Word Resources

UNDER CONSTRUCTION – FROM OLD WIKI

Might still be useful

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Day 1

Views

  • Print Layout – Shows most document features as they will print, including headers, footers, graphics, and columns. You see the entire page, all the way to the edges of the paper, so you can gauge the margins visually.
  • Full Screen Reading — Shows the document in two book-style columns, with large font, and with the ribbon and other screen elements hidden. You can use the right-and left-arrow keys to move between pages. There is also a variety of special reading tools available here.
  • Web Layout – Shows the document as it will appear in a web browser. This view is suitable for creating web pages and email messages.
  • Outline – Shows the document as collapsible levels of headings, so you can see the document’s structure at a glance.
  • Draft – Shows just the main text of the document; you don’t see graphics, headers, footers, or multiple columns. Also, page breaks and section breaks are represented by horizontal lines rather than actual breaks. This view uses less memory than others to draw the display, and can make a performance difference on a very slow PC.
  • If you try to create graphics or work with other document elements that aren’t supported in Draft view, Word automatically switches to Print Layout view.

Zooming

  • Ctrl + scroll on mouse.
  • Zoom Slider: located on the status bar in the bottom right of the page. Slide tab or click on the minus or plus button at either end of the Zoom slider (shown on the above diagram).
  • View Tab: Select quick views (one page, two pages, etc.) or click on the large icon of the magnifying glass to open the dialog box.

Templates

  • File>>New and choose from all the types of Templates available. Simply select one and click Create, or double click on a template. If you have templates that you have created, choose My Templates and find your template.
  • To create a Template, choose Save As and under Save as Type choose Word Template. Be sure to choose to save it in the Templates on the top left of the panel so that it will show up when you try to open it from My Templates.

Microsoft Help

  • Using the Help Icon 
    • Click it to bring up the help dialog box.
    • Type in what you’re looking for, and select enter.
  • Select F1
  • Look for the help icon to appear when your mouse hovers over one of the options on the ribbon.
    • If the help icon appears, it means that if you select F1 while hovering over that item the help dialog box will appear with specific to that tool. (i.e. Hover over the Format Painter in the Home Tab. Notice the explanation that appears has the help icon underneath it. Hit F1 on the keyboard to display an explanation of the Format Painter in the help dialog box.

Text Selection

  • Insertion Point— the insertion point is a flashing vertical line; the end-of-file marker (appearing only in Draft or Outline view) is a horizontal, non-flashing line.
    • Text you type always appears at the insertion point. To enter text, just type as you would in any program. The following keys have specific functions:
      • Enter— Press this key to start a new paragraph.
      • Shift+Enter— Press this key combination to start a new line within the same paragraph.
      • Ctrl+Enter— Press this key combination to start a new page.
      • Tab— Press this key to move to the next tab stop (by default every 0.5?).
      • Backspace— Press this key to delete a single character to the left of the insertion point.
      • Delete— Press this key to delete a single character to the right of the insertion point.
      • Home
      • End
      • Ctrl
  • Undoing, Redoing, and Repeating
    • Whenever you make a mistake, such as accidentally deleting or overwriting something, you can easily reverse it with Word’s Undo feature. To undo, click the Undo button on the Quick Access toolbar.
      • The Undo feature retains a list of actions you’ve recently taken, and you can undo any number of them. The effect is cumulative. In other words, you can undo, for example, the last five actions you took, but you can’t pick-and-choose among those five; you must undo the intervening four in order to undo the fifth one. To undo multiple levels, repeatedly click the Undo button on the Quick Access toolbar, or click the down arrow to the right of the Undo button to open a menu and then select the actions to undo from that list.
  • Repeat
    • After you have undone one or more actions, the Redo button becomes available on the Quick Access toolbar. It reverses undo operations, and comes in handy when you accidentally undo too much.
  • Inserting Symbols with the Symbol Dialog Box
    • Click Symbol to open a drop-down list of some common symbols.
      • If the symbol you want doesn’t appear, click More Symbols to open the Symbol dialog box. From here you can select any character from any installed font, including some of the alternative characters that don’t correspond to a keyboard key, such as letters with accent symbols over them.

Creating Numbered and Bulleted Lists

  • There are two ways to use these buttons:
    • Type the entire list, select all the text, and then click the Bullets button or the Numbering button, or click the arrow to get the drop down options.
    • Click one of the buttons first and then start typing the list. Each time you press Enter, a new bulleted or numbered paragraph is created. Press Enter twice in a row to turn off the list formatting and return to normal text.
  • The bullet character or numbering style applied with these buttons is whatever you most recently used. The default is a plain round black bullet or Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) in the same font and size as the paragraph text.
  • + TAB creates bulleted list while typing.
  • (A number) + Tab or (a period) creates a numbered list.
    • If you unintentionally created bullets or numbers, click on the AutoCorrect symbol and choose Undo Automatic Numbering/Bulleting.

Restarting or Continuing Numbering.

  • When one paragraph of a numbered list immediately follows another, Word continues the list without incident. But when there is intervening text, Word can sometimes get confused.
  • Word will try to guess what you want, but it also gives you the option of clicking the AutoCorrect Options icon, where you can click Continue Numbering if that’s what you want.
  • You can also click Set Numbering Value… in the drop down menu and choose continue from previous list. From here you can also change the number that the list starts on.
  • To change the number format, choose Define New Number Format… from the drop down menu.
  • To change the bullet format choose Define New Bullet.

Formatting Styles

Styles are the backbone of Word text formatting. Every paragraph has associated with it a style. To change the style of a paragraph, Put the cursor inside of the paragraph, then select a new style from the

Home Tab> Styles Group> Quick Styles Menu

By default, text will be assigned to the “normal” style (the first style in the Quick Styles Menu).

The beauty of styles is that when you alter a style, every paragraph that is assigned that style will automatically change with it. So you can literally change the way your document looks and feels with a click of a button.

Altering Quick Styles

To quickly make global changes to all of your styles, you can use the Change Styles button located on Home Tab> Styles Group. From here you can change the style set, the style colors, style fonts, and paragraph spacing.

To make small changes to individual styles, right click on the style in the Quick Styles menu then select “Modify…”. From this next menu you can change every little detail about the style for more formatting options, click on the Format button on the bottom left-hand corner of the menu (Modify Style Menu). Here you will have a list of all the available options.

