Aligning Text with Click and Type

Word offers a unique and quick way to insert and align text or to insert graphics, tables, and other items in a blank area of a document. Before entering text or another item, place the mouse pointer on a blank line on the page. As you move the mouse pointer from right to left on the blank line, the pointer (or I-beam, in this case) changes shape as you move it, denoting a particular line alignment. This makes it very easy to center or right-align the insertion point before you insert the text or other item.

Click and Type Option Must Be On To use Click and Type, you must also make sure that the Enable Click and Type box is selected on the Edit tab of the Options dialog box (select Tools, Options to open this dialog box).

To use the Click and Type feature, you must be in the Print Layout or Web Layout view. The feature is not available in the Normal view. To switch to the Print Layout or Web Layout view, select View , and then select the appropriate view from the View menu.

Then, to use Click and Type to align your new text, follow these steps:

1. Move the mouse pointer toward the area of the page where you want to place the insertion point. The pointer icon changes to

   • Center (the centering pointer appears)

   • Right (the align-right pointer appears)

2. After the mouse pointer shows the centering or right-align icon, double-click in the document. The insertion point moves to the selected justification. In the case of the align-right pointer, the insertion point is placed at the mouse position and the text is right aligned from that position.

3. Type your new text.

After you've typed the centered or right-aligned text and you've pressed Enter to create a new line, you can return to left justification by placing the mouse on the left of the line (the align-left icon appears on the mouse pointer) and double-clicking.