The Inline Image Problem
Google Docs is primarily a word processor, meaning it is designed to handle flowing text. When you insert an image into a document, Docs must decide how that image interacts with the text around it. By default, most newly inserted images are treated as “In line with text.” This means the image acts exactly like a giant, invisible character typed directly into the sentence. If you add or delete paragraphs above the image, the image will automatically move up or down the page, perfectly tracking along with the line of text it is attached to.
While this is fine for simple reports, it is a nightmare if you are designing a complex layout, such as a flyer, a resume, or a newsletter. If you carefully position a company logo in the top right corner of the page, and then you hit “Enter” to start a new paragraph, the logo will jump down the page, ruining your layout. If you need an image to remain firmly anchored in one specific geographic location on the page, regardless of how much text you add or delete around it, you must disable its inline text wrapping.
How to Lock an Image’s Position
You can stop an image from moving with your text by changing its text wrapping style to a fixed position.
- Open your document in Google Docs.
- Click once on the image you want to lock in place. This will highlight the image with a blue border and reveal a small menu bar directly underneath it.
- In that small menu bar, click the second icon, which represents Wrap text (it looks like a square surrounded by horizontal lines).
- Once “Wrap text” is selected, a new dropdown menu will appear in that same small bar. Click the dropdown menu that currently says “Move with text.”
- Change the selection to Fix position on page.
The image is now physically anchored to the page coordinates. You can click and drag it anywhere you want, and it will remain exactly in that spot, even if you delete every single word of text around it.