Often you locally change text, then want to have locally formatted text replace an existing style (this is very useful for research papers that have very specific formatting rules). To replace a style, select the text that has the style of text that you want. Then right click on the style you want to replace in the Quick Styles Menu and choose the option “update [style name] to match selection.”

Themes

  • Themes can be found under the Design Tab. In order for Themes to work past just affecting normal text, you need to apply Styles to your document
  • Just like with Styles, simply click on the Themes and choose from the drop down menu options.
  • You can also click the color button and choose a selection of colors for you document.
    • If you want to create a custom set of colors, go do to Create New Theme Colors. Click on any of the colors to change them, using the Sample pictures to give you an idea of what colors are changing.
    • Choose the Font Set from the dropdown list, or choose you fonts manually with Create New Theme Fonts.
    • Theme Effects changes the look of objects or shapes in your document.

Printing

  • Click on the File Tab and find Print on the Left Panel
  • Under Printer, choose the printer you would like to use.
  • Under Settings choose whether you want to Print All Pages, just the Selection, or the Current Page, or use Custom Range to enter in the pages you want to print (i.e. 2-4).
  • Choose to Print on one side to two.
  • Print Collated (for example in order from 1, 2, and then 3) or print Uncollated (page 1 three times, then page 2 three times, etc.).
  • Print Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal)
  • Choose the paper size
  • Choose the margins.
  • Choose to have the regular one page per sheet, or have two or three pages printed on one sheet.
  • More Options under Page Setup dialog box.

Day 2

Spelling and Grammar

  • A red underline means the word is not in the dictionary at all
  • A blue underline means the word is incorrect for the context (such as “there” instead of “their”)
  • Right clicking a red or blue word brings up some options
    • Some suggestions for spelling corrections.
    • Ignore just one instance, or all the instances.
    • Add the word to the dictionary.
    • AutoCorrect— opens a submenu containing all the words that were suggested at the top of the menu so that you can quickly set up an AutoCorrect entry that always changes your misspelling to that word. This option does not appear if there are no spelling suggestions on the list, or if the word is blue-underlined.
    • Language— Enables you to set a different language for the word
    • Spelling…— opens the Spelling dialog box.
  • A green means there is likely a grammar or punctuation error.
  • Right clicking a word underlined in green brings up these options.
    • Suggestions for grammar corrections
    • Ignore the rule
    • Grammar— Opens the Grammar dialog box
    • About This Sentence— Opens a Help window explaining the grammar rule that is (perhaps) being violated.
    • Look Up— Opens the Research pane, which provides information from various reference sources such as dictionaries.
  • To correct the entire document at once, use the Spelling and Grammar dialog box by going to the Review Tab, Spelling and Grammar.
  • When a document contains one or more spelling errors, the Proofing Errors icon appears in the status bar. Click the icon to jump from error to error.
  • To make further adjustments to how your document corrects spelling and grammar, click Options from the Spelling and Grammar dialog box which opens Proofing.
    • Choose AutoCorrect from here to make further changes, for example if you want to create shortcuts for symbols.
  • To evaluate the readability of your document, check the “show readability statistics” box in Proofing.
  • To view the Word Count, go to the Review Tab and click on the Word Count button.
  • To turn automatic hyphenation off, open the paragraph dialog box and check the box “Don’t hyphenate.” You are then able to manually type your hyphen where you wish it to be.

Paragraph Formatting

Paragraph Alignment

  • Alignment is how text is aligned horizontally.
  • To set alignment, select the paragraph and choose Left, Center, Right, and Justified.
  • Some people use Justified alignment for all their documents, thinking it makes the documents look more polished. Well, it does make for a pretty page in a brochure or glossy handout, but it often impedes readability. For text-heavy documents such as letters, business reports, and research papers, stick with Left alignment.

Basic Line Spacing

  • Basic Line Spacing can be adjusted under the Paragraph Group on the Home Tab (choose 1, 1.15, 2, etc.) or Choose “Line Spacing Options…” for more options like:
    • At Least— A minimum line height to be used. (You specify the amount.) If the single-space line height is greater than the amount specified, single spacing will be used for that line. Otherwise, the At Least value will be used.
    • Exactly— A precise line height to be used. (You specify the amount.) Be careful with this setting; if you specify a size that’s smaller than the largest font size used in the paragraph, the large letters will be truncated on top.
    • Multiple— A multiple of single spacing. (For example, enter 3 for triple spacing.) You can enter any value from 0 to 132, in decimal increments of 0.01. This is how the default setting of 1.15 is created.
  • Note: Word’s spacing options is not the same as Desktop Publishing Programs, which use leading to identify the spacing.

Spacing Before and After Paragraphs

  • The quickest way to add spacing before or after a paragraph is to choose Add Space Before Paragraph or Remove Space After Paragraph from the Line Spacing button’s menu on the Home tab. This adds the same amount of space, either before or after the paragraph, as the paragraph’s font size. For example, if the font size is 12, choosing Add Space Before Paragraph adds 12 points of space before it.
  • If you need different spacing than that, use the Paragraph dialog box. It has Before and After settings that add space before and after the paragraph, respectively. Enter the number of points of extra space you want.
  • The After setting is cumulative with the line-spacing setting. For example, if you have a paragraph with 12-point text and its line spacing is set to Double, and then you add an After value of 5 pt, there will be 17 points of space between that paragraph and the next one.
  • Before and After values are also cumulative with one another. If two consecutive paragraphs have Before values of 10 and After values of 10, they will have 20 points of space between them (not counting any extra space coming from the Line Spacing setting).
    • Tip: Because all these cumulative effects can be potentially confusing, I recommend using only After spacing (not Before spacing) when creating space between paragraphs. That’s a somewhat arbitrary decision; you could just as easily stick with the Before setting and never use the After setting. However, because line spacing applies itself below each line of a paragraph (including the last line), it makes marginally more sense to go with After.
  • The Page Layout tab also has Before and After boxes that work the same as their counterparts in the Paragraph dialog box. Use the increment arrows or type values directly into the text boxes there.
  • If you’re in a hurry, it can be tempting to simply create extra space between paragraphs by pressing Enter a few extra times. That technique backfires in longer documents, however, because it results in spacing that is inflexible and difficult to modify. Each time you press Enter, you get exactly one line of space—what if you want more or less than that? And each of the spaces between the paragraphs is actually its own individual blank paragraph, so you can’t change the spacing by applying paragraph styles to the text.
  • On the other hand, by applying spacing to a paragraph with the After setting (or Before, whichever you like), you make the spacing an integral part of the paragraph itself. That way, you can easily define that paragraph’s settings as a new style, and apply that style to other paragraphs to achieve a consistent look. You can also modify the style at any time to change the amount of spacing between paragraphs to tighten up or spread out a page as needed.

