Up to this week, your documents have been text-first. Even Week 5's research report — with its TOC and footnotes — was still primarily a wall of words. Real-world documents have visual elements: a flyer with a logo, a report with a chart, a poster with shapes and icons, a presentation slide with SmartArt explaining a process. This week you learn how to add those elements correctly.

Two patterns underlie everything you'll do this week. First, every graphic object has its own contextual ribbon tab that appears when you click on the object — Shape Format, Picture Format, SmartArt Design. Find the tab; it has every command you need. Second, every object needs three decisions: where it sits (position), how text relates to it (wrap), and how a screen-reader user will understand it (alt text). The poster project requires you to make all three decisions for every object.

Word's Insert tab has a dedicated group called Illustrations that contains every object type you'll work with this week. The 3D Models button has its own dropdown; SmartArt has a gallery; Icons has a searchable picker. All seven types are inserted from the same neighborhood.

Insert a Shape

Insert → Shapes → pick from gallery (Lines, Rectangles, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Equation Shapes, Flowchart, Stars and Banners, Callouts). Click the shape; cursor becomes a crosshair; click-and-drag on the document to place and size it in one motion.

Insert a Picture

Three sources, picked from a dropdown when you click Pictures:

• This Device — picture file already on your computer
• Stock Images — Microsoft's built-in royalty-free library (Images, Icons, Cutout People, Stickers, Illustrations, Cartoon People)
• Online Pictures — Bing image search filtered by license (be careful — verify license before using)

Insert a Text Box

Insert → Text Box. Two paths: pick a built-in style from the gallery (Simple Text Box, Sidebars, Quote callouts) OR pick "Draw Text Box" at the bottom and click-drag a custom box. Click inside the box to type. The text box becomes its own little contained text area that can be positioned anywhere.

Insert an Icon

Insert → Icons. A searchable picker opens with hundreds of clean monochrome icons organized by category (Accessibility, Animals, Apparel, Arrows, Business, Communication, Education, etc.). Search by keyword. Click one or several icons (Shift-click for multiple). Click Insert.

Insert a Screenshot or Screen Clipping

Insert → Screenshot. Two options:

• Available Windows — thumbnail gallery of all your open windows. Click one; Word inserts a screenshot of that whole window.
• Screen Clipping — Word minimizes; cursor becomes a crosshair; click-and-drag to capture a custom rectangular region. Released = inserted.

Insert a 3D Model

Insert → 3D Models → Stock 3D Models (Microsoft's built-in library) or This Device. Pick a model. Click Insert. The model appears with rotation handles — drag the center handle to rotate it freely in 3D space.

Once a picture is inserted, click on it. A new contextual tab appears: Picture Format. Every picture-formatting tool lives there.

Picture Styles — One-Click Frames and Effects

Picture Format → Picture Styles gallery. 28 pre-built combinations of border, shadow, reflection, and shape: simple frame, beveled rectangle, soft edge, oval, rotated reflection, etc. Click one; the picture transforms instantly. Click another; it changes again.

Picture Effects — Granular Control

Picture Format → Picture Effects dropdown. Six categories: Shadow, Reflection, Glow, Soft Edges, Bevel, 3-D Rotation. Each has presets plus an Options dialog for fine control. Use these instead of Picture Styles when you need a specific effect (only a glow, only a bevel) without the full style package.

Artistic Effects — Make a Photo Look Painted

Picture Format → Artistic Effects. 23 presets that transform a photo into something stylized: Marker, Pencil Sketch, Chalk Sketch, Paint Brush, Mosaic Bubbles, Glow Edges, Plastic Wrap, Photocopy, etc. Subtle effects can give a polished look; strong ones change the photo character significantly.

Remove Picture Background — The Magic Eraser

The most useful Domain 5 feature most students don't know exists. Click the picture. Picture Format → Remove Background (far left of the Adjust group). Word automatically detects the foreground subject and offers to remove everything else.

The Background Removal contextual tab opens with two manual tools:

• Mark Areas to Keep — click on parts Word incorrectly excluded; they get added back
• Mark Areas to Remove — click on parts Word incorrectly kept; they get removed

Click Keep Changes to commit; Discard All Changes to revert. The result: a picture with a transparent background that floats cleanly over other content.

