The different components of the Microsoft Office Suite, including the word processor Word and the spreadsheet Excel, are created to work together seamlessly. In fact, you're able to open one program and import it into another, and, while remaining in that single program, work on both documents at the same time. When looking to illustrate a report, proposal or other document in Word 2007, bring in an Excel spreadsheet, which you can customize to fit any size text box on the page.

Open Microsoft Word 2007. Click the Office button in the top left corner of the screen. Select "Open" and browse to the document to which you want to add an Excel spreadsheet. Double-click the file name and the document opens in a new Word window.

Scroll to the section of the document to include the spreadsheet. To add a text box, click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen and click the "Text Box" button on the ribbon/toolbar below it. Choose a text box style and click it to insert it in the Word document. Right-click the text box and select "Remove Content Control" to remove Word's placeholder words from the text box.

Click the border of the text box, grab a corner and stretch it to your preferred size, the size the Excel spreadsheet will fit inside.

Right-click the text box, select "Format Shape, click the "No fill" button and click "Close." This will enable your spreadsheet to show through the text box.

Click the "Insert" tab again and click the "Object" menu on the toolbar. Click the "Object" option on the small drop-down list. Click the "Create from File" tab, click the "Browse" button and navigate to the Excel spreadsheet to fit into the text box.

Double-click the spreadsheet file name to return to the "Insert Object" window. Click "OK" and the spreadsheet is inserted into the Word document.

Press and hold down the "Shift" button on the keyboard, grab a corner of the spreadsheet and drag the corner in towards the middle of the spreadsheet to shrink it. You may have to do this multiple times, as depending on the size of the spreadsheet, it may have flowed off the Word screen.

Drag the spreadsheet inside the text box.

• How Can I Shrink an Excel Spreadsheet to Fit in a Text Box in Word 2007? [10/14/2010 00:04:02]