Microsoft Word is the most often used word processing program in the world. The program offers both ease-of-use and extensive options for a broad range of applications; from basic documents to newsletters and more. Read below for a quick training lesson designed for MS Word 2007 beginners, detailing some basic font and formatting options, and how and when to use them.
What is a Font?
A font is simply a style of text. Fonts come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and each typically has a specific use. Businesses favor basic font styles for easy readability, while marketing might favor more stylized or old-timey fonts so the ad will stand out more. As marketers use more advanced techniques and, more often than not, a more advanced program than Microsoft Word, this guide will only teach two basic font styles focused on professionalism and business.
Sans-serif: Sans-serif fonts look similar to the handwritten "Print" style. This website, similar to most, uses sans-serif fonts. For a few sans-serif font examples, see the picture at the bottom of the article.
Serif: Serif fonts also look similar to the handwritten "Print" style, but they have horizontal lines on them. The most obvious letters with serifs are capital Ws and capital Ms, both featuring several serifs each. Serifs were designed with long blocks of text in mind, and the horizontal lines actually help readers' eyes scan large blocks of text faster. See the picture at the bottom of this article for some examples.
For professional documents, always choose a clean, easily readable font such as the serif font Times New Roman or the sans-serif font Arial.
Using MS Word 2007 - Font Face, Font Size
Make sure the tab is set to "Home." Tabs are aligned at the top of the program and look similar to tabs in an actual file folder. Once set to Home, look for the "Font" box. (for reference, see the "Highlighted" picture at the bottom).
To change the text to a different font, follow this quick method:
- Select the text by clicking the left mouse button and dragging until the text is selected.
- Click on the Font Face box, which is located at the top-left corner of the font section.
- Once clicked, the box will open and reveal a long list of fonts.
- Click on the desired font.
Now, to change the font's size, MS Word 2007 offers three options after selecting the text like before.
- Click on the arrow on the Font Size box (located to the right of the Font Face box), and click on the desired size.
- Click on the number inside the Font Size box, type in the number with the keyboard and press ENTER.
- Click on the Grow Font or Shrink Font buttons to the right of the Font Size box.
Using MS Word 2007 - Bold, Italics, Underline, Strikeout
Aside from the font's basic style, each font can be modified in a number of ways to make the text stand out. Bold is oftentimes used for subheads (like the one above), or in textbooks for important words and terms. Italics are used in a similar fashion, but usually used in the main body of the text instead of in headings.
Underline is used for headlines, references, and other key points of interest like a link to a website, such as this one linking to Microsoft Office 2007. Strikeout literally strikes a line through the text, and can be used for a "to-do" list, striking through the completed tasks.
To change the text with bold, italics, underline, or strikeout, select the text using either the mouse or by holding SHIFT and using the arrow keys on the keyboard. Then click one of the following buttons:
- B for Bold
- I for Italics
- U with a line underneath for Underline
- ABC with a line through it for Strikeout
It's also possible to change the type of underline by clicking on the arrow beside the Underline button.
Using MS Word 2007 - Highlight, Font Color, Character Shading
Highlighting text, changing font color, and shading are all more extensive means of highlighting points of interest. Bold, Italics, and Underline are more commonly used than highlighting and font colors, as changing the color can cause eye strain. However, when the situation warrants it, it's good to know how to use the features.
To highlight text, press the highlight button - the one that has AB and a yellow marker highlighting the two letters. Once clicked, the highlight mode will be activated. Simply click and drag the text to highlight it in yellow. Once finished, simply click the button again to exit the mode. The highlighter's color can be changed by clicking on the arrow next to the highlight button.
To change the font color or to shade the font, simply select the text and click the appropriate button. The font color button has an A and a line of color underneath, while the shading button has an A with a gray background behind it.
Using MS Word 2007 - Conclusion
Microsoft Word 2007 has a wide range of font options; this guide only presented the most basic, necessary font alteration options available. Hopefully, this guide has helped newcomers learn the bare essentials of font management in Microsoft Word 2007.
Bradley Kairis - Bradley Kairis loves games, comedy, technology, politics, news and journalism. From the endlessly intricate strategies of Magic the ...
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