Entering Units of Measurement in Dialog Boxes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 1, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

There are many places in Word where you must provide measurements so Word knows how to format elements of your document. For instance, if you display the Paragraph dialog box (which is used for formatting paragraphs), there are numerous places where you can enter measurement values. In this and other dialog boxes, each place you can enter a measurement value is shown as a box with up and down arrows to the right of the box.

You can use the up and down arrows to change measurement values, but Word allows you to input exact measurement values in a number of different ways. These values are typically indicated by a number followed by two letters that indicate the unit of measurement you desire. Word allows you to use the following designations for units of measurement in your dialog boxes:

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example
"	inches	.667"
cm	centimeter	32 cm
in	inches	.25 in
li	lines	2.25 li
pi	picas	8 pi
pt	points	4 pt

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (377) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Printing a Bookmark List with Contents

Bookmarks can be a great tool in Word, allowing you to easily remember the location of desired blocks of text. If you ...

Discover More

Printing Personalized Copies of a Document

Need to have a series of documents customized for individual users? Mail merge may be overkill, but the macro presented ...

Discover More

Restrictions Blocking Hyperlinks

Excel allows you to easily add hyperlinks to your worksheets. If those hyperlinks are suddenly being blocked, it can be ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2021 or Microsoft 365. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Working with Document Panes

Need to work with two different parts of a document at the same time? The answer is to rely on Word's ability to display ...

Discover More

Discovering Where Word Stores Settings

How to find your setting information in Word.

Discover More

Button for Leaving Full-Screen Mode

If you display your document in full-screen mode, there are a couple of ways you can get back to normal mode. One method ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is four more than 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.