Indentation

  • For maximum control and precise numeric entry, use the Paragraph dialog box method by clicking the dialog box launcher icon in the Paragraph group on either the Home tab or the Page Layout tab.
  • The Paragraph dialog box offers three types of indents.
  • Left— The indentation between the left margin and the left side of the paragraph.
  • Right— the indentation between the right margin and the right side of the paragraph.
  • Special— A list from which you can select one of two types:
  • First Line— the indentation of only the first line of the paragraph, in relation to the general left indent. For example, if the paragraph has a 1? left indent and a 0.5? first-line indent, the first line starts at 1.5? and all other lines start at 1?.
  • Hanging— the indentation of all the lines of the paragraph except the first one. Like First Line, this setting is cumulative with the Left indent setting.
  • The Page Layout tab also has Left and Right indent controls that correspond with the Left and Right settings in the Paragraph dialog box. Enter amounts or use the increment arrow buttons.
  • Indents can be either positive or negative numbers. A negative indent forces the paragraph outside of the document margins.

Quick Indenting with Buttons and Shortcuts

  • To quickly increase or decrease the left indent of a paragraph by 0.5?, select the paragraph(s) to affect and then click the Increase Indent or Decrease Indent button on the Home tab.
  • There are corresponding shortcut keys for these buttons: Ctrl+M for Increase Indent and Ctrl+Shift+M for Decrease Indent.
  • There are also shortcut keys for increasing or decreasing hanging indents, although there are no corresponding buttons on the tab: Ctrl+T is used to increase the hanging indent 0.5?, and Ctrl+Shif t+T is used to decrease it.

Visually Indenting with the Ruler

  • Sometimes it is easier to set an indent by “eyeballing it” with drag-and-drop. By dragging the indent markers on the ruler, you can do just that.
  • If the ruler does not appear across the top of the document, turn it on by marking the Ruler check box on the View tab.
  • The ruler has four indent markers on it.
  • Left indent— Controls the left indent for all lines of the paragraph.
  • Hanging indent— Controls all lines except the first line. On the ruler, it is inseparable from the left indent marker.
  • First-line indent— Controls the first line of the paragraph.
  • Right indent— Controls the right indent for all lines of the paragraph.
  • Indent changes apply only to the selected paragraph(s), so make your selection before working with the indent markers!
  • The first-line indent marker can be dragged separately from the others to create a different first line from the rest, just like when you enter a hanging indent value in the Paragraph dialog box. The zero mark on the ruler represents the document’s left margin; you can drag the first-line marker to the left of zero to create a negative indent that forces the paragraph past the margin.
  • The hanging indent works differently on the ruler than it does in the Paragraph dialog box. With the ruler method, dragging the hanging indent marker also moves the left in dent marker, so the hanging indent is not cumulative with the left indent. A paragraph’s left indent is always the same as its hanging indent; the first-line indent can either match up with them or can be offset to the left or the right.
  • When you drag the left indent marker (the rectangle), the first-line and hanging markers move along with it, without losing their relationship to each other.

Paragraph Borders

  • Use the Border Button and drop down list to apply various borders to your paragraph.
  • To further customize your border, click Borders and Shading at the end of the list.  Select a border type from the Setting icons along the left side of the dialog box:
    • None — turns off all borders.
    • Box — Places an outside border in which all sides are the same thickness.
    • Shadow — Places an outside border, and also places a shadow effect along the bottom and right sides.
    • 3-D — Places an outside border with a 3D effect—in theory, anyway. In most cases there is no difference in the end result between Box and 3D.
    • Custom — enables you to select and format each side individually. (You can start with any of the other settings, and when you start to change individual sizes, the setting changes to Custom automatically.)
  • Select your line styles, color, width, etc.
  • To remove a border from a particular side, simply click on the border in the diagram to remove it.

Page Layout

Margins

  • From the Margins button apply Normal, Narrow, Wide, or Mirrored.
    • Mirrored setting changes the Right and Left margin settings to Inside and Outside, so you can have a larger margin on the inside if desired to account for the binding taking up part of the space.
  • Choose “Custom Margins…” to set individual margins for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right in inches.
  • Margins are only applied to the current section.
  • There can be two or more continuous sections on the same page, each with different margin settings.
    • Remember this if you are ever trying to figure out why some paragraphs appear indented but no indents are set for them.

Ruler Tip

  • Ever been annoyed at having to eyeball your measurements on the ruler? To make Word show you the exact measurements as you drag across the ruler, hold Left Click+Right Click or you can hold Left Click+Ctrl+Alt. Cool huh?

Page Orientation

  • Go to Orientation on the Page Layout Tab to choose portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal).
  • Orientation is applied to the current section as well

Paper Size

  • Go to Size to choose one of the default options for paper size.
  • For more choices, click More Paper Sizes at the bottom of that menu to open the Paper tab of the Page Setup dialog box. From here you can select from a more extensive list of presets or enter exact Width and Height settings for a custom size.
  • In the Paper Source section, you can choose which paper tray the paper should be pulled from for your print jobs. Separate designations can be made for First Page and Other Pages to allow a different type of paper on the first sheet. For example, you could load up one tray with printed letterhead stationery or a colored cardstock for a report cover.
  • The Apply To list enables you to specify how the new paper size will take effect. By default, it applies only to the current section; this lets you set up different sizes for each section if desired, such as a different size for an envelope or an enclosure. The other choices are This Point Forward and Whole Document.

