Your Guide To:

Formatting Text

by Ethan Lewis

October, 2001

Contents

• Introduction
• How to Select Text, Cut, Copy and Paste
• How to Select Text and Change the Format
• How To Use Tabs to Line Up Columns of Text

Introduction

This introductory lesson is part of a series of How-To's on basic computer skills. This page will refer to the Microsoft Word 2000 program for Windows; however, everything covered here will work virtually identically for any word processing program on any brand of computer. If you are using a different word processing program you may find that the screens look a bit different, and that some commands will appear in different menus, but without too much searching you should be able to find the equivalent commands no matter what program you are using.

How To Select Text, Cut, Copy, and Paste:

An advantage of using a word processor is that sections of text can be reused or moved easily. This is done using the intuitive ideas of cutting, copying and pasting. An area of the computer's memory is set aside and called the clipboard; every modern computer has a clipboard that works as described below. To begin, drag the mouse across text to select it. Selected text can be copied to this clipboard area, and later pasted to another spot. The information stored in the clipboard remains there until something else is copied, or until the computer is shut down. This means that text can be copied and pasted between different documents, and even between different programs. As you learn to manipulate graphical images with a computer you will find that they can be moved from document to document using the same commands.

To copy text, you first have to identify the text to be copied by selecting it. This is done by moving the mouse cursor to the beginning of the section of text you want to select, and then dragging the mouse to the end while pressing the mouse button down. The text you select will be highlighted. You can select all or part of paragraphs, sentences or words. Lift up on the mouse button when all of the text is highlighted.

Once text is selected, move the mouse to the Edit menu and choose Copy. The selected text is then automatically stored in the Clipboard.

To paste what is in the clipboard, place the insertion point at the point in your text where you want the copied material to appear and choose Paste from the Edit menu. You should find that the clipboard text will be inserted:

If you continue to choose Paste you can insert the clipboard contents as many times you want, until you replace the contents of the clipboard(by cutting or copying something else). If you don't like what happens when you perform a particular action like Paste, then go to the Edit menu and pick the Undo option. Your last action will be reversed. Some programs only allow you to undo your last action; others, such as Microsoft Word will let you undo every action since the document was opened. Experiment to see how much you can undo in different programs.

How To Select Text and Change Its Format:

Every word processor has a way of changing the size, font, alignment, and style used for typing text. In Microsoft Word there are the Format and Font menus, as well as some shortcut icons above the window ruler. If you want to change somethingabout the text you are about to type, then use the menu options (or shortcuts) and then begin typing. Changes you make will affect the new text you type. If you want to change the format of text you have already typed, select the text by dragging across it. Then, as you use the formatting commands, the selected text will change.

All word processors now store justification, line spacing, tab settings, and indentation formatting information by paragraph. If you want to change the settings between two sections of text, you must type a return between these sections.

How To Use Tabs to Line Up Columns of Text:

Computers now use proportional fonts rather than monospaced (typewriter-like) fonts, which makes text easier to read. However it also makes it difficult to line up columns of text by typing spaces. For more flexibility you should use tabs to separate columns and line up text. For example, type in a line of three names, typing a tab between each name (note that the default setting for tabs is five spaces). At the end of the line press return and type three more names separated by tabs. Repeat this for two or three more lines. Drag the mouse from the first letter of the first line down to the last letter of the last line, with the mouse button held down. When you get to the end lift up on the mouse button. All the lines of text should be highlighted.

Click in the ruler area, to the right of the longest name in the first column, which in this case is Scrooge.You should see a Left-hand tab mark placed in the ruler, and all the second-column names should line up with the tab.

Add another tab by clicking in the ruler to the right of the longest name in the second column. You should see the third column of names line up with the new tab.

If you don't like where the tabs have been placed, you can drag them sideways. When you lift up on the mouse button, you should see the column adjust to the new tab position. To make tabs disappear, drag them down off of the ruler. The tab will then disappear.