Word paragraph formatting

Paragraphs are composed of characters, graphics, and other objects. At the end of each paragraph, there is a "8 (or carriage return)" marker, called a paragraph mark, that represents the end of a paragraph. Paragraph formatting refers to setting the entire paragraph's appearance, including paragraph indents, paragraph alignment, paragraph spacing, line spacing, drop caps, columns, bullets, and borders and shading.

1. Paragraph indentation

Paragraph indentation in Word refers to the distance between the text and the page boundary, as shown in Figure 1. There are 4 paragraphs indented: Left indent, right indent, first line indent, and hanging indent (except the starting position of the other rows outside the first row). There are several ways to indent a paragraph, but be sure to select a paragraph or place the cursor in the paragraph you want to indent, and see Figure 2 for the paragraph indent setting. The methods for paragraph indent settings are:

Figure 1 Paragraph indent chart 2 effect of paragraph indent setting

(1) Use the Formatting toolbar. Click the reduce indent or Increase Indent button in the Formatting toolbar (shown in Figure 3) to indent the left edge of the paragraph to the default or custom tab stop position.

Figure 3-18 Setting the Indent button

(2) Use the horizontal ruler. On the horizontal ruler, there are 4 paragraph indent sliders: first line indent, hanging indent, left indent, and right indent, as shown in Figure 4. Press and hold the left mouse button to drag them to complete the appropriate indentation, if you want to accurately indent, you can drag while holding down the ALT key, the ruler will appear when the scale.

Figure 4 Indent markers on the ruler

(3) Use the Paragraph dialog box. Click the format/paragraph command to open the Paragraph dialog box, as shown in Figure 5. You can set various indentation types for paragraphs in the indent area on the Indent and Spacing tab.

Figure 5 The Paragraph dialog box

2. Paragraph alignment

Word provides 5 paragraph alignment: left, center, right, justified, split-aligned. The left alignment of the paragraphs is the default alignment. Paragraph alignment is set up in the following ways:

(1) Use the Formatting toolbar. Select the paragraph you want to align, and click the Alignment button in the Formatting toolbar, as shown in Figure 6.

(2) Use the Paragraph dialog box. Select the paragraphs that you want to set up to align. Select the Indent and Spacing tab in the Open Paragraph dialog box, click the Drop-down button in the Alignment list box, select the appropriate alignment in the list in the alignment (shown in Figure 7), and click OK.

Figure 6 aligning the buttons Figure 7 alignment

3. Paragraph spacing and line spacing

Paragraph spacing includes: Spacing before paragraphs, spacing after paragraphs. Line spacing refers to the vertical spacing between lines of text.

(1) Set paragraph spacing. Select the paragraph you want to set spacing for, and in the Open Paragraph dialog box, select the Indent and Spacing tab, set the spacing between the "before" and "after" text boxes at the right end of the spacing group, increasing or decreasing by 0.5 rows per click (as shown in Figure 8), and clicking OK.

(2) Set line spacing. Select the paragraph you want to set leading, select the Indent and Spacing tab in the Open Paragraph dialog box, click the Line Spacing list box Drop-down button, select the desired line spacing option (as shown in Figure 9), and click OK.

Figure 8 Setting spacing Figure 9 Setting line spacing

4. Sinking of the first word

A drop cap enlarges the first character of a paragraph to attract attention. The action method is:

(1) Position the cursor in the paragraph that requires a drop cap.

(2) Click the "Format/drop Cap" command to open the Drop Cap dialog box, as shown in Figure 10.

(3) In this dialog box, select whether you want to drop the drop cap or suspend the drop, and set the font, number of dropped lines, and distance from the body, and so on, click OK.

5. Sub-column

A column is an edit in a document that divides a document's layout into several columns. The action method is:

(1) Select the text you want to column, click Format/Columns, and open the Columns dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.

(2) To set the layout of the columns, number of columns, width and spacing, etc., click "OK" button ...

Figure 10 Drop Cap dialog Box 11 Columns Dialog

Note: When you set up an unequal column layout, uncheck the column width equal check box, and then in the Width and Spacing box, enter the column width and spacing. If you select the Separator check box, you can add a separator line between the columns. If the selected column content is the last paragraph in the document, select the column content to not select the last carriage return, or it will affect the column effect.

6. Bullets and paragraph numbering

Adding bullets and numbering before a paragraph can make the content more visible. The action method is:

(1) Select the bulleted or numbered paragraphs that you want to create;

(2) Click the Format/Bullets and Numbering command to open the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12 Bullets and Numbering dialog box

(3) Select a bullet style on the Bullets tab or select a numbering style on the Numbering tab, and click OK.

You can also add a default bullet or number directly to the selected paragraph by clicking the Bullets Number button on the Formatting toolbar.

7. Borders and Shading

To emphasize the role of some text, paragraph, graphic, or table, you can add borders and shading to them. The action method is:

(1) Select the contents of the document, click the Format/borders and Shading command, and open the Borders and Shading dialog box, as shown in Figure 13;

(2) On the Borders tab, you can set various types of text or paragraphs, various line styles, various colors, and various widths of borders;

(3) In the Page Border tab, you can set the effect on the page border and select a different line style, color, and width, or you can select a different art shape in the art Drop-down list box;

(4) In the Shading tab, you can set a variety of colors, shades of various styles, for text or paragraphs.

Figure 13 "Borders and Shading" dialog box