Setting Vertical Alignment

  • Every document starts with the vertical alignment set to Top by default, which means that it will be top-aligned. Most of the time that’s good, but if you are trying to perfectly center a business letter vertically, you might prefer a Center vertical orientation. To change the vertical alignment for a section, follow these steps:
    • On the Page Layout tab, click the dialog box launcher in the Page Setup group. The Page Setup dialog box opens.
    • Under the Layout Tab, open the Vertical Alignment list and select a vertical alignment: Top, Center, Justified, or Bottom.
  • Justified vertical alignment spreads everything out vertically so the first line is at the top margin and the last line is at the bottom, on every page except the last one. (On the last page, Top alignment applies.)
    • This might be useful, for example, if you are using widow/orphan control and a certain page is looking a little “short” because of it. It can cause inconsistencies in line spacing, however, and if you forget justification is turned on, it can turn into a tough-to-troubleshoot puzzle.

Inserting Watermarks

  • A watermark is a faint image that appears behind the main text of a document. Unlike stationary, Word watermarks are printed faintly on the page.
  • Watermarks are only applied to the current section, because they are placed in the header/footer and each section has its own. If a section is set up to continue the same settings as in the previous section, any watermark from the previous section carries over.
  • Insert a Built-in Watermark:
    • Open the Watermark menu (from the Design tab) and click one of the samples. To remove a watermark, reopen the Watermark menu and click Remove Watermark.
  • Insert a Custom Text Watermark:
    • Make sure the insertion point is in the section in which you want to insert the watermark if the document has multiple sections.
    • From the Design tab, click Watermark and then click Custom Watermark. The Printed Watermark dialog box opens.
    • Click Text Watermark. The controls for creating a text watermark become available.
    • In the Text box, either select a phrase from the drop-down list or type your own custom text.
    • Select Font, Size, and Color settings from these drop-down lists.
    • If you want the watermark to appear faint (recommended), rather than full-strength, make sure the Semitransparent check box is marked.
    • Select Diagonal or Horizontal for the layout.
    • Click OK to place the watermark into the document.

Applying a Page Background

A page background appears behind everything on the page (including behind the watermark, if present). It can be a solid color or a fill effect. To select a page background, follow these steps:

  • From the Design tab, click Page Color. The Color menu appears
  • Do one of the following:
  • Click one of the theme colors.
  • Click a tint beneath one of the theme colors.
  • Click one of the standard colors.
  • Click Fill Effects and then select from the Fill Effects dialog box.

Note: The page background appears onscreen only in certain views: Print Layout, Full-Screen Reading, and Web Layout. It’s hidden in Outline and Draft views.

Page/Sections Breaks

  • A Page Break ends the page at that point and places the cursor on a new page. It does NOT create a section break, but simply begins on a fresh page instead of hitting Enter several times.
  • A section is an area of a document that can have its own separate settings. Sections are created with section breaks, of which there are five types:
  • Insert—to insert a section break, click the Breaks button on the Page Layout tab. On the menu that appears, select the desired type of section break.
    • Next Page— starts the new section on a new page. Useful when you want different margins or a different header/footer, or when you want two different paper sizes such as plain paper and an envelope.
    • Continuous— starts the new section without starting a new page. This is useful when you want different numbers of columns on a page, for example, such as with a newsletter. You can’t use this type of break between sections that have different page orientations or paper sizes.
    • Even Page— Starts the new section on the next even page number. This is useful when you want to make sure that the section starts on the verso (on the left side) of a two-sided spread.
    • Odd Page— Starts the new section on the next odd page number. If the current page is odd, a blank page will be inserted between the current page and the new one. This is useful when you want to make sure that each new chapter starts on the recto (on the right side) of a two-sided spread, for example.
    • New Column— starts the section in a new column, applicable only in a multiple-column document layout. This one isn’t on the menu, but you can select it by inserting one of the other types of section breaks and then changing the type.

*Note: When you create columns, Word creates two continuous section breaks—one before the selected text and one after it.

  • Delete— Section breaks are nonprinting characters, like paragraph breaks. You can display them by switching to Draft view or by clicking the paragraph (¶) button on the Home Tab. To delete a section break, select it or click immediately before it and press Delete.

Columns

  • To create columns, go to the columns button on the Page Layout tab. Choose one of the options.
  • Choose “More Columns…” to change the number of columns, add a line in between, adjust the width and spacing, and determine where in to apply it.

Headers and Footers

  • A header is an area at the top of a page, outside of the document margin, where repeated text is placed, such as a title, page number, or date. Footer is the same thing except at the bottom of the page.
  • To insert a header or footer, go to the Insert Tab, choose Header or Footer, and choose from the options (some of which have useful fields such as picking the date). Alternatively you can just double click in the Header and Footer area and type a header or footer yourself.
  • Each Header/Footer normally is linked by default to the previous section, so if you want a section to be different, be sure to unlink it from the previous section by deselecting “Link to Previous” before you make any changes.
  • Each document or section can have a different first-page header/footer (for example, no page numbering on the first page) without having to set up multiple sections. To choose this option simply click “Different First page” in the Header & Footer Tools Design tab (appears when selected on your header or footer).
  • You can also click Different Odd & Even Pages to have different headers on odd and even pages. If you have already inserted a header into your document, only the odd page headers will remain so you will then have to reinsert an even header.

Page Numbers

  • Page numbering can be one of the trickiest things in Word, but it doesn’t have to be if you simply follow a few simple steps.
  • Firstly it’s easiest to just Insert Page numbers into your document which you can do by going to the Insert Tab, and choosing a type of Page number from the options.
  • In order to have different types of page numbers in different sections, for example roman numerals for the introductory pages and Arabic for the body of you text, you need to insert section breaks between those pages in your document.
  • After inserting your section breaks, go through and unlink the sections that you want to be different by deselecting “Link to Previous” on the Header & Footer Tools Tab. Now make any changes you wish.
  • To change the formatting, choose Format Page Numbers from the Page Number menu. In the dialog box you can change to roman numerals, change the starting number, etc.
  • Since page numbers are inside the header or footer, they come with the same Different First Page and Different Odd and Even options. So once again if you wish to have different odd and even page numbers, insert page numbers into your document, check Different Odd and Even Pages, and reinsert page numbers for the even pages.

