The “Caption” options in Microsoft Word allow you to label images, diagrams, charts, illustrations and figures so your reader can quickly identify what they mean, as well as enabling use of the “dynamic” list functions offered by Microsoft Word.
As such, using captions can help make sure your written work is clear, professionally presented and easy to follow. None of this is much good unless you know how to use captions, though, so strap in and we’ll run you through the basics.
Adding a basic caption to an existing image/chart in your document is pleasingly straightforward:
This will make a caption appear in the chosen position.
If you want to add a caption to something in the document other than an embedded image, position the cursor where you want to caption to appear and either:
Microsoft Word comes with a default “Caption” style, but you can modify this through the “Styles” menu. If you want to set your own caption style, simply:
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If you want to use different caption styles for different captions or in different parts of your document, you can do this by:
As well as labeling your charts and images, using the “Caption” options in Microsoft Word means you can add a dynamic list of charts/figures to your document.
This is quicker than creating a list manually, and you can update dynamic lists at the touch of a button, thereby ensuring they remain accurate even if you amend captions later on. To use this function:
If you’re using more than one caption style, you can even create separate lists for different label types.
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