Objective 1. Create and Save a New Document | Chapter One. Creating Documents with Microsoft Word 2003

Table of contents:

Objective 2 Edit Text

With Microsoft Word 2003, you can type, editmake changes tomove, and delete text or change the appearance of text in a document. Because the document is stored electronically, it can be duplicated, printed, copied, and shared with others. In this project, you will identify the parts of the Word window. Then you will create a document, edit and format text, and save and print your Word document.

Activity 1.1. Starting Word and Identifying Parts of the Word Window

On the left side of the Windows taskbar, point to and then click the Start button .

From the displayed Start menu, locate the Word program, and then click Microsoft Office Word 2003.

Organizations and individuals store computer programs in a variety of ways. The Word program might be located under All Programs or Microsoft Office or on the main Start menu. Refer to Figure 1.2 as an example.

Figure 1.2.

Take a moment to study the main parts of the Word screen as shown in Figure 1.3 and described in the table in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.4. Microsoft Word Screen Elements
Screen Element	Description
Title bar	Displays the program icon, the name of the document, and the name of the program. The Minimize, Maximize/Restore Down, and Close buttons are grouped on the right side of the title bar.
Menu bar	Contains a list of menu namescategories of commands. To display a menu, click on the menu name.
Standard toolbar	Contains buttons for some of the most common commands in Word. The Standard toolbar may occupy an entire row or share a row with the Formatting toolbar.
Formatting toolbar	Contains buttons for some of the most common formatting options in Word. The Formatting toolbar may occupy an entire row or share a row with the Standard toolbar.
Ruler	Displays the location of margins, indents, columns, and tab stops.
Vertical scroll bar	Enables you to move up and down in a document to display text that is not visible.
Horizontal scroll bar	Enables you to move left and right in a document to display text that is not visible.
Scroll box	Provides a visual indication of your location in a document. The Scroll box can also be used with the mouse to drag a document up and down.
Toolbar Options button	Displays a list of all of the buttons associated with a toolbar. The Toolbar Options button also enables you to place the Standard and Formatting toolbars on separate rows or on the same row.
Word document window	Displays the active document.
Insertion point	Indicates, with a blinking vertical line, where text or graphics will be inserted.
Task pane	Displays commonly used commands related to the current task.
Taskbar	Displays the Start button and the name of any open documents. The taskbar may also display shortcut buttons for other programs.
Status bar	Displays the page and section number and other Word settings.

Alert!: Does Your Screen Differ?

The appearance of the Word screen can vary depending on various settings that were established when Microsoft Office was installed. Additionally, whether a screen element displays sometimes depends on how the program was last used.

On the Formatting toolbar, click the Toolbar Options button . If the Standard and Formatting toolbars are on two separate rows as shown in Figure 1.3, move the pointer into the Word document window and click to close the list without making any changes. If the toolbars share a single row, click Show Buttons on Two Rows.

A toolbar contain buttons, each of which provide a one-click method to perform a common command. Toolbars are most useful when all of the most commonly used buttons are displayed. Most Word users keep the Standard and Formatting toolbars displayed on separate rows so that most common buttons display.

More Knowledge: Turning on Toolbars

If a toolbar is missing entirely, point to an existing toolbar or to the menu bar, and then click the right mouse button (also known as right-clicking). On the shortcut menu that displays, point to the name of the toolbar you want to display and click the left mouse button. A shortcut menu is a context-sensitive menu of commands relevant to the particular item. Alternatively, display the View menu, click Toolbars, and then click the name of the toolbar you want to display. If a toolbar is open, a check mark displays to the left of the toolbar name.

Activity 1.2. Creating a New Document

When you start the Word program, you need only to start typing to create a new document. As you work on a document, save your changes frequently.

1.	On the Getting Started task pane title bar, click the small Close button in the upper right corner of the task pane.
2.	If necessary, to the left of the horizontal scroll bar, click the Print Layout View button . Print Layout view is the most commonly used view because you can see the document exactly the way it will look when it is printed.
3.	On the blue title bar, notice that Document1 displays.

