Topic: Paragraph Formatting

The following articles are available. Click the article's title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

Adding Automatic Lines Type away, and presto! A formatted line appears in your document. How did that happen? Microsoft Word versions: 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adding Borders around Paragraphs Want to draw attention to a particular paragraph? A great way to do it is with a border. Word allows you to easily add borders, as described in this tip. You can add a pre-defined border or a custom one; it is up to you. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adding Borders to Paragraphs Word includes a rich set of formatting features. Using the Format menu you can easily put any type of border you like around the paragraphs in your document. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Adding Drop-Shadows to Paragraphs Drop shadows are a special type of border that simulates a “3D” appearance. Adding these types of borders is easy using the Borders and Shading dialog box. This tip explains how to apply the desired formatting to a paragraph. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adding Tabs at the Beginning of a Line Press Tab at the beginning of a line, and chances are good that Word will simply indent the paragraph rather than inserting an actual tab character. This tip explains how you can insert a real tab character, as well as how to configure Word so it doesn’t indent paragraphs when you press Tab. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adjusting Spacing After a Paragraph You can get the precise spacing you want after any paragraph in your document—all you need to do is change the “Space After” setting. Learning how to do this provides you with a degree of control not possible with many other word processors. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Aligning a Paragraph in a Macro If you are applying formatting from within a macro, you may want to change the alignment of various paragraphs. Here’s how you can do it by adjusting the Alignment property. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Aligning Borders with the Page Margins Word allows you to add borders to the paragraphs in your document. This border normally extends into the margin areas of the document, beyond the margins observed by the text itself. This tip provides some guidance on how you can adjust paragraph formatting so you can align the borders with the text margins in the surrounding paragraphs. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Automatically Formatting an ASCII File Import a file from a source external to Word, and you can end up with a formatting nightmare. One big step is to remove any extra hard returns in the document. The macro in this tip is very helpful in this regard. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Automatically Formatting an ASCII File with WordBasic Use this simple WordBasic macro to help remove hard returns from inappropriate places in an ASCII file. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Blank Page Printing after Table at End of Document When you print, do you get an extra blank page printed at the end of the document? It could be because of the final paragraph mark in the document being pushed to that blank page. This tip discusses ways you can get rid of that unwanted blank page. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Centering a Paragraph with the Keyboard Centering a paragraph with the Formatting toolbar is easy. Centering one with the keyboard is even easier, but few people know the shortcut to use. Here’s how to do it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Changing Paragraph Borders Adding borders to a paragraph is a snap. You can also modify the paragraph borders so that they are all different, if you so choose. This tip describes how to set all four sides of a paragraph border independently of each other. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Compound List Formatting Word can help you do quite a bit of complex formatting to your lists, both bulleted and numbered. Using the steps outlined in this tip, you’ll discover how easy it is to set up the formatting in a way that makes entering lists a breeze. Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Controlling Widows and Orphans You can format paragraphs so that Word doesn’t leave a single line of the paragraph at either the top or bottom of a page. This tip explains the controls in the Paragraph dialog box that allow you to control that level of formatting. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Copying Paragraph Formatting Long-time Word users know that formatting for a paragraph is “contained” in the paragraph mark at the end of the paragraph. Copy this paragraph mark, and you copy the formatting. This tip explains how and why this works. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse One of the most helpful formatting tools in Word is the Format Painter. You can use it to copy formatting from one paragraph to another, without letting go of the mouse. This tip describes how to use the tool. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating a Hanging Indent A common design element is known as a hanging indent, where all lines of a paragraph except the first one are indented from the left margin. Word allows you to easily add hanging indents by using the Paragraph dialog box. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Cut and Paste Formatting Copy a paragraph from one document to another, and the results may be different than what you expect. The reason for this may not be clear, but is understandable if you know how Word treats styles. This tip explains the underlying principles that affect such document-to-document paragraph copies. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Decreasing a Paragraph's Indent When formatting your document, you often have need to indent paragraphs. If you later want to decrease the indent used on some paragraphs, you can use the shortcuts provided in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Deleting Borders Borders around a paragraph can be a nice touch, but you may want to remove those borders at some time. You can do so quite easily by following the information in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Double Indenting Indenting a paragraph is easy in Word. In fact, the program provides shortcut keys that make it a snap. Indenting from both the left and right margins is not as easy, but you can make it easy by using the techniques described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Double-Spacing Your Document Need to double-space your document for a printout, but you don’t want to really double-space the document itself? This tip provides a quick way to get just the results you need. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Forcing a Page Break Before a Paragraph One of the formatting attributes that can be associated with a paragraph is that it always start at the top of a new page. This tip explains where that type of attribute can be applied and how to apply it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Full Justification in Word 2007 Word has historically allowed you to specify how it should handle justification of text on a line. This feature is not easy to find in Word 2007, unless you know exactly where to look. This tip provides the roadmap. Microsoft Word versions: 2007