SmartArt is Word's diagram engine. You pick a layout (Process, Hierarchy, Cycle, Relationship, Matrix, Pyramid), type your content, and Word handles the visual layout — sizing, spacing, alignment, color. Adding a node automatically resizes others to fit. Removing a node automatically repositions the rest.

Insert SmartArt

The SmartArt gallery opens with 8 categories down the left. Pick a category, then a specific layout. Click OK. The SmartArt appears on your document with placeholder text.

The Eight SmartArt Categories

• List — multi-bullet content (when bullets feel insufficient)
• Process — sequential steps with arrows showing flow (most common)
• Cycle — circular processes, loops, repeating patterns
• Hierarchy — org charts, decision trees, taxonomy
• Relationship — Venn diagrams, comparisons, opposing concepts
• Matrix — 2×2 grids comparing pairs of dimensions
• Pyramid — hierarchical bands of varying width
• Picture — layouts where each node holds an image

Edit SmartArt — The Text Pane

Click SmartArt → SmartArt Design tab → Text Pane (left side of ribbon). A small panel opens beside the SmartArt. Type your content as a bulleted outline; the SmartArt updates live with each keystroke.

Indent (Tab) creates sub-items where the layout supports them. Promote (Shift+Tab) moves them up a level. Press Enter to add another node at the current level.

Change Layout, Change Colors, Change Style

Once your SmartArt is populated, three quick formatting moves on the SmartArt Design tab:

• Layouts gallery — switch from one layout to a different one with the same content (e.g., Process → Cycle, or Basic Process → Step Up Process)
• Change Colors — pick from theme-coordinated color palettes (single color, 2-color, full rainbow)
• SmartArt Styles — pre-built combinations of 3D effects, gradients, and outlines

Three sub-objectives in this section (5.3.1–5.3.3) — adding and modifying text inside text boxes, shapes, and SmartArt nodes. The mechanic is similar across all three but with subtle differences.

Text Inside a Shape

Right-click the shape → Add Text. The shape becomes a text container; cursor appears inside. Type. The text auto-aligns to the shape's center by default; format like normal text (font, size, bold, alignment via the Home tab).

Alternative: just click on the shape and start typing — modern Word versions accept this without the right-click step.

Text Inside a Text Box

Click inside the text box; cursor appears; type. Text boxes are designed for text — no Add Text step needed.

Text boxes are also linkable. If text overflows one box, you can chain it to a second box: select the first box → Shape Format → Create Link → click empty second box. Text flows from one to the other automatically. Used in newsletters and magazine-style layouts.

Text in SmartArt Nodes

Click a node directly and type, OR open the Text Pane (covered in Section 3) and type as a bulleted list. Both methods stay in sync — typing in one updates the other.

Every graphic object on a real document needs three deliberate decisions: where it sits, how text relates to it, and how a screen reader will describe it. The infographic poster project requires you to make all three decisions explicitly for every object.

Position — Putting an Object in the Right Place

Select the object. Picture Format / Shape Format → Position dropdown (in the Arrange group). Word offers nine preset positions: top-left, top-center, top-right, middle-left, middle-center, middle-right, bottom-left, bottom-center, bottom-right — each "with text wrapping" baked in.

Click a preset and the object snaps to that position relative to the page (or the current paragraph, depending on Layout Options). For more precise control: Position dropdown → More Layout Options → set exact horizontal and vertical measurements in the dialog.

Wrap Text — How Body Text Flows Around the Object

Picture Format / Shape Format → Wrap Text dropdown. Seven choices, each with different visual effect:

Alt Text — Accessibility for Screen-Reader Users

Alternative text (alt text) is a short description of an image that screen readers read aloud to users who can't see it. Real documents — academic, professional, government, web — all require alt text on every image. The MO-110 exam tests it (sub-objective 5.4.3).

Right-click any object → View Alt Text… A pane opens with a description box. Type 1–2 sentences describing what the image shows and why it's there.

What Makes Good Alt Text

For decorative-only objects (a pure visual flourish that adds no information), check the "Mark as decorative" box in the Alt Text pane. Screen readers then skip the object entirely — better than meaningless alt text.

Six new shortcuts. Three are essential — Ctrl+drag duplicates objects, Shift+arrows resizes precisely, Alt+drag bypasses snap-to-grid for free positioning.

Click any card to flip it and see the definition. Click again to flip back.

Read each definition and click the correct term. Each question gives instant feedback.