McCombs School of Business
Technology Training Team

Word 2002  & 2003 Skills

Formatting Text

Font

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the drop down arrow on the Font box on the toolbar and choose a font.
    Tip:  If the fonts are not listed in their font, you can turn this option on.  Just go to Tools > Customize.  Select the Options tab and check the box that says List font names in their font.  Click OK.

Alignment

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the appropriate alignment button on the toolbar.

Font Size

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the drop down arrow on the Font Size box on the toolbar and select a size.  You can also select the font size in the box and type in a new size.
  3. Hit the Enter key on your keyboard.

Font Color

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the drop down arrow next to the Font Color button on the toolbar.
  3. Select a color.

Highlight

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the drop down arrow next to the highlight button on the toolbar and select a color.

Clear Highlighting

  1. Select the text.
  2. Click the drop down arrow next to the highlight button on the toolbar and select None.

Format Painter

The Format Painter is a great way to copy all the formatting from one piece of text and apply it to another piece of text.

  1. Select the text with the formatting you want to copy.
  2. Click the Format Painter button on the toolbar.  The arrow will turn into a paintbrush.
  3. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the paintbrush over the text you want to apply the formatting to.

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Tables

Turn on Tables and Borders Toolbar

The Tables and Borders toolbar has buttons on it that will make your life easier when you work with tables.  See the screen capture below for descriptions of the buttons on the toolbar.

  1. Go to the View menu.
  2. Choose Toolbars.
  3. Click on Tables and Borders.

Note: If Tables and Borders has a check next to it in the toolbar list, it is already turned on. If it is already on, clicking it would turn it off.

Insert a New Table

  1. Go to Table > Insert > Table.
  2. Set the number of columns and rows at the top of the dialog box.
  3. Click OK.

Add a Row to the Bottom of a Table

Click in the last cell of the table and hit the Tab key on your keyboard.

Add a Row or Column anywhere in your Table

  1. Put your cursor in the cell you would like the row or column to be adjacent to.
  2. Go to the Table > Insert.
  3. Select Row or Column.

Alignment of Cell Contents

  1. On the Tables and Borders toolbar, click the drop down arrow next to the alignment button.
  2. Select the appropriate alignment option.

Fill the Background of a Cell

  1. Select the cell or cells you want to color.
  2. Click the drop down arrow on the Shading Color button.
  3. Select a color.

Resize Rows and Columns

  1. Hover your mouse over the border you want to move.
  2. When your cursor turns into a double arrow, click on the line, and drag it to its new position.

Delete a Row or Column

1.  Select a row or column and press the Backspace or Delete key on the keyboard

- or -

  1. Click in a cell in the row or column you would like to delete (or select the whole row or column)
  2. Go  to the Table menu and select Delete
  3. Choose either Row of Column

Delete a Table

1.  Select the entire table and press the Backspace key on the keyboard

- or -

  1. Click somewhere inside the table
  2. Go to the Table menu, select Delete, then Table

Split Cells

You can divide a cell into several cells.

  1. Highlight the cell you would like to split
  2. Go to the Table menu
  3. Choose Split Cells…
  4. Choose the number of rows and columns you would like
  5. Click OK

Merge Cells

This feature allows you to select multiple cells and merge them into one cell.

  1. Highlight the cells you would like to merge
  2. Go to the Table menu
  3. Select Merge Cells

Change the style of your borders

  1. Go to Format > Borders and shading
  2. Select the Borders tab
  3. In the Settings section, choose the type of border you prefer by clicking on it
  4. In the Style section, select a line style
  5. Change the color and size of the line if you would like
  6. On the right, you can select which borders on the cell you would like to show (for example, you can choose to only show the top and bottom borders
  7. On the right you can preview how a cell will look
  8. Click OK to apply the borders to your table

Tab within a cell

When you are in a table cell, hitting the tab key will move you to the next cell.  To actually indent within a cell, hit Crtl+Tab.

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Columns

Divide the text on your page using vertical columns. They are especially good for newsletters and long lists.  Columns are very different from tables.  When using columns, you will not be able to put text in the second column until the first column is full.

  1. Go to Format > Columns.
  2. Choose the number of columns you would like to insert.
  3. In the Width and Spacing section, select the width of each column and the amount of space between the columns (if you do not want to stick with the default size and spacing). Or you can check the Equal Column width box.
  4. Select whether you want it to apply to the whole document or the current section
  5. If you only want to apply it to a specific paragraph (or several) highlight the paragraph before going to the Format menu.
  6. You can check a box on the right to put lines between the columns.

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Page Setup

Page Orientation

The orientation of your page determines the way your text prints on the page.

Change the orientation of your page:

  1. Go to File > Page Setup.
  2.  Select the Margins tab.
  3. In the Orientation section, click on either Portrait or Landscape.
  4. Click OK.

Set your margins

Margins are the empty space on the top, bottom, right, and left sides of your page. If you want to minimize the number of pages in your document, making the margins smaller can give you extra room on the page. If you know that your document will be bound, adjusting the gutter will ensure that your words do not end up in the seam.

