Formatting

Creating a numbered list

By convention, numbered lists look like those you see in these tutorials. They do not look like this:

A numbered list should not go back to the left margin on the second line. Instead, the second line should line up with the first letter of the first line. Each additional line should also line up. The number should stick out by itself at the left so you can easily distinguish it.

Making a numbered list is easy. Here's how.

1. Type each item without any number, period, or space -- just the text itself.
2. Press Enter/Return to start a new number.
3. When you're done, select all the items.
4. Click Numbering on the Formatting toolbar (the button looks like a numbered list).

To end numbering, press Enter/Return twice or click the Numbering button again.

For more control, choose Format > Bullets and Numbering.

Creating a Bulleted List

Bullets are small dots that come before a list of items. By convention, a bulleted list looks like this:

• This is a bulleted list. Each item has a dot before it. The second line of the text is lined up with the first letter of the first line and the bullets sticks out to the left.
• The second line of the text should not go back to the left margin. In fact a bulleted list is formatted just like a numbered list, except that is uses bullets instead of numbers.

Here's how to create a bulleted list:

1. Type each item without any bullet symbol or space -- just the text itself.
2. Press Enter/Return to start a new item.
3. When you're done, select all the items.
4. Click Bullets on the Formatting toolbar (the button looks like a bulleted list).

To end bullets, press Enter/Return twice or click the Bullets button again.

For more control, choose Format > Bullets and Numbering.

Changing Text Color

Nowadays, many people have color printers, so it's nice to create text in some color besides black.

1. Select the text.
2. Click the arrow to the right of the Font Color button at the right end of the Formatting toolbar (it has a letter "A" on it).
3. Choose one of the available colors.
4. Deselect the text to see the result.

Copying Formatting from One Place to Another

An easy way to format text is to copy the formatting from some place else that has the formatting you want. Formatting includes font, font size, font color, bold, italic, underlined, and so on. Here's how:

1. Select the text that has the formatting you want.
2. Click the Format Painter button on the Standard toolbar. (It looks like a paintbrush.)
3. Select the text you want to format.

Tip: To format several different sections of text with the same format, double-click the Format Painter button. Select the text that has the formatting you want, then select all the sections of text that you want to format. Double-click the Format Painter button again (to turn it off).

Aligning Text

Highlight the text.and click an alignment button from the Formatting Toolbar (Align Left, Center, Align Right, Justify). Justified text has a straight margin on both sides. You can also click an alignment button just before you type text, to align it in advance.

Indenting Text

To indent an entire paragraph, select it and click Increase Indent on the Formatting toolbar (it has an arrow pointing to the right). To reduce indentation, select a paragraph and click Decrease Indent (it has an arrow pointing to the left).

To indent the first line of a paragraph (similar to tabbing the first word in a paragraph) or to created single-spaced quotations indented on both the left and the right (for long quotations in a research paper), see Creating a Style.

Inserting a Page Break

1. Click where you want to start a new page.
2. Choose Insert > Break.
3. In the Break dialog box, click OK.

If your document has columns, you can choose Column Break to force the text to start a new column.

Vertically Centering Text on a Page

You can vertically center all the text on a page. This is useful for creating title pages or short memos.

For the PC

1. Choose File > Page Setup.
2. In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Layout tab
3. From the Vertical Alignment drop-down box, choose Center.
4. Click OK.

For the Mac

1. Choose Format > Document.
2. In the Document dialog box, click the Layout tab.
3. From the Vertical Alignment drop-down box, choose Center.
4. Click OK.

Changing Line Spacing

1. Highlight the paragraphs you wish to change to a new line spacing.
2. Choose Format > Paragraph.
3. On the Indents and Spacing tab, choose the line spacing you want from the Line Spacing drop-down list.

Adding Page Numbers

To add and see page numbers, you must be in Page Layout view. Click the Page Layout button at the bottom left corner of your screen.

1. Choose Insert > Page Numbers.
2. In the dialog box, select the position (top or bottom) and the alignment (left, right, or center) of the page number.
3. If you don't want to display a number on the first page, uncheck the Show Number on First Page check box.
4. For more control, choose Format.
5. Click OK.

Adding Headers and Footers

To add and see headers and footers, you must be in Page Layout view. Click the Page Layout button at the bottom left corner of your screen.

1. Choose View > Header and Footer. The Header and Footer toolbar appears.
2. Type the header in the text box and format as you would any other text. Tab once to create centered text and tab once more to create right-justified text.
3. To create a footer, click the Switch Between Header and Footer button on the Header and Footer toolbar.
4. To add a page number within a header or footer, place the cursor where you want the page number and click the Insert Page Number button on the Header and Footer toolbar. Similarly, add the date by clicking the Insert Date button.