Day 3

Tab Stops

  • When you use the tab key, Word automatically moves your cursor over half an inch. Making a Tab stops simply means that instead of tabbing over a normal inch, it will tab to that marker.
  • Each paragraph maintains its own tab stop settings, just like it does with line spacing and indentation. If you want the entire document to have the same tab stops, select the entire document (Ctrl+A) before setting the tab stops.
  • These are the main tabs that you need to know:
    • The left tab stop makes text align to the left and type to the right.
    • Center–The center tab stop makes text align to the center of this tab.
    • Right–The right tab stop makes text align to the right and type to the left.
    • Decimal— the first decimal (period) in the text is aligned at the tab stop position; anything that comes before it is right-aligned, and anything that comes after it is left-aligned.
    • Bar— this one is not really a tab stop in the same sense as the others. When a bar stop is set at a particular position, pressing Tab to move to that spot places a vertical line there, the height of that line of text. When several of these appear in consecutive lines, they form a solid vertical divider line, making the tabbed list resemble a table.
  • One way to insert tab stops is to simply click on the ruler, but sometimes it is unpredictable and difficult.
  • The alternate solution is to use the dialog box. Select the entire area to wish to apply the tab stops to and click on the arrow in the bottom right corner of the Paragraph group on the ribbon to open this Paragraph dialog box. Then click on Tabs to open the tabs box.
    • You can also double click on any tab stop on the ruler to open the Tabs box.
  • Type the inch mark you wish to place your tab stop in this box.
  • Choose which kind of stop you want in the Alignment section.
  • Choose the type of leader you want to fill in the space in between.

Pictures

To insert a picture, simply go to the Insert tab, choose picture, and navigate to the picture file on your computer.

  • Really Cool (but probably too complicated for the Foundations course) Word will let you Link Pictures (just like InDesign does) so that every time you change your picture file, it gets updated in your Word document.
  • Click the down arrow next to Insert instead of just clicking Insert (in step 4)
  • Choose Link to File or Insert and Link.
  • Link to File will update your picture every time it gets changed, BUT if the picture gets moved or deleted, it will give an error message.
  • Insert and Link will link to that picture so it will update, but it also embeds the picture so if the picture disappears you will still have the latest version in your document. COOL!!!

Setting Text Wrap

  • By default, Word treats your picture as an “inline image,” or just like character of text–just one big, funny looking letter. There’s not a lot of flexibility with this option. We can change the text wrap so that the text flows around the picture instead. This will also mean you can drag the picture anywhere you want it on the page.
  • Select the picture  and on the Picture Format tab (or right-click menu), choose Text Wrapping and choose one of the settings:
    • Square— Wraps text around both sides of the text box in a rectangular shape.
    • Tight— for a rectangular text box, this is the same as Square. For a text box with some other shape (as covered in the preceding section), it wraps the text around the shape.
    • Behind Text— the text box is placed behind the text, so the text runs over the top of it. This one is not recommended for text boxes.
    • In Front of Text— the text box is placed on top of the text, so the text runs behind it. Usually not a great choice because the text is obscured.
    • Top and Bottom— The text wraps around the text box above and below it, but the space to the left and right of the text box remains empty.
    • Through— Same as Tight except somewhat tighter if it’s an irregular-shaped object like a piece of clip art
  • For even more control over the text wrap, choose More Layout Options, which will open the Advanced Layout dialog box. Here you can change which side to wrap around and how far away to stay from the picture (some options won’t be available for all wrapping styles).

Picture Position

  • Every floating picture has an anchor, which can be seen by clicking the (¶) button on the Home Tab and selecting a picture. When you move your picture around, the anchor attaches itself to the nearest paragraph again.
  • Choosing a Position for your picture from the Picture Tools tab locks the anchor to the page instead of the paragraph. This way your picture will not move when your words do.
  • Choose More Layout Options to find the following Position options:
    • Alignment— you can set a position (Right, Left, Centered) and what it should be in relation to (Margin, Page, Column, and so on). Most of the presets use this option. Using this setting ensures that if settings in the document change (such as margin settings), the picture will adjust itself accordingly.
    • Book Layout— Use this setting for a two-sided layout in which you want the picture to float to the right or left depending on whether the page is an odd- or even-numbered one. The picture can be set to float either inside or outside of the margin or page.
    • Absolute Position— Use this if the picture should be locked to a certain spot on the page and be unaffected by margins, columns, or any other document-layout settings.
    • Relative Position— Use this setting to specify a percentage relative to some other element. For example, you could set a position of 25% relative to the page to position the object 25% of the way across the page.

Resizing Pictures

  • Just grab the anchor points on the picture. When you grab the corner it automatically keeps the proportions.
  • For more options, open the dialog box from the Size group on the Picture Tools tab:
    • Set a specific size in the Size and Rotate section, or increase or decrease the size by percentages in the Scale section. The options are similar for the Format Picture dialog box.
    • The Lock Aspect Ratio check box enables you to scale the picture proportionally. When it is marked, if you enter a certain value in the Height box, the Width setting will change by the same percentage.
    • The Relative to Original Picture Size check box makes the scaling occur in relation to the original size (listed at the bottom of the dialog box), rather than any interim sizing that has been done.
    • To go back to the picture’s original size, click the Reset button, either in the Size dialog box or on the Format tab. (On the Format tab, it’s called Reset Picture.)

Cropping Pictures

  • To crop a picture is to trim off one or more edges so your audience can focus in on what’s most important in the image.
  • The easiest way to crop a picture is to use the Crop tool on the Format tab. Follow these steps:
    • Click the picture.
    • Click the Crop button. The selection handles on the picture change to black lines.
    • Drag a selection handle on the image inward to crop the image. Repeat on other sides as needed.
    • Press the Esc key, click the Crop, or click off the picture again to finish cropping.
  • You can undo a crop at any time by dragging the selection handle outward again. You cannot undo the crop if you have compressed the picture.
  • Alternatively, you can crop by specifying an amount to crop from each side in inches. To crop by specifying values, follow these steps:
    • Click the dialog box launcher for the Picture Styles group on the Picture Tools tab.
    • Choose Crop and enter an amount in inches to crop off of each side of the image.
    • To undo cropping using the dialog box method, set the cropping amounts to zero for each side.

