Quick Paragraph Formatting

Unlike character formatting where the text you want to format must be highlighted, paragraph formatting only requires that the cursor be somewhere in the paragraph you want to format.

For quick paragraph formatting such as justification, numbering, bulleting, indenting, setting tabs, and applying a background color , use the object bar and ruler. For more advanced paragraph formatting options, see Using the Paragraph Format Window on page 210.

Using the object bar and ruler for paragraph formatting is fairly straightforward. Following are a few quick paragraph formatting tricks you might not be aware of.

Quick Indenting

If you want to tweak paragraph indentations for one or more paragraphs without going into the Paragraph window, change them on the ruler.

1. Select the paragraph(s) you want to indent.

2. On the horizontal ruler, click and drag the bottom triangle to set the left indent.

   The bottom triangle moves the top triangle as well.

3. Click and drag the top triangle to set the indent for the first line, as in Figure 7-13.

   Figure 7-13. Setting the indent from the ruler

   

Quick Tab Setting

You can insert and move tab settings on the horizontal ruler for one or more paragraphs.

1. Select the paragraph(s) for which you want to insert or adjust the tab settings.

2. Click the tab button to the left of the ruler repeatedly to select the type of tab you want to insert (left, right, decimal, or centered).

3. Click the place on the ruler where you want the tab to be, as shown in Figure 7-14.

   Figure 7-14. Setting tabs on the ruler

   

To adjust a tab setting, drag the tab marker along the ruler. To remove a tab setting, drag it off the ruler.

For areas on the ruler where you haven't inserted a custom tab stop, Writer uses its default tab settings, which are defined in Tools > Options > Text document > Layout, in the Tab stops area of the window.

Setting Paragraph Background Color

You can set paragraph background color from the object bar. The colors are from the program's standard color palette, as shown in Figure 7-15.

Figure 7-15. Setting background color for a paragraph from the object bar