Macro1() 
    Dim oInlineShape As InlineShape 

    For Each oInlineShape In Selection.InlineShapes 
       oInlineShape.SoftEdge.Type = msoSoftEdgeType2 
    Next oInlineShape 
    
End Sub 

VBA - Positioning

Shapes(1).GroupItems(2).IncrementTop(-1) 

Positioning Pictures and Objects

This is represented in VBA either by the InLineShape object or the Shape Object

ActiveDocument.InLineShapes.Item(4).WrappingStyle = 

The following can be used with inline shapes : inlinewithtext, square, tight

ActiveDocument.Shapes.Item(3).WrappingStyle = 

The following can be used with shapes: behind text, infront of text

Selection.ShapeRange(1).HeightRelative 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).WidthRelative 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).LeftRelative 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).TopRelative 

For Absolute Position

Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeHorizontalPosition = wdRelativeHorizontalPosition.wdRelativeHorizontalPositionMargin 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).Left = 20 

For Absolute Position

Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeHorizontalPosition = wdRelativeHorizontalPosition.wdRelativeHorizontalPositionLeftMarginArea 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).LeftRelative = 100 

If the Vertical position is set to "Paragraph" then the object will move with text

Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeVerticalPosition = wdRelativeVerticalPosition.wdRelativeVerticalPositionParagraph 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeVerticalPosition = wdRelativeVerticalPosition.wdRelativeVerticalPositionLine 

If the Vertical position is set to anything else then the object will have a "fixed position on page"

Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeVerticalPosition = wdRelativeVerticalPosition.wdRelativeVerticalPositionPage 

Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeHorizontalSize = wdRelativeHorizontalSize. 
Selection.ShapeRange(1).RelativeVerticalSize = wdRelativeVerticalSize. 

VBA - Shapes

ShapeRange

Represents a set of shapes in a document.
This could be just 1 shape or 2 or more shapes
Most operations you can do with a Shape object you can also do with a ShapeRange object when it contains only 1 shape.

Text Boxes

For adding textboxes refer to [Pages > VBA Code > Text Boxes]

Deleting Shapes

For some reason (msoPicture) objects can only be removed from headers and footers if the header and footer is activated.
This line of code will not work

objHeader.Range.ShapeRange.Item("picturename").Delete 

Adding Shapes

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddShape(Type:=msoAutoShapeType.msoShapeRectangle, _ 
                               Left:=10, _ 
                               Top:=10, _ 
                               Width:=10, _ 
                               Height:=10, _ 
                               Anchor:=False) 

Anchor - Optional Variant. A Range object that represents the text to which the AutoShape is bound. If Anchor is specified, the anchor is positioned at the beginning of the first paragraph in the anchoring range. If this argument is omitted, the anchoring range is selected automatically and the AutoShape is positioned relative to the top and left edges of the page.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddCallout(Type:=msoCalloutType.msoCalloutOne, _ 
                                 Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=10, Height:=10, Anchor:=False) 

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddCanvas(Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=10, Height:=10, Anchor:=False) 

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddCurve(SafeArrayOfPoints, Anchor) 

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddDiagram(Type:=msoDiagramType.msoDiagramOrgChart , _ 
                                 Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=10, Height:=10, Anchor:=False) 

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddLabel(Type:=msoTextOrientation.msoTextOrientationUpward , _ 
                               Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=10, Height:=10, Anchor:=False) 

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddLine(BeginX:= , _ 
                              BeginY:= , _ 
                              EndX:= , _ 
                              EndY:= , 
                              Anchor:=False) 

BeginX - Single. The horizontal position, measured in points, of the line's starting point, relative to the anchor.
BeginY - Single. The vertical position, measured in points, of the line's starting point, relative to the anchor.
EndX - Single. The horizontal position, measured in points, of the line's end point, relative to the anchor.
EndY - Single. The vertical position, measured in points, of the line's end point, relative to the anchor.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddPicture(FileName:= , _ 
                                 LinkToFile:= , _ 
                                 SaveWithDocument:= , _ 
                                 Range:= ) 

FileName - String. The path and file name of the picture.
LinkToFile - Variant. True to link the picture to the file from which it was created. False to make the picture an independent copy of the file. The default value is False.
SaveWithDocument - Variant. True to save the linked picture with the document. The default value is False.
Range - Variant. The location where the picture will be placed in the text. If the range isn't collapsed, the picture replaces the range; otherwise, the picture is inserted. If this argument is omitted, the picture is placed automatically.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddPolyline(SafeArrayOfPoints, Anchor) 