Compressing Pictures

  • (Don’t feel too pressured to teach this in detail, might want to get a show of hands for who needs to really understand this)
  • Sometimes images make files to large and Word keeps all the original information even if you resize or crop, so the file is just as big. To cut down on this problem compress the images.
  • Select an image and click Compress Pictures on the Format tab. The Compress Pictures dialog box opens.
  • (Optional) If you want to compress only the selected picture(s), mark the Apply to Selected Pictures Only check box.
  • Click the Options button. The Compression Settings dialog box opens.
  • Set the compression options:
    • Automatically Perform Basic Compression on Save— When this is enabled, all pictures will be compressed when the file is saved, even if you do not use Compress Pictures specifically. This is turned on by default.
    • Delete Cropped Areas of Pictures— when this is enabled, your crops (if any) become permanent when compression is performed with Compress Pictures.
    • Target Output— Select an image quality, in pixels per inch, depending on the intended use. A lower ppi results in a smaller file size but poorer image quality. If the image is already at a low ppi, this setting will not increase its ppi; this setting only decreases ppi.
  • Click OK to return to the Compress Pictures dialog box.
  • Click OK to perform the compression now.

Setting the Brightness, Contrast, and Color Mode

  • Adjusting Brightness and Contrast—Click the Brightness button on the Format tab and select an amount of change, from +40% to –40%. The same goes for contrast.
    • If you need more than 40% or less than 10% choose Picture Corrections… and drag the sliders to adjust the amount (0% is in the center), or enter precise values in the text boxes provided.
  • Changing the Color Mode—Change the Color Tone, Saturation, or Recolor with the present options.
    • To adjust the options more, choose Picture Color Options and change the settings.

Applying Picture Styles and Effects

  • Picture styles can easily be applied to a picture by going to the Picture Tools tab, and clicking a Style in the Picture Styles group. Click the down arrow for more options.
  • To apply a shadow, glow, soft edge, reflection, 3D etc. go to Picture Effects and choose from the options, or open the Format Picture dialog box by choosing Shadow options to make further changes.
  • Rotate an image by clicking and moving the green dot.
  • Apply a picture border and change the color, outline, weight, etc.
  • Note—all these can be further modified with the Format Picture dialog box, which you can find by right clicking and choosing

Removing a Background

  • To remove a background from an image, select the image and choose Remove Background on the Picture Tools Tab.
  • Word tries to guess the background area with a box and the purple indicates the area that will be removed. Resizing the box will help to adjust the area to be removed.
  • To add or remove, click or draw lines with Mark Areas to Remove, or Mark Areas to Keep.
  • Choose Delete a Mark and click on any mark to delete it. At any time choose Discard All Changes to return to the original.
  • When finished, click Keep Changes.

Clip Art

  • Under the Insert Tab, click Clip Art and in the Clip Art pane type a search word. Click on the image to insert it.
  • You can choose whether you want to have the results Illustrations, Photos, Videos, and Audio in the Results should be box.
  • Each found clip has its own menu. To see it, point at the clip and then click the down arrow that appears to its right. Edit the Keyword or open the Properties.
  • You can edit a Clip Art with all the same options on the Picture Tools tab and Format Picture dialog box.
  • You can also right click and choose Edit Picture, or Group>>Ungroup to create a drawing object, or in other words it allows you to modify individual parts of the picture.

Making a Clip Available Offline

  • Clips from the Web can be inserted into your documents, but you can’t edit their keywords, and they aren’t available as stand-alone files on your hard disk.
  • To make a Web clip fully your own, so you can edit its keywords and work with it offline, open the clip’s menu and choose Make Available Offline.
  • In the Copy to Collection dialog box click the desired category. (Use Favorites, or click the New button to create a new collection.)
  • If you decide you no longer want that clip to be available offline, select the clip (in the Clip Art task pane), open its menu, and choose Delete from Clip Organizer. This deletes only your offline copy; the Web-based copy from Microsoft will still reappear when you do searches for which the keyword is a match.

Editing Text Wrap Points

  • If the text wrap just isn’t doing what you want it to, you can actually edit the wrapping points of some images.
  • Right click or open the Text Wrapping menu on the Format tab and see if the option Edit Wrap Points is available. If so, a dotted red line appears around the image, with black circles indicating the wrap points.
  • Drag a wrap point to change it. The red outline moves along with the wrap point to show the new boundary for the image
  • When you are finished editing the wrap points, press Esc.

Day 4

Smart Art

  • Word has an abundant source of choices for Smart Art, which are basically visual graphics used to organize information (i.e. pyramid, hierarchy, Cycle, etc.).
  • Simply Choose SmartArt on the Insert tab and choose your desired graphic.
  • Click on “Text” on the object to enter text, or enter it in the panel to the left. Hitting Enter will create more bullet points. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to adjust the bullet organization.
  • Edit the shapes as desired on the SmartArt Tools format tab, for example under Shape Fill change the color or fill the shape with a picture

Screen Clippings

  • Word allows you to make screen shots of other windows that are open, or even a clipping from a window open behind word
  • Choose Screenshot on the Insert Tab and choose the window you would like to insert a screenshot of.
  • If you choose Insert Screen Clipping, Word will minimize and you will have a view of the open windows behind Word. Drag the mouse over the area you want to clip, release and it will be pasted into Word.

Shapes

  • Under the Insert Tab, there are many shapes to choose from. To insert, choose one and click and drag to size it.
  • Yellow diamond handles change the proportions of a shape.
  • Rotate a shape freehand by grabbing the green handle. You can also choose Rotate on the Drawing Tools tab in order to rotate left and right 90 degrees, or to Flip Horizontally and Vertically.
  • The same sizing, positioning, and wrapping applies to Shapes as it does to Pictures.
  • A few particular shapes:
    • Straight and Curved connectors–Click the beginning point and then click the end point. After the second click the line is complete. You can adjust it by dragging the yellow diamond in the center .
    • Choosing the freeform shape icon allows you to draw your own shape. Just clicking again and again will create straight lines between each click, but clicking and holding allows you to create completely free form lines. Double click to end an open shape, or click on the start point to close it.
    • Curve— this freeform curve is drawn differently from the others. Click the beginning point, then click to create a second point, then click again to create additional points. Between points, drag the mouse pointer to adjust the curvature of the line. When you are finished, double-click to end the shape.
      • A curve’s or a scribble’s points can be adjusted after completion. Right click, choose Edit Points, and click and drag a point to move it. After selecting a point, grab the white handles that appear to further change the curve. Hold Alt to change just one end and Shift to change both.