Adding Footnotes and Endnotes

You can create footnotes and endnotes for research papers easily. Footnotes appear at the bottom of each page and endnotes are consolidated at the end of the paper.

1. Place the mouse cursor where you want to indicate the footnote in the text.
2. Choose Insert > Footnote.
3. Choose either Footnote or Endnote.
4. Choose either AutoNumber (to number footnotes consecutively) or Custom Mark (click Symbol to choose a symbol).
5. Choose Options to format the footnotes or endnotes. For example, endnotes are numbered i, ii, iii, by default and you may want them number 1, 2, 3. Click OK to close the Note Options dialog box.
6. Click OK to place the footnote.
7. Word automatically moves you to the proper place in the document (bottom of the page or the end of the document). Type the footnote or endnote.
8. Unfortunately, you have to return back to where you started by yourself.

If you add or delete footnotes or endnotes, Word automatically renumbers the rest of them. It's very automatic.

AutoFormat As You Type

AutoCorrect As You Type automatically makes certain formatting changes as you type. Sometimes, this is great; other times it is frustrating. To customize this feature, choose Tools > AutoCorrect and choose the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Here you see the list of changes that Word makes. Some examples:

• Numbered lists: when you type a number, a period, and a tab and then some text, Word assumes you're creating a numbered list. Press Enter at the end of the text and Word automatically creates the next number in the list.
• Bulleted lists: when you type an asterisk, a tab and some text, Word assumes you're creating a bulleted list. Press Enter at the end of the text and Word automatically creates the next bullet.
• Borders: Type three or more underscores, hyphens, or equal signs in a row and Word changes them to a border.
• Quotes: Type quotation marks and Word automatically makes them "curly" and places an open quote at the beginning and a close quote at the end.

To remove this feature, uncheck the formatting that you don't want.

Using Styles to Format Text

For any document more than two pages in length and with more than one type of formatting (for example, a heading and regular paragraph text), you should consider using styles. Styles can save you hours of work if you need to reformat a long, complex document. A style is simply a collection of formats applied to text and paragraphs as a whole. Word comes with a large number of styles already created for you but you can easily design your own. The value of styles is that they make complex formatting easy. And if you need to change formatting, styles automate the process. Let's say you make a dozen headings centered and italic and your professor tells you they should be on the left and bold. If you created a style for them, you can just modify the style. Instantly, all the headings are corrected.

To create a simple style on the fly:

1. Format the text how you want it to look.
2. In the Style box at the left of the Formatting toolbar, type a unique name for your style.
3. To format any other text the same way, select it and choose the style from the Style drop-down list.

If you want to specify how much space is before and after a paragraph or what style is automatically used in the next paragraph, you need to use the Style dialog box. You can create and modify styles here.

1. Choose Format > Style.
2. Click New to create a new style; Modify to modify an existing style.
3. For a new style, name it, choose what style it is based on (so you don't have to set everything from scratch), and the style for the following paragraph.
4. Click Format and choose one of the options -- Font for the font, font size, color and style; paragraph for the alignment, indentation, and spacing (double-spaced, for example). You can also add borders, tabs and other settings.
5. For each option, use the dialog box to specify how you want your style to look and work. Then click OK.
6. Click OK again.
7. In the Style dialog box, click Apply to apply changes to existing or selected text. Otherwise, click Close.
8. From now on, you can select text and choose the new or modified style from the Style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.

Creating Columns

If you want columns to apply to only part of the document, place the cursor where you want them to start.

1. Choose Format > Columns.
2. At the top of the Columns dialog box, click the number of columns you want. or type the number in the text box.
3. You can change the width of each column and the spacing between the columns in the Width and Spacing section..
4. At the bottom of the dialog box, choose to have the columns apply to the whole document (the default) or from "This point forward."
5. Click OK.

Changing Paper Orientation

You can specify which way the paper faces as you work. Portrait orientation means that the paper is oriented so that it is taller than it is wide, like most portrait paintings. Landscape means that the paper is wider than it is tall, like most landscape paintings.

Portrait Landscape

To set the orientation:

1. Choose File > Page Setup.
2. Click the Paper Size tab (PC only)
3. Choose Portrait or Landscape in the Orientation area. (On the Mac you click the appropriate picture).
4. Click OK.

Changing Margins

For the PC

1. Choose File > Page Setup.
2. On the Margins tab, type new values for the margins you want to change.
3. Click OK.

For the Mac

1. Choose Format > Document.
2. On the Margins tab, type new values for the margins you want to change.
3. Click OK.

Creating and Using Tables

Tables are a word processor's best friend. Use tables whenever you want to lay out your text in an organized way. If you are still using tabs to create text in columns, start using tables instead -- it's much easier.

To insert a table:

1. Choose Insert Table from the Standard toolbar .(Hint: the button looks like a table.)
2. Drag down and across to indicate the number of rows and columns you want. Don't forget to include a row for your headings but you can always add rows or columns later.

