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Format Paragraphs
When you create a document template or document the default paragraph styles are already defined, as they are derived directly from the Normal.rtf style template file. Within the document you can edit any of these paragraph styles or apply individual formatting to text blocks as you need.
Each formatting option operates on the current paragraph, or on a highlighted block of text.
Access
Ribbon |
Document-Edit > Paragraph > Paragraph > [options] There is also a range of icons in the 'Paragraph' panel of the 'Document-Edit' ribbon, that provide direct access to commonly used paragraph formatting options |
Paragraph formatting options
To |
Action |
See also |
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Clear all paragraph formatting |
Select the 'Paragraph | Normal' menu option. All paragraph formatting applied to the current paragraph or selected text will be removed. |
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Center text |
Select the 'Paragraph | Center' menu option, or press . |
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Right-justify text |
Select the 'Paragraph | Right Justify' menu option, or press . |
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Justify both sides of text |
Select the 'Paragraph | Justify Both' menu option. |
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Double Space |
Select the 'Paragraph | Double Space' menu option to put a double line space between paragraphs. |
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Indent paragraph left |
Select the 'Paragraph > Indent Left' menu option, or press . Select the option again to increase the indent. To reduce or cancel the indent, click on the 'Decrease Indent' icon in the Ribbon. |
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Indent paragraph right |
Select the 'Paragraph | Indent Right' menu option or press . Select the option again to increase the indent. |
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Create hanging indent |
Select the 'Paragraph | Hanging Indent' menu option, or press . Select the option again to increase the indent of all lines below the first. |
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Keep paragraph lines together |
Select the 'Paragraph | Keep Together' menu option. The editor attempts to keep all lines within the paragraph on the same page. |
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Keep paragraphs together |
Select the 'Paragraph | Keep with Next' menu option. The editor attempts to keep the last line of the current paragraph and the first line of the next paragraph on the same page. |
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Prevent 'widow' and 'orphan' lines |
Select the 'Paragraph | Widow/Orphan Control' menu option. The editor attempts to avoid having:
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Start text on new page |
Move the cursor to the point at which to start the new page, and select the 'Paragraph | Page Break Before' menu option. |
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Insert border and shading for text block |
Select the 'Paragraph | Border and Shading' menu option. The 'Paragraph Box Parameters' dialog displays, on which you specify:
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Define line spacing |
Select the 'Paragraph | Paragraph Spacing' menu option. The 'Paragraph Spacing Parameters' dialog displays, on which you specify the line spacing and the point spacing before and after lines. Alternatively, to just set double line spacing, select the 'Paragraph | Double Space' menu option. |
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Set a background color for text space |
Select the 'Paragraph | Background Color' menu option. The 'Color' dialog displays, on which you select the background color. The editor highlights the full width of the page in that color, for the selected lines. |
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Create a bulleted list |
Select the 'Paragraph | Bullet' menu option. The editor formats the lines into a simple bullet list. If you want to indent the list (or a part of it) further, select the 'Paragraph | Increase Level' menu option. If you have increased the indent but now want to decrease it, select the 'Paragraph | Decrease Level' option. |
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Create a numbered list |
Highlight the required lines of text and select the 'Paragraph | Numbering' menu option. The editor formats the lines into a simple numbered list. To create multiple-level numbered lists, see Set the list characters. |
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Apply numbering to paragraphs |
(Used in the 'Document Template Editor'.)
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Apply User-Defined Section Numbering |
Apply a paragraph style from the template stylesheet |
Select the 'Paragraph | Style' menu option. The 'Select a Style' dialog displays, listing the currently-defined paragraph styles in the template stylesheet. Select the required style and click on the . |
Styles, Special Text and Table of Contents |
Set text flow in document |
To set the text flow for:
In either case, select the required text flow direction and click on the . The options are:
The 'Default' action depends on the language setting of the system; for example, if the system language is Hebrew or Chinese, the default text flow is right to left. |
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Paragraph Marker |
Displays or hides the various space markers in the text, such as:
This option is useful when working with page-formatted text that is structured using both style definitions and key-strokes. |
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Set the list characters |
When you have set up your bulleted or numbered list elements, you can toggle between the list character options using the drop-down arrow icon just to the left of the bullet list icon on the lower toolbar of the document template editor. When you click on this icon, you are prompted to select between a single-level list format and a multiple-level list format. When you select one of these options, you then make a further selection between:
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