When you rotate an object that contains a textured or patterned fill, the fill pattern stays in its original orientation and does not rotate.

The patterned fills are tiled bitmaps that cannot be rotated in Microsoft Office programs. The fill is in a separate drawing layer than the object.

You can use the following workarounds for any degree of rotation. However, they look best at 90-degree orientations and with patterns in darker colors.

Method 1: Using Microsoft Paint

1. On the View menu, point to Zoom, and click 100%.
2. Using the Rectangle tool, draw a rectangle on the page.
3. Click to select the shape. On the Format menu, point to Fill Color, and then click Fill Effects.
4. Click Patterns. Select a pattern (such as vertical lines) that is displayed differently when it is rotated 90 degrees. Click OK.
5. On the Edit menu, click Cut.
6. Start Microsoft Paint. On the Windows Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and click Paint. In Microsoft Paint, following these steps:
   
   
   1. On the Image menu, click Attributes.
   2. Set the Width to 1 and the Height to 1, and then click OK.
   3. On the Edit Menu, click Paste. If you receive the following message, click Yes.
      The image in the clipboard is larger than the bitmap. Would you like the bitmap enlarged?
   4. On the Edit Menu, click Copy.
7. Switch to Microsoft Publisher.
8. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special. Click Bitmap Image Object and click OK. You can now use the Free rotate tool on the inserted image object.
9. On the Arrange menu, point to Rotate Or Flip, and click Custom Rotate. Rotate it to the angle you want, and then click OK.

Method 2: Using Microsoft Photo Editor

NOTE: The following procedure uses Microsoft Photo Editor, a program that ships with Microsoft Office Premium.

1. 
   
2. On the View menu, point to Zoom, and click 100%.
3. Using the rectangle tool, draw a rectangle on the page.
4. Click to select the shape. On the Format menu, point to Fill Color, and then click Fill Effects.
5. Click Patterns. Select a pattern (such as vertical lines) that is displayed differently when it is rotated 90 degrees. Click OK.
6. On the Format menu, click Size And Position. Note the Height and Width measurements of the object. Round any part of the number up to the nearest tenth. For example, if the Height is 2.06 inches, round this number up to 2.10 inches.
7. On the Edit menu, click Cut.
8. Start Microsoft Photo Editor. On the Windows Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Microsoft Photo Editor. Follow these steps:
   
   
   1. On the File menu, click New. The Blank Picture dialog box appears.
   2. Type the Width and Height you noted in step 5. Click OK. Verify that the Zoom is set to 100%.
   3. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
   4. Drag the object to the center of the white background page layout.
   NOTE: This helps prevent outside edges from being cropped. This is more common for objects with curved edges.
9. On the Image menu, click Rotate.
10. Click Rotate Left or Rotate Right. Click OK. You can now save as a new bitmap and insert it in, or copy it to your Publisher file. NOTE: The image will have a white background page layout. You can try changing the white color to match the background color of your image. To make the background transparent, you can use the Set Transparent Color tool in Photo Editor.

The fill color of the original Publisher object is rendered as a vector image. The computer interprets the fill as a series of drawing instructions. Consequently, the fill lines have a smooth display quality. The rotated object that is generated by Microsoft Photo Editor or Microsoft Paint is rendered as a raster image. The computer interprets the image as a series of dots (pixels). This tends to create a jagged pattern (called aliasing) for displaying curved and diagonal line patterns.

For more information about rotating objects, click Microsoft Publisher Help on the Help menu, type Rotate or flip an object in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.