i added the following code to fix it:

orange.Underline = 0

considering that i don't have any corresponding code prior to this to add an underline to it, i find it very odd (not to mention that the underlining only happens when MSword is minimized). i found that activate() for word didn't do the trick either (i thought that would bring MSword to the top to view it, but it still underlined the picture).

very weird. i guess i'm not here to always understand the why's of programming but to be able to work around the why not's (i feel like robert kennedy here) :-)

Paul