Unable to print a graphic that is embedded in Word document

I am working with Word 2016 on Windows 10. I am working on a long document. I use Headings to provide titles for sections and subsections. To begin the document, I used "Heading 1," but I wanted to cover that with a graphic for aesthetic reasons. So a created a graphic, and then for layout options, I indicated that I wanted this to appear on top the existing text and it should be in a fixed place on the page. When I try to print the document, the graphic is invisible and I only see the heading that I was trying to cover with the graphic. By default, I have the Show hidden characters "¶" on. But if that is off, the graphic disappears. There seems to be no way to cover text with a graphic. I need the text because it will appear in the Table of Contents. I searched the internet and tried to change various settings, but nothing worked. Frustrating. Any ideas on how to solve this mystery?