Character FormattingLesson 3

Objectives

Software Orientation• As you learn to format text, it is important to

become familiar with the Font group of commands. The Font group, shown below, is displayed in the Home tab of the Ribbon.

• The Font group contains commands for changing the appearance of text. Refer to this figure throughout this lesson as well as the rest of the book.

Formatting Characters Manually• Formatting characters makes your text more

appealing and more readable.

Changing Fonts and Font Sizes• A character is any single letter, number, symbol,

or punctuation mark. • A font is a set of characters that have the same

design. • Each font has a unique name, such as Garamond

or Arial. • Microsoft Word has a variety of fonts and font

sizes to help you communicate your intended message in a document.

• In this exercise, you use commands from the Font command group and the Mini toolbar to apply a specific font and font size to selected text.

Changing Fonts and Font Sizes• Font sizes are measured in points. • Point size refers to the height of characters, with

1 point equaling approximately 1⁄72 of an inch. • Point sizes range from the very small 8-point size

to 72 points or higher.

• Below are a few examples of fonts and sizes.

Changing Fonts and Font Sizes• The Font group in the Home tab contains menus

for changing both font type and font size. • You can also access the same commands using

the Mini toolbar or by right-clicking to access a shortcut menu.

• To change text font or size using any of these tools, you first must select the text.

• Another Way: to change the size of text is to select the text and click the Grow Font button to increase the font size or the Shrink Font button to decrease the size.

Step-by-Step: Change Fonts and Font Sizes• Before you begin these steps, be sure to LAUNCH

Microsoft Word. 1. Connect your USB flash drive to one of the USB

ports on your computer.2. Click the File tab, then click Open. The Open

dialog box appears.3. Use the vertical scroll bar to scroll down and

locate the data files for this lesson on your USB flash drive. Double-click the Lesson 3 folder to open it.

4. Locate and open the file named class_descriptions.

Step-by-Step: Change Fonts and Font Sizes5. Within the document, select

Preston Creek Family YMCA.6. In the Font group of the

Home tab, click the Font drop-down arrow to display the Font menu. The menu appears, as shown at right.

7. Scroll down the list and position the mouse pointer on Arial.

8. Click Arial.

Step-by-Step: Change Fonts and Font Sizes9. With the text

still selected, click the drop-down arrow on the Font Size menu. The menu appears, as shown at right.

10. Click 18.11. Select Group

Exercise Class Descriptions.

Step-by-Step: Change Fonts and Font Sizes12.Click the drop-down arrow

to open the Font menu, then select Arial.

13. With the text still selected,open the Font Size menu and select 14.

14. Select the remainder of text in the document. Point to the selected text to display the Mini toolbar. Click the drop-down arrow on the Font menu on the Mini toolbar and choose Calibri (see right).

Step-by-Step: Change Fonts and Font Sizes15. With text still selected, click the Font Size menu on

the Mini toolbar and choose 12.16. Click in a blank area of the document to deselect.17. Select Preston Creek Family YMCA. In the Font

group, click the Grow Font button once to increase the size of the text.

18. Click the Grow Font button two more times until the point size is 24. Notice that each time you click the button, the number in the Font Size menu changes.

19. Click in a blank area of the document to deselect.20. SAVE the document as classes in the lesson folder

on your USB flash drive.• LEAVE the document open to use in the next exercise.

Applying Character Attributes• In addition to changing the font and font size of

text, you can change the appearance of characters to apply emphasis to text.

• In this exercise, you learn how to apply character attributes such as bolding, italics, font colors, and outlines to selected text in Word documents.

• The Font group in the Home tab includes the commands for applying bold, italic, and underline attributes to draw attention to words or phrases in your document.

• You can use these attributes one at a time, such as Bold, or together, such as Bold Underline.

Applying Character Attributes• Select the text to apply one or more of the

character attributes using the Font command group, the Mini toolbar, or keyboard shortcuts or by right-clicking to access a shortcut menu.