Word displays the file name of a document in both the blue title bar at the top of the screen and on a button in the taskbar at the lower edge of the screenincluding new unsaved documents. The new unsaved document displays Document followed by a number; the number depends on how many times you have started a new document during your current Word session. Compare your screen with Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5.

Another Way: To Create a New Document

There are five ways to begin a new document in Word:

Start the Word program; a new blank document displays.
On the Standard toolbar, click the New Blank Document button.
From the menu bar, click File, and then click New.
From the Getting Started task pane, under Open, click Create a new document.
From the New Document task pane, under New, click Blank document.

Activity 1.3. Displaying Formatting Marks

When you press , , or on your keyboard, characters are placed in your document to represent these keystrokes. These characters do not print, and are referred to as formatting marks or nonprinting characters. Because formatting marks guide your eye in a documentlike a map and road signs guide you along a highwaythese marks will display throughout this instruction.

In the displayed blank document, determine if a paragraph symbol (¶) displays in the upper left corner of the document, as shown in Figure 1.6. If you do not see the paragraph symbol, on the Standard toolbar, click the Show/Hide ¶ button to display the formatting marks.

Figure 1.6.

Paragraph marks display at the end of every paragraph. Every time you press

, a new paragraph is created, and a paragraph mark is inserted. Paragraph marks are especially helpful in showing the number of blank lines inserted in a document.

Click the Show/Hide ¶ button to turn off the display of nonprinting characters. Then, click the Show/Hide ¶ button once more to turn it on again.

The Show/Hide ¶ button works like an on/off switch.

Activity 1.4. Entering Text and Inserting Blank Lines

Business letters follow a standard format and contain the following parts: the current datethe date line; the name and address of the person receiving the letterthe inside address; a greetingthe salutation; an optional subject; the body of the letter; a closing line with a parting farewellthe complimentary closing; and the writer's identification, which includes the name or job title (or both) of the writer. Some letters also include the initials of the person who typed the letter and a list of enclosuresdocuments included with the letter. In this activity, you will begin the text of a business letter.


1.	With the insertion point blinking in the upper left corner of the document to the left of the default first paragraph mark, type Sept A ScreenTip displays September (Press ENTER to Insert) as shown in Figure 1.7. This feature, called AutoComplete, assists you in typing. After you type the first few characters, AutoComplete suggests commonly used words and phrases to enter. Figure 1.7.
2.	To finish the word September, press . Press once, and then type 12, 2007 and press . If you are completing this activity during the month of September, AutoComplete may offer to fill in the current date. To ignore the suggestion, type as indicated. The first paragraph is complete and the insertion point is positioned at the beginning of the next line. A paragraph is created when you press . Thus, a paragraph can be a single line like the date line, or even a blank line. A purple dotted underscore may display under the date, depending on your Word setup. The underscore indicates that Word has flagged this as a recognizer. A recognizer indicates that Word recognizes this as a date. As you progress in your study of Microsoft Office, you will discover how dates such as this one can be added to other Office programs like Microsoft Outlook.
3.	Press three more times. Three empty paragraphs, which function as blank lines, display below the typed date. In a business letter, there are three blank lines between the date and the inside address, which is the same as the address you would use on an envelope.
4.	Type Mr. Paul Dione and then press . The wavy red line under the proper name Dione indicates that the word has been flagged as misspelled because it is a proper name not contained in the Word dictionary.

5.	On three lines, type the following address: Business Consulting Services 123 Jackson Street, Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75202 Include a comma after the city name in an inside address. However, for mailing addresses on envelopes, eliminate the comma after the city name.
6.	Press two times. Type Dear Paul: and then press two times. This salutation is the line that greets the person receiving the letter.
7.	Type Subject: Participation in the Planning Retreat and compare your screen with Figure 1.8. Press two times. Notice the light dots between words, which indicate spaces and display when formatting marks are displayed, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.8. Figure 1.8.

The subject line follows the salutation. The subject line is optional, but you should include a subject line in most letters to identify the topic. The purple dotted line under the street address is another recognizer, indicating that you could add the address to your Microsoft Outlook address book or perform other useful tasks with the address.