Changing the Type

Dim objShape As Shape 
   objShape.AutoShapeType = msoAutoShapeType.msoShapePentagon 

Returning a Shape

Dim objShape As Word.Shape 

Set objShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes.Range("shapename") 
Set objShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes.Item("shapename") 

Set objShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes.Range(1) 
Set objShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes.Item(1) 

It is often simpler to use Item when you just have a single item

Returning Several Shapes

You can use VBA.Array to construct a list
ActiveDocument.Shapes.Range(Array("shaperange1","shaperange2"))

Change the fill color of the first shape in the selection

Selection.ShapeRange(1).Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(10,20,30) 

objShape.TextFrame.HasText 

This is not boolean but integer

objShape.TextFrame.TextRange.Fields.Locked 

This is not boolean but integer

Sub ShapePositioning2() 
Dim objshape As Word.Shape 

   Set objshape = ActiveDocument.Sections(1).Range.ShapeRange(1) 
   'this can be a textbox  
   
   Debug.Print objshape.Adjustments 
   Debug.Print objshape.AlternativeText 
   Debug.Print objshape.Anchor 
   Debug.Print objshape.AutoShapeType 
   Debug.Print objshape.Callout 
   Debug.Print objshape.CanvasItems 
   Debug.Print objshape.Child 
   Debug.Print objshape.Diagram 
   Debug.Print objshape.DiagramNode 
   Debug.Print objshape.Fill 
   Debug.Print objshape.GroupItems 
   Debug.Print objshape.HasDiagram 
   Debug.Print objshape.HasDiagramNode 
   Debug.Print objshape.Height 
   Debug.Print objshape.HorizontalFlip 
   Debug.Print objshape.Hyperlink 
   Debug.Print objshape.ID 
   Debug.Print objshape.LayoutInCell 
   Debug.Print objshape.Left 
   Debug.Print objshape.Line 
   Debug.Print objshape.LinkFormat 
   Debug.Print objshape.LockAnchor 
   Debug.Print objshape.LockAspectRatio 
   Debug.Print objshape.Nodes 
   Debug.Print objshape.OLEFormat 
   Debug.Print objshape.Parent 
   Debug.Print objshape.ParentGroup 
   Debug.Print objshape.PictureFormat 
   Debug.Print objshape.RelativeHorizontalPosition 
   Debug.Print objshape.RelativeVerticalPosition 
   Debug.Print objshape.Rotation 
   Debug.Print objshape.ScaleHeight 
   Debug.Print objshape.ScaleWidth 
   Debug.Print objshape.Shadow 
   Debug.Print objshape.TextEffect 
   Debug.Print objshape.TextFrame 
   Debug.Print objshape.ThreeD 
   Debug.Print objshape.Top 
   Debug.Print objshape.Type 
   Debug.Print objshape.VerticalFlip 
   Debug.Print objshape.Vertices 
   Debug.Print objshape.Width 
   Debug.Print objshape.WrapFormat 
   Debug.Print objshape.ZOrderPosition 

End Sub 

Shapes WrapFormat

This example adds an oval to the active document and specifies that the document text wrap around the left and right sides of the square that circumscribes the oval. The example sets a 0.1-inch margin between the document text and the top, bottom, left side, and right side of the square.

Set myOval = ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddShape(msoShapeOval, 36, 36, 90, 50) 
    
With myOval.WrapFormat 
    .Type = wdWrapSquare 
    .Side = wdWrapBoth 
    .DistanceTop = InchesToPoints(0.1) 
    .DistanceBottom = InchesToPoints(0.1) 
    .DistanceLeft = InchesToPoints(0.1) 
    .DistanceRight = InchesToPoints(0.1) 
End With 

Shapes LinkFormat Object

What is a LinkFormat Object ?

Represents the linking characteristics for an OLE object or picture.

Properties

Methods

SourceFullName Property

This example sets MyExcel.xls as the source file for shape one on the active document and specifies that the OLE object be updated automatically.
Using this property is equivalent to using in sequence the SourcePath, PathSeparator and SourceName properties.

With ActiveDocument.Shapes(1) 
    If .Type = msoLinkedOLEObject Then 
        With .LinkFormat 
            .SourceFullName = "c:\my documents\myExcel.xls" 
            .AutoUpdate = True 
        End With 
    End If 
End With 

VBA - Inline Shapes

An inline shape is an object that is in the text layer of the document.
An inline shape can only be a picture, an OLE Object or an ActiveX control.
Represents a object in the text layer of the document.
InlineShapes do not have names.

