How to Include Chapter Numbers in MS Word Figure Captions
© Ugur Akinci
Imagine you have the following two photos in Chapter 2 of your MS Word technical document:
You would like to include chapter numbers in the captions of these photos so that they will read as follows:
- Figure 2-1 ATM Machine
- Figure 2-2 Laundry Room
To include the chapter numbers automatically in all your figure captions, follow these steps:
1) Make sure your chapter headings are formatted with paragraph style “Heading 1” and then numbered by using the multi-level numbering button (as explained in another post).
2) Place your cursor where you want to place your figure caption (traditionally AFTER the image).
3) Click and select the References tab on your MS Word 2007 ribbon.
4) Click Insert Caption to display the Caption dialog box:
As you can see, the default value does not include the chapter number “2”.
5) Click Numbering to display the Caption Numbering dialog box:
6) Select Include Chapter Number check-box. From Chapter Starts With Style drop-down list, select Heading 1. Click OK to return to the Caption dialog box.
7) Back in the Caption dialog box, in the Caption field, type in the text of the caption: “ATM Machine”:
8) Click OK to close the dialog box and insert the caption:
9) Repeat the procedure for the other photo as well:
This method makes sure all your figures are captioned in the right sequence and with the correct chapter number displaying as prefix to the figure number.