To modify a table:

• To delete a specific row or column, click there and choose Table > Delete Cells, then Delete Entire Row or Delete Entire Column.
• To add a row, click below where you want the new row to appear. (Word 2000 lets you specify where you want the row to appear.) Choose Table > Insert Rows. To add a row at the very bottom of the table, click in the bottom-right cell and press Tab.
• To add a column, click to the right of where you want to add the column. Choose Table > Select Column. Then choose Table > Insert Columns.
• You can also merge cells and split cells to create a very customized table.

To enter text in a table:

• Click in the cell and start typing.
• To move to the next cell to the right, just press Tab instead.

To format a table:

• Use the Borders button on the Formatting toolbar to add borders around the table and the cells.
• An easier way is to click anywhere in the table and choose Table > Table AutoFormat. You can then choose from some preformatted styles.

Merging Documents & Data (Mail Merge)

You can create personalized letters or labels by merging a document with a database that you create in Word (or import into Word).

Creating the database: To create the database in Word, follow these steps:

1. In a new document, insert a table by choosing Insert Table from the Standard toolbar or choosing Table > Insert Table. The table should have a least two rows and as many columns as you want for all of your database fields (categories). For example, if you have a simple mailing list, you might want these columns: First Name, Last Name, Address, City/State/ZIP, or 4 columns.
2. In the first row, type the name of the columns. Press Tab to go from cell to cell. Press Tab to move to the 2nd row.
3. In the second row, start typing your data. Whenever you get to the last row, last column, press Tab to create a new row.
4. When you're done, save the document and remember where you saved it and under what name.

Creating the document: The document can be a letter, labels, or envelopes. Here's how you create the main document for mail merge:

1. Start a new document. If you are writing a letter, type the letter. You don't need to leave space for where the data will be merged into the letter, but you do need to plan where the data will go. The data can go anywhere in the letter. If you are creating labels, don't type anything, just go to the next step.
2. Choose Tools > Mail Merge. Word opens the Mail Merge Helper.
3. Under Main Document, click Create and choose the type of document you want to create.
4. Microsoft asks you if you want to use the active window or a new document. If you just followed these steps, you have the main document on the screen, so choose Active Window.

Getting the data (associating the data with the main document): After you specify the active window for your document, the Mail Merge Helper returns and prompts you to get the data. Follow these steps:

1. Click Get Data.
2. Since you have your data document already, click Open Data Source. (If you don't you can click Create Data Source and create it on the spot.)
3. In the Open Data Source, find and select your database document. Click Open.>

Inserting database fields into your main document: Follow these steps:

1. Word now informs you that it found no merge fields in your main document. Click Edit Main Document as instructed.
2. If you are creating labels, you see the Labels Options dialog box to let you specify the size and layout of the labels. You can usually choose a standard set that fits your labels. Then click OK.
3. Word returns you to your main document (or the Create Labels dialog box) and displays a new toolbar (the Mail Merge toolbar) or just an Insert Merge Field button (for labels).
4. Put your cursor where you want the first field to be. Click Insert Merge Field and choose the field you want. Word inserts a code at that location.
5. If you need a space, Enter/Return, or punctuation, add it now. For example, if you have First Name and Last Name fields, after inserting the First Name field, you might want to press the spacebar before inserting the Last Name field.
6. Continue to insert all your fields in the main document in the same way until you're done.
7. For labels, click OK to close the Create Labels dialog box.

Merging the main document with the database: When your main document is ready, follow these steps:

1. Click Mail Merge Helper on the Mail Merge toolbar. (You skip this step for labels.)
2. Click Merge.
3. In the Merge dialog box, you can change some of the settings if you want.
4. Click Merge.
5. Word creates a new document (by default) that contains all the records in your database merged with your main document. Page breaks are automatically inserted so each copy of your main document starts on a new page.
6. Click Print on the Standard toolbar to print out the document. If you created labels, be sure to insert labels into your printer (and facing the right way).

Creating a Template

A template is a document that contains settings, such as text styles, and/or text. You use the template as a basis for a document. When you open a document based on a template, all the template's settings/text are there, ready for you to use. Templates help create consistency in formatting.

To create a template, open a new document or an existing document that contains the text and styles you want. If you are opening a new document, create the styles and text you want. Then follow these steps:

1. Choose File > Save As.
2. In the Save As Type drop-down list, choose Document Template (*.dot). Note that the Save In drop-down list automatically changes to the Template folder.
3. Type a name for the template in the File Name text box.
4. Click Save.
5. Close the template.

To use your template, open Word and choose File > New. (Don't click the New button on the Standard toolbar.) You should see your template listed. Select it and click OK. Your new document is now based on the template.