InlineShape objects are treated like characters and are positioned as characters within a line of text.
The Inlineshapes collection represents all the inline shapes in the document, range or selection.

The Count property for the InLineShapes collection in a document returns the number of shapes in the main story only.
If you want to count the number of inline shapes in other areas then use must use a Range object.

Use the new method to create a new picture as an inline shape
You can use the AddPicture and AddOleObject methods to add pictures or OLE Objects and link them to the source file.
Use the AddOleControl to add an Active X control.

Dim objInlineShape As Word.InlineShape 
Dim objshape As Word.Shape 

objShape = objInlineShape.ConvertToShape 
objInlineShape = objShape.ConvertToInlineShape 

Type Property

Use this property to return the type of the Inline Shape

objInlineShape.Type = wdInlineShapeType.wdInlineShapePicture 

InlineShape Object

The InlineShape object is a member of the InlineShapes collection.
The InlineShapes collection contains all the shapes in a document, range, or selection.

Use InlineShapes(index), where index is the index number, to return a single InlineShape object.
Inline shapes don't have names.
The following example activates the first inline shape in the active document.

ActiveDocument.InlineShapes(1).Activate 

This example saves the linked picture that's defined as the first inline shape in the active document when the document is saved.

Set myPic = ActiveDocument.InlineShapes(1) 
If myPic.Type = wdLinkType.wdInlineShapeLinkedPicture Then 
End If 

InlineShapes Collection

This represents all the InlineShape objects

Field Property

This example inserts a graphic as an inline shape (using an INCLUDEPICTURE field) and then displays the shape's field code.

Dim ishapeNew As InlineShape 
Set iShapeNew = _ 
    ActiveDocument.InlineShapes.AddPicture(FileName:="C:\Windows\Tiles.bmp", _ 
                                           LinkToFile:=True, _ 
                                           SaveWithDocument:=False, _ 
                                           Range:=Selection.Range) 

MsgBox iShapeNew.Field.Code.Text 

IsPictureBullet Property

Indicates if an InlineShape object is a picture bullet. Read-only.
Although picture bullets are considered inline shapes, searching a document's InlineShapes collection will not return picture bullets.
This example formats the selected list if the list if formatted with a picture bullet. If not, a message is displayed.

Public Sub IsSelectionAPictureBullet(shp As InlineShape) 
    On Error GoTo ErrorHandler 
    If shp.IsPictureBullet = True Then 
            shp.Width = InchesToPoints(0.5) 
            shp.Height = InchesToPoints(0.05) 
    End If 
    Exit Sub 
ErrorHandler: 
    MsgBox "The selection is not a list or " & _ 
        "does not contain picture bullets." 
End Sub 

Use the following code to call the routine above.

Call IsSelectionAPictureBullet(shp:=Selection.Range.ListFormat.ListPictureBullet) 

VBA - Pictures

Adding Pictures

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddPicture(FileName, LinkToFile, SaveWithDocument, Left, Top, Width, Height, Anchor) 

FileName - The full folder path
LinkToFile - (Office.Core.msoTriState)
SaveWithDocument - (Office.Core.msoTriState)
Left - (Single) Position in Points of the upper-left corner relative to the column (not the page)
Top - (Single) Position in Points of the upper-left corner relative to the paragraph (not the page)
Width - (Single) Width of the picture in Points
Height - (Single) Height of the picture in Points

VBA - Text Boxes

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddTextbox(Type:=msoTextOrientation.msoTextOrientationUpward , _ 
                               Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=10, Height:=10, Anchor:=False) 

Reading Writing Text

When you read text from a textbox additional characters will be included in your text string.

Dim stext As String 
   stext = ActiveDocument.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text 
   Debug.Print stext 
   For ichar = 1 to Len(stext) Step 1 
      Debug.Print Asc(Mid(stext, ichar,1)) & " - " & Mid(stext,ichar,1) 
   Next ichar 

Any spaces are represented by Chr(32)
At the end of the text there will also be a Chr(13)
To remove the carriage return at the end of the string you need to include the following:

stext = Repace(stext, Chr(13),"") 

Text boxes cannot have the same name if you are renaming using VBA
However testboxes with the same name can be inserted by inserting the same building block multiple times

The following line of code does not include any shapes in the headers or footers

ActiveDocument.Shapes 

Public Sub Page_GetTextboxPosition() 
Dim oShape As Word.Shape 
   On Error GoTo ErrorHandler 
   Set oShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes(1) 
   Debug.Print "Left - " & oShape.Left 
   Debug.Print "Top - " & oShape.Top 
   Debug.Print "Width - " & oShape.Width 
   Debug.Print "Height - " & oShape.Height 
End Sub 

Adds a text box to a drawing canvas.

