Choosing a Character Size in the Equation Editor

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 22, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

As you are creating your equation, you will need to change font sizes on certain characters and equation elements so they appear correctly in the equation. The Equation Editor provides five predefined character types (Full, Subscript, Sub-Subscript, Symbol, and Sub-Symbol) that allow you to change font sizes simply by indicating what the character or element represents. To do this, follow these steps:

Select the equation element or text whose size you wish to change.
Pull down the Size menu.
Select one of the defined sizes.

The Equation Editor allows you to define the appropriate sizes of character types. To do this, follow these steps:

Choose Define from the Size menu. The Equation Editor displays the Sizes dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Sizes dialog box.

Choose the type of character whose size you want to define. Notice that the Equation Editor changes the illustration to indicate the element you chose.
Enter a size, in points.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each element you want to change.
Click on OK when you are finished.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (924) 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

Dotted Letter Fonts

Teaching children to write the alphabet can be rewarding. One common way to teach is to create worksheets that show ...

Discover More

Specifying Index Section Dividers

When adding an index to your document, you can use one of the available field switches to specify how the index should be ...

Discover More

Decreasing a Paragraph's Indent

When formatting your document, you often have a need to indent paragraphs. If you later want to decrease the indent used ...

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)

Setting Prime Height Spacing in the Equation Editor

The Equation Editor is a great tool for easily creating fancy-looking equations in your document. You can even control ...

Discover More

Setting Fraction Bar Thickness in the Equation Editor

The Equation Editor is a great tool for easily creating fancy-looking equations in your document. You can even control ...

Discover More

Setting Superscript Height in the Equation Editor

The Equation Editor makes it easy to create and add equations to your documents. Here's how to adjust where the ...

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 9 - 3?

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.