• Click the Font command group dialog box launcher to open the Font dialog box with more options for formatting characters. In this dialog box, you can specify a font color, underline style, and variety of other effects, such as small caps, strikethrough, superscript, and shadow.

Applying Character Attributes• New to the Font command group is Text Effects.

Text Effects add a distinctive appearance to selected text, such as outline, shadow, glow, and reflection.

• To add Text Effects to selected text, click the drop-down arrow on the Text Effects button, then select from the available options on the menu.

• To remove effects, select the affected text, then click the Clear Formatting button on the Font group.

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. Select the title of the document, Preston Creek

Family YMCA. In the Font command group, click the Bold button.

2. Select the subtitle, Group Exercise Class Descriptions, and click the Italic button.

3. Select Active Older Adults and click the Bold button.

4. With the text still selected, click the Underline button.

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes5. With the text still selected,

click the drop-down arrow beside the Underline button. A menu of underlining choices appears, as shown at right.

6. Click Thick Underline, the third line down in the menu.

7. Select the title, Preston Creek Family YMCA. In the Font Group, click the dialog box launcher. The Font dialog box appears, as shown on the next slide.

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes8. In the Effects section, click the Small Caps

check box to insert a check mark.9. Click the drop-down arrow on the Font Color

menu. A menu of colors appears. A ScreenTip will appear when you place your insertion point over the colors; click red from the Standard Colors section at the bottom.

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes10.Click the Text Effects

button at the bottom of the dialog box. The Format Text Effects dialog box opens, as shown at right.

11. In the Fill Color options area, click the Color drop-down arrow. From the Standard colors menu that appears, select dark blue.

Step-by-Step: Apply Character Attributes12. In the directory in the left pane of the dialog

box, click Text Outline, then select Solid line in the options that appear in the right pane.

13. In the Outline Style category, change the width from .75 to 1.5 pt. Click Close to close the Format Text Effects dialog box.

14. In the Font dialog box, click the Small Caps check box to remove the check mark.

15. Click OK, then deselect the text.16. SAVE the document as classes_1 in the lesson

folder on your USB flash drive.• LEAVE the document open to use in the next

exercise.

Changing Case• When you need to change the case (capitalization) of

text, Word provides several options and an easy way to choose the one you want.

• In this exercise, you learn to use the commands in Word’s Change Case menu to change capitalization.

• The Change Case menu in the Font group has five options for changing the capitalization of text:

• Sentence case: Capitalizes the first word in each sentence

• lowercase: Changes all characters to lowercase• UPPERCASE: Changes all characters to capital letters• Capitalize Each Word: Capitalizes the first character

of each word• tOGGLE cASE: Changes each character to its

opposite case

Step-by-Step: Change Case• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. Select the title, Preston Creek Family YMCA.

In the Font group, click the Change Case button. A menu of case options appears, as shown below.

Step-by-Step: Change Case2. Click UPPERCASE. All letters are capitalized.3. With the text still selected, click the Change

Casebutton again and select lowercase.

4. With the text still selected, click the Change Case button again, then click Capitalize Each Word.

5. Select Ymca. Click the Change Case button again and choose UPPERCASE.

6. Click in a blank area of the document to deselect the text.

7. SAVE the document as classes_2 in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive.

• LEAVE the document open to use in the next exercise.

Highlighting Text• The Highlighting tool in the Font group enables

you to apply a highlighting color across text to stress the importance of that text and draw attention to it quickly.

• In this exercise, you learn to use Word’s Text Highlighting feature to add highlighting color to selected text.

• To highlight text, first select the text you want to emphasize, then click the Text Highlight Color button in the Font group and select the color of your choice.

• To remove highlighting, select the highlighted text and choose No Color from the Text Highlight Color menu

Step-by-Step: Highlight Text• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. In the Font group, click the Text Highlight

Colorbutton. Place your insertion point within the document, and notice that Highlighting is turned on and the pointer changes to a highlighter pen icon.