Dim shpCanvas As Shape 
'Create a new document and add a drawing canvas
    Set shpCanvas = ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddCanvas _ 
    (Left:=10, Top:=10, Width:=150, Height:=200) 
    shpCanvas.CanvasItems.AddTextbox _ 
         Orientation:=msoTextOrientationHorizontal, _ 
         Left:=40.45, Top:=129.3, Width:=129.5, Height:=205.2 

Add the Title text box

    Set oShape = ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddTextbox _ 
         (Orientation:=msoTextOrientationHorizontal, _ 
         Left:=105, _ 
         Top:=213, _ 
         Width:=Application.CentimetersToPoints(13.55), _ 
         Height:=Application.CentimetersToPoints(1.74)) 

   oShape.Line.Weight = 1 
   With oShape.TextFrame.TextRange 
      .Text = "Document Title" 
      .ParagraphFormat.Alignment = wdAlignParagraphCenter 
      .ParagraphFormat.Style = "Title" 
   End With 

Sub ChangeAndUpdate() 
   Dim objRange As Range 
   Set objRange = ActiveDocument.Bookmarks("InsideTextBox").Range 
   objRange.Text = "Saturday" 
   ActiveDocument.Bookmarks.Add "InsideTextBox", objRange 

   'ActiveDocument.Shapes(1).Name = "TextBox_1"
   ActiveDocument.Shapes.Item("TextBox_Update").TextFrame.TextRange.Fields.Update 
End Sub 

Size the text in a textbox to fill the textbox

Sub ResizeTextToFitTextBox() 

   If Selection.StoryType <> wdTextFrameStory Then Exit Sub 

   Dim myTextRange As Range 
   Dim myShape As Shape 

   Set myShape = Selection.ShapeRange(1) 
   Set myTextRange = myShape.TextFrame.TextRange 

   myTextRange.Font.Size = 2 

   If myShape.TextFrame.Overflowing = True Then 
       ActiveDocument.Undo 
       MsgBox "Even when set to a size of 2 points, the text overflows the textbox." 
       Exit Sub 
   End If 

   Do Until myShape.TextFrame.Overflowing = True 
       myTextRange.Font.Size = _ 
       myTextRange.Font.Size + 0.5 
   Loop 

   myTextRange.Font.Size = _ 
   myTextRange.Font.Size - 0.5 

End Sub 

VBA - OLE Objects

Returns the InlineShape object that represents the new OLE object.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddOleObject(ClassType, _ 
                                   FileName, _ 
                                   LinkToFile, _ 
                                   DisplayAsIcon, _ 
                                   IconFileName, _ 
                                   IconIndex, _ 
                                   IconLabel, _ 
                                   Range) 

ClassType -
FileName -
LinkToFile -
DisplayAsIcon -
IconFileName -
IconIndex -
IconLabel -
Range -

Returns the Shape object that represents the new OLE object.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddOleObject(ClassType, _ 
                                   FileName, _ 
                                   LinkToFile, _ 
                                   DisplayAsIcon, _ 
                                   IconFileName, _ 
                                   IconIndex,_ 
                                   IconLabel, _ 
                                   Left, _ 
                                   Top, _ 
                                   Width, _ 
                                   Height, _ 
                                   Anchor) 

ClassType -
FileName -
LinkToFile, -
DisplayAsIcon -
IconFileName -
IconIndex -
IconLabel -
Left -
Top -
Width -
Height -
Anchor -

VBA - ActiveX Controls

Adding ActiveX / OLE Controls

ActiveX controls are represented as either Shape objects or InlineShape objects in Microsoft Word.
To modify the properties for an ActiveX control, you use the Object property of the OLEFormat object for the specified shape or inline shape.
Returns the InlineShape object that represents the new ActiveX control.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddOleControl(ClassType:= 
                                    Range:=Selection.Range) 

ClassType - The programmatic identifier for the ActiveX control to be created.
Range -

Returns the Shape object that represents the new ActiveX control.

