Feel Tips - Type Text into Scanned Word Document

In our normal daily working days, we usually need fill in different scanned paper forms.  However, you can use Microsoft Word to fill them in. With an easy trick mentioned in this post, Microsoft Word can help us render most paper forms into an electronic file. This trick is not perfect but works in a pitch.

First, we need save the scanned document as a graphics file. The mainly most used image formats like jpg, png and bmp can be used by Microsoft Word. Now, insert the scanned document file in to Word by following the steps below.

1. Create a Word document and open in a blank document. Open the header section. In Word 2007 and 2010, just double-click in the top margin area. In Word 2003, choose Header and Footer from the View menu.
2. After goes to the header section, click the Insert tab. Then, click Picture in the Illustrations group. In Word 2003, choose Picture from the Insert menu, and then choose From File. Browse to the file and double-click it or select it and click Insert.
3. Then, choose Behind Text from the Text Wrap dropdown in the Arrange group on the contextual Format tab. In Word 2003, right-click the picture, and choose Format Picture. Click the Layout tab, choose Behind Text, and click OK.
4. Close the header section.  Don’t worry if the graphic dims a bit.

Now, the scanned document has been inserted into header as background. Then we can type as normally would by using the graphic as guideline.

Most likely, the form won’t align just right the first time you try. However, we can simply open the header and adjust the position of the form as needed. We can also change the font, font size, and tab stops to accommodate the form’s fill-in positions.

Wish this Word trick for typing text into scanned document in Word is useful for your daily job.