  1. Go to File > Page Setup.
  2. Select the Margins tab.
  3. Select size of margins using arrows, or typing in values.
    • The gutter is extra space to one side of the margin. It is good to use when creating a document that will be bound.
    • In the Pages section, you can select different ways for the page or pages to appear on a sheet of paper. This is good to consider if you will be binding your document.
    • In the Preview section you can choose to apply your settings to the whole document, or only to the current and following pages.
    • Go to the Layout tab, and you can choose the text’s vertical alignment on the page.
  4. When you have made all of your adjustments, click OK.

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Paragraph Formatting

Create a first line indent

A first line indent will indent only the first line of your paragraph.

  1. Highlight the paragraph or paragraphs.
  2. Go to Format > Paragraph.
  3.  In the Special box, select First line.
  4. Use the arrows or type in the length you would like to indent by.
  5. Click OK.

Create a hanging indent

A hanging indent will indent all rows of a paragraph except the first.

  1. Highlight the paragraph or paragraphs.
  2. Go to Format > Paragraph.
  3. In the Special box, select Hanging
  4. Use the arrows or type in the length you would like to indent by
  5. Click OK

Indent a block of text

  1. Click inside the block of text.
  2. Go to Format > Paragraph
  3. In the Left section, use the arrow or type in the length you would like to indent by.
  4. Do the same in the Right section if you would like a right indent as well.
  5. Click OK

Carry margin formatting to the next paragraph

Margin formatting is specific to the paragraph you are typing, however, you can carry your formatting over to the next paragraph. Simply create an insertion point immediately after the last word of your paragraph and click Enter to create a new paragraph.

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Headers and Footers

Adding a header and footer to a document can be helpful, especially when it is a multi-page document. If the pages get separated or out of order, your reader will know what document they belong to, and what order they should go in.

Add a header and footer

  1. Go to View > Header and Footer
  2. Type in the Header
  3. To add a footer, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and double click inside the footer. – or – Click the Switch from Header to Footer button on the tool bar.
  4. To exit the header or footer double click anywhere outside the header and footer area, or click the Close button on the tool bar

Alignment within a header or footer

Your header and footer already come with default tab stops to make your life a little easier. The first is a center aligned tab stop. If you tab to it, you will be able to add centered text in the middle of the header. The second is a right aligned tab stop so you can add text to the right side of the header without having to use the space bar to get there.

Add a Page number

  1. In the Header and Footer toolbar, click on the pound sign
  2. If you would like to say page X of Y, click the drop down arrow for Auto Text and choose page X of Y

Format the page number

  1. To change the format of the page number, click the Format Page Number button on the tool bar.
  2. In the Number Format area, select a format for your page number

Note: If you have selected to show a page number and the total number of pages, changing the format of the page number will only change the format of X, it will not change the format of Y.

Different Headers and Footers

  1. Go to File > Page Setup and choose the Layout tab

In the header section, choose whether you want to have a different header and footer on the first page, and the distance you would like to have them from the top and bottom of the page. You can also choose if you would like to have a different header and footer for odd and even pages. This may be useful if you are creating a bound document with text on both sides of the page.

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Tab Stops

Tab stops determine where the insertion point moves to when you press the Tab key. If you do not specify tab stops, the default tab length will always be used. The alignment of the tab determines which side of the cursor the text will go.

Default tab stops

The default tab length is 0.5 inches. Changing the default length is simple.

  1. Go to Format > Tabs
  2. In the default tabs box, type in the new length for your tabs, or use the up and down arrow to change the length
  3. Click OK

Set custom tab stops

  1. Go to Format > Tabs
  2. In the Tab Stop position box, indicate distance of first tab stop.
    Note: The tab stops indicate where on the ruler the insertion point will move to. It does not set the distance between the tabs.
  3. In the Alignment section, select the alignment you would like for that tab
  4. Click Set
  5. Do so for as many tab stops as you like, but keep the width of the page in mind.

Tab stops with leading characters

  1. On the Format menu, click Tabs.
  2. Under Tab stop position, type the position for a new tab, or select an existing tab stop to which you want to add leader characters. (leader character: A solid, dotted, or dashed line that is used in a table of contents and that fills the space used by a tab character)
  3. Under Alignment, select the alignment for text typed at the tab stop
  4. Under Leader, click the leader option you want, and then click Set

Alignment

You can choose a few ways to align your text with your tab stop.

  • Left – This is the most common tab stop. Your text will go to the left of your tab stop.
  • Center – Your tab stop will be at the center of your text.
  • Right – Your text will go to the right of your tab stop.
  • Decimal – This is great when you are listing numbers with decimals. The decimals will be in line with your tab stop.
  • Bar - A seldom used tab stop that does not position text, but instead puts a vertical bar at the tab stop position.

Set Tab Stops using the ruler

The button on the left side of the tool bar determines what kind of tab stop you are inserting. Each time you click the button the type will change.

To add a tab stop using the ruler, make sure that the button on the left displays the kind you would like to enter, then click on the ruler in the place you would like it to be.

Delete tab stops

There are two ways you can delete tab stops.

  1. Go to Format > Tab stops
  2. Highlight the tab stop you would like to delete.
  3. Click the Clear button
  4. Click OK

- or -

  1. Click on the tab stop in the ruler
  2. Drag it off the ruler and release

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