Formatting

There are four basic formatting features of Microsoft Office that you will use regularly—fonts, size, double-spacing, and margins. These features are located in the Formatting Palette for the Mac and on the toolbar for the PC.

If you don't see the Formatting Palette, go to View >> and then select Formatting Palette. If the Formatting toolbar is not visible on the PC go to the View menu >> Toolbars >> Formatting.

Alignment

The Formatting Palette can be used to change your text’s alignment, so that it is aligned a certain way. To center you text, simply select the text that you wish to center and then click the center alignment button as shown below.

Changing Fonts

You can use the Formatting Palette to change the font of your text. Simply select the arrow at the right of the highlighted field and select from the list of fonts. If you don't see the Formatting Palette, go to View >> and then select Formatting Palette. PC users can select the desired font on the menu bar or right click >> select font >> and select the font you want.

Changing Size

You can change the size of the text by clicking on the arrow to the right of the size box and selecting the size you want. On a PC you can select the size from the menu bar OR right click >> select Font and choose the size you want.

Double-spacing

You can double-space your document by going to the Alignment and Spacing section of your palette and clicking the box with two wide lines as shown below. On the PC, click on the Format menu >>Paragraph >> Indents and Spacing. Under Line spacing, select double. OR, right click to get to the Indents and Spacing window. OR, you can highlight the text you want double spaced and press Ctrl + 2.

Changing Margins

You can change the margins of your document by going to the Document section of your palette and then click the box next to the appropriate name of the margin that you wish to change and then type the size of margin you wish to use. PC users should go to File >> Page Setup >> and change the margins you wish to change. There are three basic editing functions you will perform regularly

  • spell check,
  • word count, and
  • copy & paste function.
Word Count

You can also have MS Word automatically check your document and see how many words you have written. To do this go to the Tools menu and select “Word Count…" for both Macs and PCs.

Save

Click on the Save icon.

Once you have selected save, a screen will open and ask you to name your document and choose a place to save it. You will save it in your Student Storage or Documents, and you can edit the name in the box labeled “Name:” Name it "tessellation" and then click the save button.

Spell Check

By default, MS Word checks both spelling and grammar. If you want to access the spell check you need to open up the tools menu and select “Spelling and Grammar…” This is shown below. When this is opened it will proceed to check your document for spelling and grammar mistakes. PC users can select the spellcheck icon on the toolbar.

(NOTE: This will not catch all mistakes and is not a substitute for manual revision.)

Copy

To copy text for later use you must first select the text and then go to the edit menu and select copy.

Paste

To paste copied text back into the document, open the Edit menu and select paste

Advanced user tip: The copy and paste functions can be accessed thorough a keyboard shortcut. Holding down the apple key and pressing C will copy text (Ctrl + C for PC users). Holding the apple key and pressing V will paste the text (Ctrl + V for PC users).