Rotating Graphics Around a Different Center Point

You already know that in Word 2002 and 2003 you can use the rotation handle to rotate a drawing object. (Click here to see a related figure.) All you need to do is select the object by clicking it once, and the green rotation handle appears at the top of the object. If you click on the rotation handle and drag it left or right, the drawing object rotates around its center point.

Notice, though, that there are additional handles around the drawing object. These are normally used for sizing. If you hold down the Ctrl key while you click and drag the rotation handle, the object no longer rotates around its center point. Instead, the object rotates around the center point at the bottom of the object, as marked by the bottom center handle. The upshot is that Word provides two ways to rotate the object, depending on whether you have the Ctrl key depressed or not.