Using Styles in Microsoft Word
The following article refers to using styles without using the Styles and Formatting task pane, which will be covered in another article.
In Microsoft Word, a style is a set of predetermined text attributes or characteristics(such as Bold, Italic etc).
When you open a blank document, Word defaults to using the "Normal" template and the "Normal" style for any text you add to the document by typing.
Text that is copied from another source can be pasted into the document using its existing text characteristics, or you can apply an existing style to the text.
Word comes with many default styles, and also allows you to define your own styles.
You can preview the existing styles by choosing the Style command under the Format menu.
Word has many pre-defined styles that can be used for body text, chapter and section headers, footnotes, lists, notes, and tables, among others.
Using pre-defined styles can save time and create a document that is easy to read and looks very professional.
Styles can also ensure that documents created by many users in an organization have a uniform look.
Styles can be used by Microsoft Word to modify many characteristics of a document, paragraph or text selection at once.
This is very nice if you decide to make major changes to the formatting of a document after you've already started working on it.
Some Word functions depend upon styles.
If you create a document with a Table of Contents, Word will organise the TOC based on the styles you've applied in the document.
Find and Replace can also be configured to search for text in a particular style.
To experiment with styles, select some text in a document and choose Format > Style.
Choose a style from the Styles list and choose Apply.
The text you highlighted should now reflect the characteristics of the style you chose.
You can undo the changes to your text by choosing "Undo" (ctrl-z) from the Edit menu, or by re-selecting the text and applying the "Normal" style.
We'll now modify an existing style.
Although Microsoft Word comes with many predefined styles, you may find it desirable to make modifications to an existing style.
A modification could include changes to the font, font size, text attributes, line spacing and any other characteristic controlled by the style.
To modify an existing style, choose Format > Style.
From the list of styles, choose the one you'd like to modify.
Word will show you the existing properties of the style, including its name, the type of style it is, the style it was based upon, and the style that normally follows it when a paragraph mark or line break is entered.
In the lower portion of the dialogue box, Word will show you the attributes that are currently used by the style.
This includes font name and size, the use of any special text attributes, like boldface, underlined or italicised type.
Word also provides paragraph and character previews of the selected style, and a written description of the style itself, including the font name, size, line spacing, language, alignment, spacing, indentation and any other attributes used by the style, like widow/orphan control.
To modify the style, change any of the properties or formatting.
Formatting changes are accomplished with the same familiar formatting icons you find in the FormattingToolbar.
In addition to changing the font and size, you may add or subtract text attributes, change the indentation of the text, and change the line spacing or alignment.
A pull-down menu gives you access to the Font, Paragraph, Tabs, Border, Language, Frame, Numbering and Shortcut Key dialogue boxes, to further modify the style to your liking.
When you are finished, you may choose to add the modified style to your template.
You may set the style to automatically update itself.
Be careful with this feature.
When it is active for a style, any manual changes you make to the text of a paragraph that uses a style with automatic updates will trigger a style update.
You may inadvertently introduce universal style changes when this feature is active.
In Microsoft Word, a style is a set of predetermined text attributes or characteristics(such as Bold, Italic etc).
When you open a blank document, Word defaults to using the "Normal" template and the "Normal" style for any text you add to the document by typing.
Text that is copied from another source can be pasted into the document using its existing text characteristics, or you can apply an existing style to the text.
Word comes with many default styles, and also allows you to define your own styles.
You can preview the existing styles by choosing the Style command under the Format menu.
Word has many pre-defined styles that can be used for body text, chapter and section headers, footnotes, lists, notes, and tables, among others.
Using pre-defined styles can save time and create a document that is easy to read and looks very professional.
Styles can also ensure that documents created by many users in an organization have a uniform look.
Styles can be used by Microsoft Word to modify many characteristics of a document, paragraph or text selection at once.
This is very nice if you decide to make major changes to the formatting of a document after you've already started working on it.
Some Word functions depend upon styles.
If you create a document with a Table of Contents, Word will organise the TOC based on the styles you've applied in the document.
Find and Replace can also be configured to search for text in a particular style.
To experiment with styles, select some text in a document and choose Format > Style.
Choose a style from the Styles list and choose Apply.
The text you highlighted should now reflect the characteristics of the style you chose.
You can undo the changes to your text by choosing "Undo" (ctrl-z) from the Edit menu, or by re-selecting the text and applying the "Normal" style.
We'll now modify an existing style.
Although Microsoft Word comes with many predefined styles, you may find it desirable to make modifications to an existing style.
A modification could include changes to the font, font size, text attributes, line spacing and any other characteristic controlled by the style.
To modify an existing style, choose Format > Style.
From the list of styles, choose the one you'd like to modify.
Word will show you the existing properties of the style, including its name, the type of style it is, the style it was based upon, and the style that normally follows it when a paragraph mark or line break is entered.
In the lower portion of the dialogue box, Word will show you the attributes that are currently used by the style.
This includes font name and size, the use of any special text attributes, like boldface, underlined or italicised type.
Word also provides paragraph and character previews of the selected style, and a written description of the style itself, including the font name, size, line spacing, language, alignment, spacing, indentation and any other attributes used by the style, like widow/orphan control.
To modify the style, change any of the properties or formatting.
Formatting changes are accomplished with the same familiar formatting icons you find in the FormattingToolbar.
In addition to changing the font and size, you may add or subtract text attributes, change the indentation of the text, and change the line spacing or alignment.
A pull-down menu gives you access to the Font, Paragraph, Tabs, Border, Language, Frame, Numbering and Shortcut Key dialogue boxes, to further modify the style to your liking.
When you are finished, you may choose to add the modified style to your template.
You may set the style to automatically update itself.
Be careful with this feature.
When it is active for a style, any manual changes you make to the text of a paragraph that uses a style with automatic updates will trigger a style update.
You may inadvertently introduce universal style changes when this feature is active.
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