2. Under the Core Express heading in your document, select the last sentence, This new class is open to all fitness levels! When you release the mouse button, the text is highlighted in yellow.

3. Click the Text Highlight Color button again to turn off Highlighting.

Step-by-Step: Highlight Text4. Select the text you highlighted in step 2. Click

the drop-down arrow beside the Text Highlight Color button. A menu of colors appears, as shown below. Click turquoise (the third color from the left in the top row of the menu). Notice the highlight color in the text and the Text Highlight Color button in the Ribbon has changed to turquoise.

Step-by-Step: Highlight Text5. Select the text again. Click the Text Highlight

Colorbutton again to remove the highlight color by selecting No Color.

6. SAVE the document with the same filename in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive.

• LEAVE the document open to use in the next exercise.

Using the Format Painter• To format your text so that it has the look and feel

you want, you may need to copy existing formatting.

• The Format Painter helps you copy formats to use in other areas of the document without having to repeat the same steps.

• The Format Painter command is located in the Clipboard group on the Home tab.

• It is used to copy attributes and other formatting from one block of text and apply them to other selected text within the document.

Using the Format Painter• When you activate Format Painter, the mouse

pointer becomes a paintbrush. • Clicking once on the Format Painter button

enables you to copy and apply the format once; double-clicking allows you to apply the copied format to as many locations as you wish.

• In this exercise, you learn to use the Format Painter to copy and apply formatting to selected text.

Step-by-Step: Use the Format Painter• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. Select the Active Older Adults heading.2. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click

the Format Painter button once; Format Painter copies the formatting from your selected text, and the pointer changes to a paintbrush icon when you point to text.

3. Use the paintbrush pointer to select the next heading, Boot Camp. The copied format is applied, and the Format Painter is turned off.

Step-by-Step: Use the Format Painter4. With Boot Camp still selected, double-click the

Format Painter button. Notice the status bar message “Use the mouse to apply the previously copied paragraph formatting onto other text, or press Esc to cancel.” Notice also that the mouse pointer becomes a paintbrush icon when you place it over text. You will now be able to apply the same formatting to several items in the document.

5. Select the next heading, Cardio Combo. The copied format is applied.

6. Select the next heading, Cardio Kickboxing. The copied format is applied again.

Step-by-Step: Use the Format Painter7. Select the remaining headings to apply the

copied format. When you are finished with the last heading, click the Format Painter button to turn it off.

8. SAVE the document as classes_3 in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive.

• LEAVE the document open to use in the next exercise.

Formatting with Styles• Word provides predefined Quick Styles for

formatting documents instantly with a number of characters and paragraphs attributes.

• Modifications can be made to existing styles, or new styles can be created and placed in the Quick Styles list, current document, or template.

• In this exercise, you learn to apply a style and to modify an existing style.

• The Styles window lists the same Quick Styles displayed in the Styles Gallery.

• When you point to a style in the list, a ScreenTip displays the style’s properties.

Formatting with Styles• When you choose paragraph styles, the formats

are applied instantly to all text in the paragraph where the insertion point is located, whether or not that text is selected.

• Styles created for paragraphs are marked in the Styles window by a paragraph mark to the right of the style name.

• Character styles are applied to individual characters or words that you select.

• Character styles have a lowercase letter a beside them.

• Sometimes, a style can be used for either paragraphs or characters. These linked styles have a paragraph symbol as well as a lowercase a beside them. Select the text to which you want to apply a linked style.

Applying Styles• In this exercise, you learn to use Word’s Quick

Styles to apply paragraph styles and character styles to selected text and paragraphs within your document.

Step-by-Step: Apply a Style• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. Select the Active Older Adults heading. In the

Styles command group on the Home tab, click Heading 1. The style is applied to the heading.

2. Use multi-selection to select all the headings, then click Heading 1. The Heading 1 style is applied to all the remaining headings.

Step-by-Step: Apply a Style3. In the second sentence of the

Active Older Adults description, select low-impact. In the Styles group, click the dialog box launcher. The Styles window appears, as shown at right.