Adding Text to a Shape

  • To add text to a shape, right-click the shape and choose Add Text, or click the Edit Text button on the Format tab. An insertion point appears in the shape; just type your text as you would in a text box and then click outside the shape when you are done.
  • You can set all the usual paragraph and character formatting, and you can adjust the vertical and horizontal alignment and internal margins.

Anchoring Line to Shapes

  • It’s really easy to connect a line, elbow connector, or curved connector to a shape.
    • Draw a shape and your connecting lines.
    • Select one of line’s anchor points, and hover it over the shape until red points appear on the shape.
    • Connect it to your desired point and follow the same steps to connect the other end of the line to a second shape.

Grouping Shapes

  • To group several shapes, select them all (if in a drawing canvas drag selecting box, otherwise click on each object while holding Ctrl), right click and choose Grouping>>Group.
  • Ungroup at any time by right clicking and choosing Grouping, Ungroup.

Layering Objects and Text

  • A Word document has two main layers. On the text layer is the regular document text and any inline images. (And remember, by default pictures are inserted as inline images.) The graphics layer contains everything else: text boxes, drawings, pictures, and anything else that’s set for a text wrapping other than inline.
  • It is possible to stack objects one on top of another. When you overlap one graphic object with another, by default they are stacked according to the order in which they were originally drawn, with the oldest one on the bottom.
  • To bring an item all the way forward or back in the stack of objects (but still within the graphics layer), click the Bring to Front or Send to Back button on the Format tab.
  • To move an item one position within the graphics layer, open the drop-down list associated with the Bring to Front or Send to Back button and then click either Bring Forward or Send Backward, respectively.
  • To move an object behind the text layer, open the Send to Back button’s menu and choose Send Behind Text. To move it back above the text layer again, open the Bring to Front button’s menu and choose Bring in Front of Text.

*Note: Depending on the object’s text-wrapping setting, you might not see any immediate difference in using Send Behind Text or Bring in Front of Text. To see the difference most obviously, set Text Wrapping to Through.

Aligning and Distributing Objects

  • To align objects, follow these steps:
    • Select the objects to align by holding down Ctrl and clicking on each object.
    • For Align to Page or Align to Margin, you need only select one object. For Align Selected Objects, you must select at least two.
    • On the Format tab, click Align and then choose the desired alignment relationship: Align to Page, Align to Margin, or Align Selected Objects.
    • Click Align again and then select one of the alignments, such as Align Center or Align Left.
  • To distribute, follow these steps.
    • Select the objects to be distributed by holding down Ctrl and click on multiple objects. For Align Selected Objects, you must select at least three.
    • On the Format tab, click Align and then choose the desired distribution relationship: Align to Page, Align to Margin, or Align Selected Objects.
    • If you choose the latter, the objects are distributed between the rightmost and leftmost objects, or topmost and bottommost ones, but the overall space occupied by the group of objects will not change. If you choose Align to Page or Align to Margin, the distribution spreads out the objects to fill the available space on the page or between the margins.
    • Click Align again and then select one of the distributions: Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically.

Formatting Shapes

  • Apply the various Styles from the Drawing tools tab.
  • Apply a fill by choosing Shape Fill where you can apply a Theme color that will change with the theme, a standard color, picture, texture, gradient, etc.
    • Note: applying a picture to a shape often distorts the picture, so if you want to fix it open the Format Shape dialog box (right click Format Picture), go to Fill, and adjust the Stretch Options until it looks better.
  • Apply a border by choosing Shape Outline, and changing the color, weight, dashes, etc.
  • A gradient can be a single color, or two colors.
    • To apply a single gradient, apply a solid color fill to the shape, choose Gradient under Shape Fill, and select one of the gradient presets.
    • To apply a multicolor gradient, right click, choose Format Picture to open the dialog box, choose Fill, Gradient, click each stop and apply a Color to it. Add or delete stops by clicking the + or the X.
      • You can also adjust the brightness and transparency by dragging the sliders, or change the type of gradient (radial, rectangular, etc.).
  • Apply a Texture under Shape Fill, or find a pattern by opening up the Format Shape dialog box, Fill, and choose a Pattern and colors for your shape.
  • Under Shape Effects, apply a Shadow, Glow, Reflection, or 3D Options. All of these have more options in the Format Shape dialog box.

The Drawing Canvas (optional)

  • A drawing canvas is a defined rectangular area in which you can place the lines and shapes. Using a drawing canvas is optional. If you use one, the drawing canvas functions as the backdrop on which all the lines and shapes sit. If you choose not to use one, the lines and shapes sit directly on the document page.
  • One advantage of using a drawing canvas is that you can apply a background fill (solid or a special effect) to the canvas, so your drawing will have a colored background separate from the document background. Another is that you can assign an automatically numbered caption to a drawing canvas, so a group of lines and shapes together can be considered a single figure for numbering purposes. (To do that, right-click the canvas and choose Insert Caption.)
  • To insert a drawing canvas, on the Insert Tab and at the bottom of the Shapes menu choose New Drawing Canvas.
  • The drawing canvas is a lot like any other shape, you can place a border around it, apply a background fill. You can also right-click the canvas and choose Format Drawing Canvas to open the Format Drawing Canvas dialog box. This is basically the same dialog box as Format Picture or Format Object. Here’s what’s available:
    • Colors and Lines— set the fill and line color and style here.
    • Size— specify an exact size for the canvas.
    • Layout— Specify text-wrap settings for the canvas.
    • Alt Text— Specify alternative text to appear if the drawing canvas cannot appear when displayed on a web page

Word Art

  • Under the Insert Tab, choose Word Art and choose your Style. Type the text where it says “Your text here.”
  • Under Text Fill add a theme color, standard color, or a gradient.
  • Under Text Outline add a color, change the weight, or add dashes.
  • Under Text Effects, add a Shadow, Refection, Glow, or add shape to your text by choosing an option from Transform.
  • More options can be found in the Format Text Effects dialog box, launched with the arrow in the bottom corner of the WordArt Styles group.

