Microsoft Office 2000

Lesson 2: Word 2000 (Part 2)

Formatting Fonts, Paragraphs and Columns

Use formatting tips to make your Word document more impressive. For extensive help on formatting text see Formatting Text in Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide pp. 41-71.

Indenting
For simple indenting you can use the Tab key to indent your text. You can also drag the first line indent marker, left indent marker, or both to quickly indent your text. For further information on using the indent markers see Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide pp. 58-60.

Depending upon the document you are creating, you will sometimes need to adjust the margins of your document and change the page orientation from portrait to landscape.

To change the margins:

• Click on File – Page Setup
• Click on the Margins tab if it is not already selected
• Click on the up or down arrows to increase or decrease the margin for the top, bottom, left or right. Check the Preview to see the changes in your document layout
• Click on OK

See example of setting Margins

You can also change the margins of just some of the text of your document if you wish. Highlight the desired text, follow the steps above, and click on Apply to: Selected text

At times you will need to change the page orientation of your document from portrait to landscape.

To change the page orientation from portrait to landscape:

• Click on File – Page Setup
• Click on the Paper Size tab
• In the Orientation box click on Portrait or Landscape. Check the Preview to see the changes in your document layout
• Click on OK

See example of changing Page Orientation

At times you will need to change the line spacing of your document.

To change line spacing:

• Click on Format – Paragraph – Indents and Spacing
• In the Line spacing box, click to select Single, 1.5 lines, Double, At least, Exactly, or Multiple

See example of changing Line Spacing

Using Paragraph Marks
You can switch on Paragraph Marks to get an understanding of the formatting on your document. If you are working on your document and it seems to be doing strange formatting automatically, or there seems to be a lot of extra space or an extra blank page in your document, switch on the paragraph marks to see what's happening. See Turning on Paragraph Marks in Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide p. 43 for further information.

Using the Format Painter
Using Format Painter can save you lots of time and effort. Instead of having to manually apply the font, font effects, centered paragraph alignment and other formatting to different sections, you can quickly copy all of the formatting attributes by using one toolbar button.

To copy both paragraph attributes (such as alignment, indentation, and so on) and character attributes (such as font and font effects), select the text whose formatting you want to copy and the paragraph mark that follows the text.

To copy only character attributes, select the text without selecting the paragraph mark.

To use the Format Painter:

• On the Standard toolbar, click on Format Painter
• Select the text in which you want to apply the formatting

The text takes on the new formatting.

To apply the same formatting to more than one item:

• Select the formatting you want
• Double-click on Format Painter
• Select each word, phrase, or paragraph in which you want to apply formatting
• When you're finished press ESC to switch off the Format Painter.

Creating Newspaper Columns
Use the columns feature to use Word as a basic desktop publishing program.

To create newspaper-style columns in your document:

• Click on View – Print Layout if you are not already in print layout view
• To format part of the document in columns, select the text
• To format the entire document in columns, click Edit – Select All
• Click on Columns in the Standard Toolbar
• Drag to select the number of columns you want
• To set exact column widths and spacing, click Format - Columns and select the options you want

See example of creating Columns

For additional help on formatting pages see Formatting Pages in Microsoft Office 2000 for Windows: Visual Quick Start Guide pp. 73 - 81.

For additional information on this topic browse Chapter 3 Applying Advanced Formatting Techniques in Microsoft Office 2000 User Specialist Study Guide.

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