MS Word: Can a picture be in line with text, and appear vertically centered relatively to text?

Well, it can be done, but there is no simple solution. One way to do it is to call font dialogue on the picture and lower it by fixed offset. You would need to guess the value though. And if you change the size of the picure or font later you would need to readjust.

enter image description here

Here is a quick howto:

  • Position picture inline
  • Type space before or after the picture
  • Select the picture and the space character using your mouse or Shift+
  • Hit Ctrl+D to bring the font dialogue
  • Switch to Advanced tab
  • Change Position to Lowered
  • Adjust the offset
  • Hit OK

Result:

enter image description here