Tables

  • The first and quickest way to insert a table is to use the Table drop down menu on the Insert Tab and hover over the correct number of rows and columns.
  • The second way is to choose Insert Table on the drop down, where you can type the number of rows and columns you desire. The other options are:
    • Fixed column Width
      • Auto: Starts with a fixed column width so that the table fills the window, but the cells automatically enlarge if your text goes longer.
      • Specific Value: Set a specific width for the columns in inches (can go to 1/100)
    • AutoFit to Contents: Changes the cell widths so that whatever text you place in them fits on a single row. If a column contains nothing, it appears very narrow.
    • AutoFit to Window–The table width changes depending on the size of the window in which it is being viewed. This setting is great for tables that will be displayed on web pages, because one never knows the size of the browser window a web page visitor will be using.
    • If you check the “Remember dimensions for new tables” box, Word will start with the same settings next time you choose Insert Table.
  • Third draw a table with a pencil, clicking and dragging to first create the rectangle and then drawing lines for your rows and columns.
  • Fourth select text and then Convert it into a table, choosing the number of rows and columns.
    • Choose whether you want to separate your text by Paragraphs, Commas, Tabs, or another symbol (called delimiter).
  • Fifth insert a Quick Table from the options (a Calendar or preformatted tables).
  • Word also allows you to insert a mini Excel Spreadsheet into your document, complete with many of the functions from Excel.
  • You can also insert a table within a table by placing your cursor in a cell and inserting a table with one of the ways listed above.
  • Click on the top left corner icon to select the entire table, or to the left of a row and above a column to select the whole row or column.

Table Sizing

  • Resize the entire table by clicking and dragging from the bottom right corner.
  • Click and drag on the sides to adjust the width and height of the whole table, or within the table to adjust rows, columns and cells.
  • You can also adjust Height and Width of individual cells in the Cell Size group on the Table Tools Layout Tab.
  • Additionally, choose to distribute rows or columns equally in the Cell Size group.
  • Here are some keyboard shortcuts for Table Navigation:
    • Next cell (or to start a new row if already in the last cell) >>Tab
    • Previous cell (in same row)>>Shift+Tab
    • First cell in the row>>Alt+Home
    • Last cell in the row>>Alt+End
    • First cell in the column>>Alt+Page Up
    • Last cell in the column>>Alt+Page Down
    • Previous row>>Up arrow
    • Next row>>Down arrow

Inserting, Deleting, Merging, and Splitting.

  • Place your cursor in a cell and choose Insert Above, Below, Left, or Right to add quick rows and columns.
  • The Delete button gives the option to delete a single cell, row, column, or the whole table.
  • To Merge or Split cells, simply select them and click Merge or Split.
  • To Split the table place your cursor below where you wish the divide to be and click Split Table.

Formatting Tables

Apply quick table Styles on the Table Tools Design Tab.

  • Use the check boxes in the Table Style Options group to turn on/off certain formatting extras.
  • Header Row formats the first row differently
  • Total Row formats the last row differently.
  • The Banded options make every other row or column different, for easier reading.

Creating or Modifying Table Styles

  • Open the Table Styles list on the Design tab and select the style that is closest to the one you want.
  • Right click the Style you want and choose Modify Table Style. The Modify Style dialog box opens.
  • In the Name box, type a new name. (It is better to create a new style rather than overwrite the definition of an existing one, and in some cases Word will not let you modify a built-in style.)
  • To make whole-table changes, set the Apply Formatting To value to Whole Table and then make formatting changes using the controls provided. You can choose a different font, size, and color, change the borders, change the cell shading and alignment, and more.
  • To make changes to only certain rows or columns, select the desired scope from the Apply Formatting To list (for example, Header Row) and then make formatting changes.
    • Note: If the formatting you want to apply does not appear in the dialog box, click the Format button to open a menu of more choices. For example, from the Format menu you can choose Stripes to fine-tune the bands to include more than one row or column per band.
  • (Optional) To store the style in the template (for reuse in other documents), click New Documents Based on This Template.

Borders

  • Apply and adjust borders from the Design tab>Borders.  To find more options open the Borders and Shading dialog box.
  • You can also apply borders with the Draw Table pencil. Simply set the color and weight settings and draw over an existing line or draw new lines.

Cell Margins

To apply margins to the whole table, click Cell Margins on the Layout tab.

  • Enter margin settings in the Default Cell Margins section
  • (Optional) To put spacing between cells, mark the Allow Spacing check box and enter an amount. This will add extra margin between cells, but leave the margins at the outside of the table the same as the default.
  • Choose whether you want the cells to automatically resize to fit their content.

Or for individual cells:

  • Select the cells to affect and click the Properties button on the Layout tab.
  • Click the Cell tab and then click the Options button.
  • Clear the “Same as the whole table” box. Now you can choose margins for only the cells selected.
  • Choose your options checkboxes
  • Wrap Text: Allows the text to wrap within the cell if needed
  • Fit Text: Reduces the size of the font to fit the text in the cell if needed.

Text Alignment/Direction

  • Adjust the text alignment within a cell using the buttons in the Alignment group on the Layout Tab (i.e. Top left, bottom center, center right, etc.).
  • Simply click the Text Direction button to choose horizontal or vertical text.

Repeat Heading on Each Page

  • If your table is larger than one page, choosing to repeat a Heading Row can help to organize information.
  • Place cursor is top row of table and click Repeat Header Rows. Once the table exceeds one page, that header row will repeat at the top of the second page.

Convert to Text

  • Just as text can be converted into tables, tables can be converted back into text.
  • Select the table, choose Convert to Table in the Layout tab and choose what you want to separate your text by, Paragraph, Comma, Tab, or Other.

Table Alignment

  • A table can be aligned on the page just like a graphic, but it should be smaller than the width of the page.
  • Select the table and choose Properties in the Layout Tab. Under the Table tab, choose left, center, right.
  • To adjust the text wrapping, choose None or Around.

SkyDrive

  • Microsoft now has 25 GB of free online storage for those who have a Windows Live account.
  • To save a document on SkyDrive, go to the File tab, Save and Send, choose Save to Web and either Sign In with your Windows Live account or create a new one.
  • Choose the folder you want to save it in. The default is My Documents.
  • Choose Save As and name it.
  • To access it:
  • Go to skydrive.com, sign in, and choose your folder.
  • You can create a Folder as well by clicking the New drop down arrow and choosing Folder.
  • Click on a File to either Download it into Word or Edit in Browser (allows many functions but not all).
  • You can Share a Folder with others by choosing a folder and Clicking Share, Edit Permissions or Send a Link.