When pasting scanned BMP images into a Word 97 document I understand that Word will automatically switch to ‘Page Layout’ view and that the picture is visible in ‘Page Layout’ and ‘Online’ views only. I am curious to know whether the images can be manipulated somehow in Windows 98 so that they appear in ‘Normal’ view as well.

In each Word document there are layers. The main ones we will talk about are the text layer, and the graphics layer(s). All text in a Word document is in the text layer, except when the text is in a text box. Graphics can also be placed in the text layer where they are called inline images which are part of the text (and therefore move with the text). Any objects in the text layer are visible in any view. Drawings and graphics are placed in the graphics layer and are not part of the text stream. Objects in the graphics layer float anywhere on the page, even outside the margins. In normal view you will not see any floating objects (eg. those in the graphics layer). You may be able to change a floating object, in your case a BMP image to an inline object, so that it is visible in normal view. However, as I don’t run Word I cannot test this theory. You can find the instructions on how to change an object from a floating object to an inline object at support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q167738. About half way down the article there is a heading ‘Changing one type of object to another’ and then ‘Floating Objects’. Directly under that heading, there are two methods to change a floating object to an inline object.