Absolute Beginners Guide to Computer Basics (2nd Edition)

When you're creating a complex document, you need to format more than just a few words here and there.

Formatting Paragraphs

When you need to format complete paragraphs, you use Word's Paragraph dialog box.

You open the Paragraph dialog box by positioning your cursor within a paragraph and then pulling down the Format menu and selecting Paragraph. From here, you can precisely adjust how the entire paragraph appears, including indentation, line spacing, and alignment.

Using Word Styles

If you have a preferred paragraph formatting you use over and over and over, you don't have to format each paragraph individually. Instead, you can assign all your formatting to a paragraph style and then assign that style to specific paragraphs throughout your document. Most templates come with a selection of predesigned styles; you can modify these built-in styles or create your own custom styles.

Styles include formatting for fonts, paragraphs, tabs, borders, numbering, and more.

To apply a style to a paragraph, position the insertion point anywhere in the paragraph and then pull down the Style list (in the Formatting toolbar) and select a style. (You don't have to select the entire paragraph; just having the insertion point in the paragraph does the job.)

To modify a style, follow these steps:

1.

Pull down the Format menu and select Styles and Formatting; this displays the Styles and Formatting pane, shown in Figure 13.5.

Figure 13.5. Use the Styles and Formatting pane to modify and assign Word styles.

2.

Hover your cursor over the style you want to edit; this displays a down button.

3.

Click the Down button and select Modify; this displays the Modify Style dialog box.

4.

Change basic properties from this dialog box, or click the Format button to select other properties to modify.

5.

Click OK when done.

tip

To force a manual page break in your documentas you might if you want a new section to start on a new pageposition the cursor at the front of the line and then press Ctrl+Enter. You can also select Insert, Break to display the Break dialog box, select Page Break, then click OK.

Assigning Headings

When you're creating a long document, you probably want to separate sections of your document with headings. Headings appear as larger, bolder text, like mini-headlines.

Word includes several built-in heading stylesHeading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and Heading 4. Assign these styles to your document's headings, as appropriate. (And if you don't like the way they look, edit the styles to your likingas described previously.)

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