Lesson 5: Formatting Paragraphs

1. Lesson 5: Formatting Paragraphs Comp. Apps

2. Objective • Set the margins of a document. • Align text. • Adjust indents and line spacing. • Change vertical alignment. • Set and modify tabs. • Apply bullet and numbering formats. • Create an outline numbered list. • Organize a document in Outline view

3. Formatting Documents • Entire documents can be easily formatted with Word. • Formatting a whole document ensures that it is smoother and easier to follow.

4. Setting Margins • Margins, the blank areas found at the top, bottom, and sides of a page, can be set with predefined margin settings or can be customized by you. • To change the margin settings, open the File menu, choose Page Setup, and then select the Margins tab.

5. Aligning Text • Text can be aligned, or positioned, in four different ways between the margins. • Left-aligned and justified are most commonly used. • Right-aligned is used most often for dates and page numbers. • Center-aligned is used for headings, titles, and invitations.

6. Changing Indents • You can change the indent, the space between text and a document’s margin, from the left margin, the right margin, or from both. • Indenting text can be done by using the indent markers on the horizontal ruler.

7. Setting a First-Line Indent • A first-line indent is a paragraph format in which the first line is indented more than the subsequent lines.

8. Setting a Hanging Indent • A hanging indent is one in which the first full line of text is not indented, but all of the following lines are. • This is most commonly used in lists and documents, such as glossaries.

9. Indenting from Both Margins • Indenting from both the right and left margins is used to offset a paragraph from the rest of the document. • This might be used for long quotations.

10. Adjusting Line and Paragraph Spacing • If you choose to change the setting to 1.5 lines, this will add half a line space between lines. • Word’s default setting for this is single-spacing, which means that there is no extra space between each line.

11. Adjusting Line and Paragraph Spacing • Likewise, if you were to change the setting to double-space, then there would be a full blank line between lines of text. • You can also offset paragraphs from one another by adding spaces between them.

12. Changing Vertical Alignment • You can vertically align text between the top and bottom margins of a document. • You can align text with the top of the page, distribute the text equally between top and bottom margins, or align text with the bottom of the page.

13. Setting Tab Stops • Tab stops, or more commonly called tabs, mark where the insertion point will stop when you press the Tab key. • This is helpful when creating tables or aligning numbered items.

14. Setting Tab Stops • Text alignment can be set with decimal, left, right, or center tab stops. • Word’s default tab sets are for every half-inch and are left-aligned.

15. BULLETS AND LISTS Bulleted and Numbered Lists • A numbered list is used when things need to be in a particular order. • A bulleted list is used when there is no particular order needed. • A bullet is any small character that appears before an item. • Pictures, symbols, or icons may be used as bullets.

16. BULLETS AND LISTS Customizing Bulleted and Numbered Lists • You can change the bullet character, bullet position, or text position using the Customize Bulleted List dialog box. • Numbered lists can be altered by changing the number format, number style, number position, or text position in the Customize Numbered List dialog box.