Getting Rid of Choppiness in Justified Text Word allows you to format your text so it is justified, with each line of a paragraph extending from the left margin all the way to the right. At times this can cause your text to appear “choppy,” with too much space between some characters on the line. This tip explains how you can minimize or reduce that choppiness completely. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Graphics and Line Height If the inline graphics in your document appear “chopped off,” it could be directly related to the formatting within the paragraph containing the graphic. This tip explains why this chopping happens and how you can adjust formatting so that the entire graphic shows up. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Hanging Indent Shortcut You can use the menus or the ribbon to adjust the indent applied to a paragraph. If you want to format a hanging indent, Word provides a handy keyboard shortcut you can use. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Indent and Justify Command WordPerfect users are familiar with the F4 command, which indents and justifies a paragraph. Word does not have an equivalent single-key command, but it has commands that are just as easy to use and even some tools that are more powerful when trying to do this type of formatting. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Indenting a Paragraph to the Next Tab Stop Need to indent a paragraph from the left margin? It's easy to do when you use the Indent tool, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Keep with Previous Word provides a way you can format a paragraph so it stays on the same page of the paragraph that follows it. It does not, however, provide a way to keep a paragraph with the one that precedes it. This tip talks about ways you can work around this limitation. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Keeping Paragraphs on the Same Page The tool to keep your paragraphs formatted to stay on the same page. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Keeping Part of a Paragraph with the Next Block of Text If you are a WordPerfect user, you may be very familiar with the block-protect feature, and wonder if there is a similar tool in Word. There isn’t, but as this tip explains, there are ways you can work around what may appear to be a shortcoming in Word. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Making All Lines in a Paragraph the Same Height When Word figures out how to display a paragraph, it normally calculates line height based on the largest character in a particular line. This can lead to some choppiness in paragraphs. If you want to remove the choppiness, use the Line Spacing setting in the Paragraph dialog box, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

No Space Before at the Top of a Page One of the ways you can format paragraph styles is to specify how much space should be added before the paragraph. How Word treats that paragraph when it appears at the top of a page depends on several factors. You can control Word’s behavior by using the information in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Paragraph Formatting Shortcuts Word provides a number of different shortcuts you can use to format your paragraphs. This tip provides a list of the most common (and useful) shortcuts. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Preventing Straggling Heads Keep your headings with the text they belong to. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Put Your Space Before or After? Word allows you to add additional space both before and after a paragraph. The way in which you add the space affects the layout of your document. The easiest way to get the desired spacing result is to be consistent in how you add space. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Quickly Adjusting Paragraph Spacing Word allows you to easily adjust the amount of white space before and after a paragraph. Rather than continually displaying the Paragraph dialog box, you may want to use the macros in this tip to make short work of adding the desired space. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Removing Space Before Paragraphs Want to quickly format a paragraph to remove any extra space before it? Word includes a tool that can make this change a snap. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Resetting Paragraph Formatting The keyboard shortcut to reset a paragraph to its default formatting is Ctrl+Q. This tip explains exactly what the shortcut does, as well as discussing how you can accomplish the same task using macro commands. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Retaining Explicit Formatting after Applying Styles If you apply paragraph styles to paragraphs, that application may result in the unwanted removal of some explicit formatting, such as italics or bold. This tip presents a technique that allows you to easily retain the explicit formatting you want to keep. Microsoft Word versions: 2002 | 2003

Reversing Type Most text appears black on white, not white on black. If you want to change this so that your type is reversed, here’s a quick way to do it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Searching for Paragraph Formatting You can use the Find and Replace capabilities of Word to search for a wide variety of information. One thing you can look for is paragraph formatting, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Selecting Default Paragraph Formatting You can easily and freely apply all sorts of formatting to a paragraph. When you want to remove all that explicit formatting, just one little shortcut key is all that is needed to do the trick. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Setting a Negative Paragraph Indent You can format a paragraph so that it extends into the left margin area. This tip explains what you need to do to accomplish this trick. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Stepping Through Head Formats Documents can contain any number of heading levels to denote the organization of your text. Word provides shortcuts, detailed in this tip, that easily allow you to step through different heading levels. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Triple-Spacing Your Document Many documents, when finally printed, must be printed triple-spaced. Word allows you to format your text so that it uses triple line spacing. This tip explains two ways to triple-space your document without making any long-term changes to the document itself. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Turning Off Paragraph Hyphenation How to ensure that Word doesn't hyphenate a certain paragraph. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding At Least Line Spacing Line spacing is the distance between lines in a paragraph, defined as the distance between the imaginary lines on which each line of text rests. Word allows you to specify how line spacing should be calculated within a paragraph. This tip explains one of those line spacing options and why you may want to use it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding Auto Line Spacing The most common form of line spacing is Auto line spacing. Do you know what it means? Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding How Word Stores Paragraph Formatting Believe it or not, if you know how Word stores paragraph formatting, it can help you in your editing. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding Justification Paragraphs can be aligned in four different ways. This tip examines those alignment methods. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Leading For those without a typographic background, the term leading can be confusing. This tip explains what leading is and how it is controlled when formatting a document. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding Paragraph Alignment Word includes several ways you can align your paragraphs in relation to the left and right margins. This tip discusses the different alignment options. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Dot Leaders in a Paragraph How to add dot leaders to a paragraph. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Shading to Highlight Information Word allows you to shade entire paragraphs or simple selections of text. This is a great way to highlight information on the printed page, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Vertical Alignment of Sections Using one of the page setup options in Word, you can specify that the paragraphs within the section be vertically aligned a certain way on the page. This tip illustrates how you can set up this type of formatting. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Tips, Tricks, and Answers

Fast Answers!

Helpful Links

Great Info!

RSS Feeds