CA word:3 Text Formatting

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Effective docs are more than just right words on a page. Must convey a message through their appearance > Character formats set the tone for the message. Paragraph formats provide organization and clarity.

Done properly, a reader has an idea of the message just by the look of a doc. e.g. a flyer for children's event,brochure for company webinar. You can distinguish one from another due to formatting.

Character Formats:

When you change the look of your text, you're making changes to the font which refers to typeface, size and style of a character. E.g. Calibri 11 point regular is default word font.

TYPEFACE = the name of the design of letters & other characters. Word gives dozens of typefaces in the font list on home tab. Some are decorative some are blocky. You should choose based on who your audience is for that piece.

Typefaces are further classified as serif and sans serif letter which draws the letters of a word together for easier reading.

You've probably seen many docs organized by paras of text divided by titles and subtitles. Main text = Body Text.

Fonts used for titles are often different to body text. Serif is used for titles as it is easy to read. This helps readers understand content.

Typeface used depends upon place of work - office may use creative fonts only in letterheads or not at all. Promo material creation will use many different fonts and colors.

Font size:

Size of font is measured in points, w/72 points to an inch. Make headings and titles at least 2 points larger than body. Consider audience when choosing size.

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Font Style:

Font styles help you make certain words and characters stand out. Including: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, superscript (small number above), subscript (small number below eg h2o), color, highlight etc.

Be careful using styles e.g. underline is assoc. with hyperlinks so can be misleading. Using too many colors can be unprofessional. Bright colors and highlights can make it hard to read.

In general, italics are used to emphasize & indicate book titles.

Bold used for emphasis and headings

Underlining is rarely used; sometimes for titles.

Strikethrough not used often; some specialized tasks e.g redlining legal docs.

Applying character formats:

When you want to change the look of text 1. select text. 2. select commands in font group on home tab. - or for a few, click font dialog box launcher. When you use mouse to select text, a mini toolbar appears. This lets you apply a limited amount of popular font options quickly. - shortcuts include - bold = ctrl+B, italic = ctrl+I, underline = ctrl+U.

Paragraph formats:

Another way to control look of a doc. They affect entire paragraphs not just selected characters. When you change it, you change the way text aligns within a doc or how much space appears before, after or between lines.

Paragraph alignments:

= The way text aligns within a document. You choose alignment based on message > a formal paper is left aligned or justified (this adjusts space between words to align on both the right and left edges, used on newspapers and books). Right alignment is better for presenting a catchy phrase for a product. Titles are centered.

You can change alignment by placing insertion point in the para you want to format or by selecting multiple paras together then click alignment command in para group in home tab.

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Paragraph indents:

Indents are used to set apart a para from other text. Quotes are examples of where this is used. Non-indented para looks normal.

Paragraph spacing:

You may want to format paragraphs w/space before and after - can improve readability as it makes it easier to see.

Extra space between each line e.g. research papers & drafts have add. space between lines as well as above and below paras.

Applying paragraph formats:

To apply para formats, place insertion point in the para needed to be formatted or select several paras. To apply indent & spacing options you can use commands from the para group on home tab. The increase indent command increases left indent of a para & right reverses indent.

When you wanna choose an option for spacing, click the arrow in line line & para spacing command.

To apply specific line & para spacing or multiple formats at once, click the para dialog box launcher to display box.

You may also use markers on the ruler to control indents. - left indent is small box on left. right indent is arrow on right end of ruler.

Be sure to place insertion point in para you want to format before dragging a marker to change indent.

The marker above the left indent sets Hanging Indent.

Displaying the ruler: Indents & tabs can be set from the ruler. If not showing, click ruler option on view tab.

Tabs & Tab stops:

when you want to position text within a line, use the tab key to move text to locations called TAB STOPS - document tab stop positions in a new word doc are at every half inch. Press tab key to move insertion point & any text following it, to the next tab stop.

An arrow is the symbol used to indicate a tab character

Tabs and tab stops are especially useful when you want to align text into columns.

Tab stops w/a left,right,center or decimal alignment can be used to change the way text aligns at the stop.

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To add a tab stop, place insertion point in the para to be formatted or select multiple. The default type of tab stop is a left tab. - for a different type, click the tab selector above the vertical ruler on the left until correct alignment is displayed. When you have correct type of tab, click in the horizontal ruler above the doc to add stop.

To adjust position drag the tab stop to the desired location on the ruler.

Creating a tab stop removes all default tab stops to its left

to remove a tab stop click & drag it out of the ruler

You can create multiple stops at once, or tab stops w/leaders by opening the paragraph dialog box & clicking the tabs button at the lower left of the box

Leaders add a repeated character between items separated by a tab.

The tabs dialog box has several leader options - leaders are useful for adding periods (....) between titles & page numbers in a table of contents or for creating a fill-in blank on a form using underscore characters.

Once you've set tab stops and aligned data, you can select a column of data first by pressing and holding the Alt key while dragging to select a vertical block of text. Selecting text in this way makes it easy to format an entire column of data at once.

Don't use spaces to align text. - Tabs, not spaces should be used to align text. Inserting spaces is unreliable to position text as they vary in width.

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Lists & First Line Indents:

Documents often use lists to organize and present info; Bulleted lists are used for items of equal importance. Numbered lists are used for specific order items.

To create a list, select paras that will make up items and click one of the list commands in the para group on the home tab. To use a symbol other than default shape for bulleted list click arrow next to bullet commands. Numbering command has many options for number formats.

Another para format is FIRST LINE INDENT. = moves the first line of a para in from the remaining lines. A HANGING INDENT leaves the first line in place while moving the remaining lines in. Lists use hanging indents - the bullet or number is placed further to the left than item text.

To precisely set indents, open para dialog box. In the indentation options, use the special list to select first line or hanging & then type a value in the By box.You can also set indents w/markers on ruler.

To create indent in this way, place the insertion point in para to be formatted, or select multiple paras for formatting. Next drag the first line indent marker to indent first line or the hanging indent marker to leave the first line and indent the rest. If you need to set the left indent of the whole para, the small box below the triangle markers is the left indent marker.

Copying Format:

When you've spent time getting all formats right you may end up w/several tab stops, indents or character formats (copy and paste formats when you need to apply it elsewhere). Use format painter in clipboard on the home tab.

To copy para formats, place the insertion point in the para w/the formats to be copied, click format painter & click in the para to be formatted.

To copy character format only, select text w/the formats to be copied, click format painter and drag mouse over text to recieve formatting.

To apply copied formats to multiple paras or sections, double click format painter when copying formats, your mouse will display format pointer icon until you press esc key.