4. Point to Subtle Emphasis in the Styles list. Notice a ScreenTip appears and the lowercase a to the right of the style name becomes anarrow. Click Subtle Emphasis. The style is applied to the selected text.

Step-by-Step: Apply a Style5. In the Boot Camp description, select

challenging and click Subtle Emphasis in the Styles window.

6. In the Core Express description, select strengthen and click Subtle Emphasis in the Styles window.

7. In the Indoor Cycling description, select high-energy and click Subtle Emphasis in the Styles window.

8. In the Yoga description, select breathing and relaxation and click Subtle Emphasis in the Styles window. Deselect the text. Click the X to close the Styles window.

9. SAVE the document as classes_4 in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive.

• LEAVE the document open to use in the next exercise.

Modifying Styles• You can make modifications to an existing style

using the Modify Style dialog box. • Word also gives you the option of where to place

changes made to styles, such as adding them to the Quick List, current document, or applying them to new documents based on a template.

• In this exercise, you learn to use the Modify Style options to modify styles in Word.

Modifying Styles• To change an existing style, right-click

the style’s name in the Style window, then click Modify, as shown at right.Character attributes can be applied to a style by clicking on the Bold button, Italics button and/or the Underline button. Similarly, clicking the drop-down arrow for Font and Font Size allows you to adjust both of these settings.

Modifying Styles• The Modify Styles dialog box has options for

where to place the new modified style. The modified style can be placed on the Quick Style list so you can access it quickly.

• Selecting the option to save the style only in this document will affect only the current document.

• Selecting the option for new documents based on a template ensures that the same style is applied.

Step-by-Step: Modify Styles• USE the document that is open from

the previous exercise.1. Under Change Styles in the Style

group, click the drop-down arrow to display the Styles window. Select Subtle Emphasis, then right-click to display the Subtle Emphasis menu, as shown at right.

2. Click Modify. The Modify Style dialog box appears, as shown on the next slide.

Step-by-Step: Modify Styles3. Click the Bold

button.

4. Click the Font Color drop-down arrow, then select red in the Standard Colors section. Notice the preview in the dialog box changes.

Step-by-Step: Modify Styles5. Click the Add to Quick Style List check box to

clear it. The modifications you just made will apply to this document and not on the Style list, as shown on the previous slide.

6. Click OK.7. Select Heading 1, right-click to display the

Heading 1 menu, then click Modify.8. In the Modify Style dialog box, click the Font

Color drop-down arrow. From the drop-down menu, choose red.

9. Open the Font Size drop-down menu and select 14.

Step-by-Step: Modify Styles10. Click the Add to Quick Style list check box to

clear the check mark. The modifications made will apply to this document and not on the Style list.

11. Click OK. All the headings with the Heading 1 style update automatically to the new color and size.

12. SAVE the document as classes_5 in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive. CLOSE the file.

• CLOSE Word.

Removing Text Formatting• When you are formatting documents, sometimes

you need to try a few different options before you get the appearance you want.

• Clearing unwanted formatting is easy using Word’s Clear Formatting button.

Using the Clear Formatting Button• The Clear Formatting button is located in the

More area of the Styles group. • Click the drop-down arrow to display a menu that

lets you clear formatting from selected text. • In this exercise, you learn to use the Clear

Formatting button.

Step-by-Step: Use the Clear Formatting Button• USE the document that is open from the previous

exercise.1. Select Active Older Adults. In the Styles group,

click the More drop-down arrow, then click Clear Formatting . The formatting is removed and only plain text remains.

2. Press and hold Ctrl and select Boot Camp; continue to hold the Ctrl key to select the remaining headings, then click the Clear Formatting button in the Styles group. (By holding the Ctrl key, you can use multi-selection to select non-adjacent text.) Deselect all text and click the X to close the Style window.

3. SAVE the document as classes_6 in the lesson folder on your USB flash drive.

• CLOSE Word.

Lesson Summary