Activity 1.5. Creating Folders for Document Storage and Saving a Document

In the same way that you use file folders to organize your paper documents, Windows uses a hierarchy of electronic folders to keep your electronic files organized. When you save a document file, the Windows operating system stores your document permanently on a storage medium. Changes that you make to existing documents, such as changing text or typing in new text, are not permanently saved until you perform a Save operation.


1.	Determine where you will be storing your projects from this textbook, for example, on your own disk or USB flash drive, your own hard drive, or on a network drive on a college network. Be sure that storage location is available or connected to your computer. Then, on the menu bar, click File, and then click Save As. Word commands are organized in menuslists of commands within a category. The menu bar at the top of the screen provides access to the Word commands. NoteTurning On Full Menus The instruction in this textbook assumes that the full menus display when you click a menu command. To turn on full menus, go to the menu bar, click Tools, and then click Customize. In the Customize dialog box, click the Options tab, and then click the Always show full menus check box. Click the Close button to close the dialog box.
2.	In the Save As dialog box, at the right edge of the Save in box, click the Save in arrow to view a list of the drives available to you, as shown in Figure 1.9. Figure 1.9.

3.	Navigate to the drive on which you will be storing your folders and projects for this chapterfor example, 3½ Floppy (A:), a USB flash drive that you have connected, or the drive designated by your instructor or lab coordinator.
4.	In the Save As dialog box toolbar, click the Create New Folder button . In the displayed New Folder dialog box, in the Name box, type Word Chapter 1 as shown in Figure 1.10, and then click OK. Figure 1.10. The new folder name displays in the Save in box, indicating that the folder is open and ready to store your document.

5.	In the lower portion of the Save As dialog box, locate the File name box. If necessary, select or delete the existing text, and then in the File name box, using your own first and last name, type 1A_Thank_You_Letter_Firstname_Lastname as shown in Figure 1.11. Figure 1.11. Throughout this textbook, you will be instructed to save your files using the file name followed by your first and last name. Check with your instructor to see if there is some other file naming arrangement for your course. The Microsoft Windows operating system recognizes file names with spaces. However, some Internet file transfer programs do not. To facilitate sending your files over the Internet using a course management system, in this textbook you will be instructed to save files using an underscore instead of a space. The underscore key is the shift of the key, located two keys to the left of .
6.	In the lower portion of the Save As dialog box, click the Save button, or press . Your file is saved on the storage device that you selected, and it is contained in the Word Chapter 1 folder with the new file name. The new file name also displays in the title bar.

7.	As you type the following text, press the only once at the end of a sentence: Thank you for participating in the retreat for The Perfect Party. We are really very excited about the next two years. One of the reasons our future looks so bright is because of the contributions you have made! Press two times. As you type, the insertion point moves to the right, and when it approaches the right margin, Word determines whether or not the next word in the line will fit within the established right margin. If the word does not fit, Word will move the entire word down to the next line. This feature is called wordwrap. NoteSpacing Between Sentences Although you may have learned to press two times at the end of a sentence, common practice now is to space only once between sentences.
8.	Type I would also like to thank you personally for taking notes and also for summarizing the ideas expressed at the retreat.
9.	Press two times. Type Your and when the ScreenTip Yours truly, (Press ENTER to Insert) displays, press to have AutoComplete complete the closing of the letter.
10.	Press four times to create three blank lines, and then type Angie Nguyen As you reach the bottom of the screen, the page scrolls up to enable you to read what you are typing. Compare your screen with Figure 1.12. Figure 1.12.
11.	From the menu bar, display the File menu, and then click Page Setup.

12.	On the displayed Page Setup dialog box, click the Layout tab. Under Page, click the Vertical alignment arrow, and then click Center, as shown in Figure 1.13. Figure 1.13.
13.	In the lower right corner of the Page Setup dialog box, click OK. The text is centered vertically on the page. One-page letters are commonly centered vertically on the page in this manner, which makes the letter more visually appealing.
14.	On the Standard toolbar, click the Save button to save the changes that you have made to the letter since your last save operation.