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddOleControl(ClassType:= 
                                    Left:=10, _ 
                                    Top:=10, _ 
                                    Width:=10, _ 
                                    Height:=10, _ 
                                    Anchor:=False) 

ClassType - The programmatic identifier for the ActiveX control to be created.
Left -
Top -
Width -
Height -
Anchor -

VBA - WordArt

ActiveDocument.Shapes.AddTextEffect(PresetTextEffect:=msoPresetTextEffect.msoTextEffect10, _ 
                                    Text:= , _ 
                                    FontName:= , 
                                    FontSize:= , 
                                    FontBold:=msoTriState.msoTrue, _ 
                                    FontItalic:=msoTriState.msoTrue, _ 
                                    Left:= , 
                                    Top:= , 
                                    Anchor:=False) 

Text - String. The text in the WordArt.
FontName - String. The name of the font used in the WordArt.
FontSize - Single. The size, in points, of the font used in the WordArt.
FontBold - MsoTriState. MsoTrue to bold the WordArt font.
FontItalic - MsoTriState. MsoTrue to italicize the WordArt font.
Left - Single. The position, measured in points, of the left edge of the WordArt shape relative to the anchor.
Top - Single. The position, measured in points, of the top edge of the WordArt shape relative to the anchor.

VBA - Frames

Frame Object

Represents a frame. The Frame object is a member of the Frames collection.

Frames Collection

The Frames collection includes all frames in a selection, range, or document.
Use Frames(index), where index is the index number, to return a single Frame object.
The index number represents the position of the frame in the selection, range, or document.
The following example allows text to wrap around the first frame in the active document.

ActiveDocument.Frames(1).TextWrap = True 

Creating Frames

Use the Add method to add a frame around a range.
The following example adds a frame around the first paragraph in the active document.

ActiveDocument.Frames.Add Range:=ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range 

If you want the frame to "move with text" then the relative vertical position must be paragraph

With ActiveDocument.Frames(1) 
   .RelativeVerticalPosition = wdRelativeVerticalPosition.wdRelativeVerticalPositionParagraph 
End With 

Tables in the Frames collection

If you have a table in your document which has been positioned in a particular place on the page then this table will appear in the Frames collection
The text wrapping for this table will be "Around"

Text Wrapping

You can wrap text around Shape or ShapeRange objects by using the WrapFormat property.
You can position a Shape or ShapeRange object by using the Top and Left properties.

Sub FramePositioning() 
Dim objframe As Word.Frame 

   Set objframe = ActiveDocument.Frames.Item(1) 

   'there is no .Left  
   Debug.Print objframe.Height 
   Debug.Print objframe.HeightRule 
   Debug.Print objframe.Borders 
   Debug.Print objframe.HorizontalDistanceFromText 
   Debug.Print objframe.HorizontalPosition 
   Debug.Print objframe.LockAnchor 
   Debug.Print objframe.RelativeHorizontalPosition 
   Debug.Print objframe.RelativeVerticalPosition 
   Debug.Print objframe.Shading 
   Debug.Print objframe.TextWrap 
   Debug.Print objframe.VerticalDistanceFromText 
   Debug.Print objframe.VerticalPosition 
   Debug.Print objframe.Width 
   Debug.Print objframe.WidthRule 
End Sub 

Cut the offending shapes out of the document and paste them back into the document with their anchors at a new location, immediately below the heading paragraph.

Public Sub MoveAnchors 
Dim objShape As Shape 

   For Each objShape In ActiveDocument.Shapes 
      If Left(objShape.Anchor.Style,7) = "heading" Then 
         objShape.Select 
         Selection.Cut 
         Selection.MoveDown Unit:=wdParagraph, Count:=1 
         Selection.Paste 
      End If 
   Next objShape 
End Sub 

If you work with Frames.
The TextRange property of the TextFrame object returns a range containing the text within the text frame.

Frame Property

Returns a Frame object that represents the frame formatting for the specified style or find-and-replace operation. Read-only.

This example creates a style with frame formatting and then applies the style to the first paragraph in the selection.

Dim styleNew As Style 

Set styleNew = ActiveDocument.Styles _ 
    .Add(Name:="frame", Type:=wdStyleTypeParagraph) 
With styleNew.Frame 
    .RelativeHorizontalPosition = wdRelativeHorizontalPositionMargin 
    .HeightRule = wdFrameAuto 
    .WidthRule = wdFrameAuto 
    .TextWrap = True 
End With 
Selection.Paragraphs(1).Range.Style = "frame" 

This example finds the first frame with wrap around formatting. If such a frame is found, a message is displayed on the status bar.

With ActiveDocument.Content.Find 
    .Text = "" 
    .Frame.TextWrap = True 
    .Execute Forward:=True, Wrap:=wdFindContinue, Format:=True 
    If .Found = True Then StatusBar = "Frame was found" 
    .Parent.Select 
End With 

Selection.Frames(1).TextWrap = false