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

Using Multiple Test Conditions

When creating conditional formats, you are not limited to only one condition. You can create up to three conditions, all ...

Discover More

Speeding Up Printing

Changing a couple of the print settings in Excel can speed up the printing of your worksheets. This tip examines those ...

Discover More

Displaying a Count of Zeros on the Status Bar

Excel allows you to display the results of several common worksheet functions on the status bar. The available functions ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Arranging Document Windows

When you have multiple documents open at the same time, you need a way to control how those document windows appear on ...

Discover More

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

Using Text Boundaries

Text boundaries can help you better visualize where text can appear in your document. The feature is easy to turn on and ...

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 two more than 5?

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.