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

Searching for a Specific Field

Fields can be a great boon to document development, as they allow you to insert different types of dynamic information in ...

Discover More

WordTips Annual Archives

WordTips is a weekly newsletter that provides tips on how to best use Microsoft's word processing software. At ...

Discover More

Hiding Rows Based on Two Values

It's easy to use filtering to hide rows based on the value in a cell, but how do you hide rows based on the values in two ...

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)

Page Layout Zoom Settings

The zoom setting at which you view a document can sometimes be saved with a document. This tip explains how the zoom ...

Discover More

Nifty Zooming With the Mouse

Want to use the mouse to control the zoom level for your document? You can do it by combining your mouse use with the ...

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

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 five less than 6?

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.