Objective 3. Select, Delete, and Format Text | Chapter One. Creating Documents with Microsoft Word 2003

Table of contents:

Objective 4 Create Footers and Print Documents

Selecting text refers to highlighting, by dragging with your mouse, areas of text so that the text can be edited, formatted, copied, or moved. Word recognizes a selected area of text as one unit, to which you can make changes. Formatting text is the process of setting the overall appearance of the text within the document by changing the layout, color, shading, emphasis, or font characteristics of text.

Activity 1.8. Selecting and Deleting Text

To perform an action on textfor example, to move, delete, or emphasize textyou must first select it. Select text using either the mouse or the keyboard.

In the paragraph beginning Thank you, position the I-beam pointer to the left of Thank, hold down the left mouse button, and then drag to the right to select the first sentence including the ending period and its following space as shown in Figure 1.17. Release the mouse button.

Figure 1.17.

The first sentence of the paragraph is selected. Dragging is the technique of holding down the left mouse button, moving over an area of text, and then releasing the mouse button. Selected text is indicated when the background and color of the characters are reversedthe characters are white and the background is black. Selecting text may require some practice. If you are not satisfied with your result, click anywhere in the document and begin again.

Click anywhere in the document to deselect the sentence. Then, in the same sentence, point to the word Perfect and double-click the mouse buttonclick the left mouse button two times in rapid succession.

The entire word is selected. Double-clicking takes a steady hand. The speed of the two clicks is not difficult (although you have only about a second between clicks), but you must hold the mouse still between the two clicks. If you are not satisfied with your result, try again.

Click anywhere in the document to deselect the word Perfect. Then, in the same paragraph, point to the word two and double-click the mouse button. Type three and notice that when you type the first letter, the selected word is deleted.

In the same paragraph, point to the word Perfect and triple-click the mouse button.

The entire paragraph is selected. You can triple-click anywhere in a paragraph to select that paragraphkeeping the mouse perfectly still between the clicks will guarantee the desired result.

Hold down and press .

The entire document is selected, as shown in Figure 1.18. There are many shortcuts for selecting text. Take a moment to study the shortcuts shown in the table in Figure 1.19.

Figure 1.18.

Figure 1.19. Selecting Text in a Document
To Select	Do This
A portion of text	Click to position the insertion point at the beginning of the text you want to select, hold down , and then click at the end of the text you want to select. Alternatively, hold down the left mouse button and drag from the beginning to the end of the text you want to select.
A word	Double-click the word.
A sentence	Hold down and click anywhere in the sentence.
A paragraph	Triple-click anywhere in the paragraph. Alternatively, move the pointer to the left of the line, into the margin area. When the pointer changes to a right-pointing white arrow, double-click.
A line	Move the pointer to the left of the line. When the mouse pointer turns to a right-pointing white arrow, click once.
One character at a time	Position the insertion point at the left of the first character, hold down and press or as many times as desired.
A string of words	Position the insertion point to the left of the first word, hold down and , and then press or .
Consecutive lines	Hold down and press or .
Consecutive paragraphs	Hold down and and press or .
The entire document	Hold down and press . Alternatively, move the mouse pointer to the left of the line. When the pointer turns to a right-pointing white arrow, triple-click.

Click anywhere in the document to cancel the text selection.

Activity 1.9. Changing Font and Font Size

A font is a set of characters with the same design and shape. There are two basic types of fontsserif and sans serif. Serif fonts contain extensions or lines on the ends of the characters and are good choices for large amounts of text because they are easy to read. Examples of serif fonts include Times New Roman, Garamond, and Century Schoolbook. Sans serif fonts do not have lines on the ends of characters. Sans serif fonts are good choices for headings and titles. Examples of sans serif fonts include Arial, Verdana, and Comic Sans MS. The table in Figure 1.20 shows examples of serif and sans serif fonts.

Figure 1.20. Examples of Serif and Sans Serif Fonts
Serif Fonts	Sans Serif Fonts

1.	Move the mouse pointer anywhere over the subject line in the letter and triple-click. The entire paragraph is selected. Recall that a paragraph is defined as one paragraph mark and anything in front of it, which could be one or more lines of text or no text at all in the case of a blank line.
2.	On the Formatting toolbar, locate the Font Size button arrow and click the arrow. On the displayed list, click 14, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.21. Figure 1.21. Fonts are measured in points, with one point equal to 1/72 of an inch. A higher point size indicates a larger font size. For large amounts of text, font sizes between 10 point and 12 point are good choices. Headings and titles are often formatted using a larger font size. The word point is abbreviated as pt.
3.	On the Formatting toolbar, locate and click the Font button arrow . On the displayed list, the fonts are displayed in alphabetical order. Word assists in your font selection by placing fonts recently used on this computer at the top of the list.

4.	Scroll the displayed list as necessary, and then click Arial. Click anywhere in the document to cancel the selection. NoteTo Move Quickly in a Long List The list of available fonts is frequently very long. You can move quickly to any font by typing the first (or even first and second) letter of the font name after you click the Font arrow.
5.	Hold down and press to select the entire document.
6.	With the document selected, click the Font button arrow . On the displayed list, scroll as necessary and then click Comic Sans MS. The selected text changes to the Comic Sans MS font. In a letter, it is good practice to use only one font for the entire letter. This font is less formal than the default font of Times New Roman.
7.	With the entire document still selected, click the Font Size button arrow and change the font size to 11. Alternatively, you can type 11 in the Font Size box. Click anywhere in the document to cancel the text selection, and then compare your screen with Figure 1.22. Figure 1.22.
8.	Save the changes you have made to your document.

Activity 1.10. Adding Emphasis to Text

Font styles emphasize text and are a visual cue to draw the reader's eye to important text. Font styles include bold, italic, and underline, although underline is not commonly used for emphasis. You can add emphasis to existing text, or you can turn the emphasis on before you start typing the word or phrase and then turn it off.

1.	Point to the Subject line and triple-click to select the paragraph. Then on the Formatting toolbar, click the Italic button to apply italic to the paragraph that forms the Subject line.
2.	In the paragraph beginning Thank you, use any method to select the text The Perfect Party. Another Way: To Apply Font Styles There are three methods to apply font styles: On the Standard toolbar, click the Bold, Italic, or Underline button. From the menu bar, click Format, click Font, and then apply styles from the Font dialog box. From the keyboard, use the keyboard shortcuts for bold, for italic, or for underline.
3.	On the Formatting toolbar, click the Bold button , and then click anywhere in the document to cancel the selection. On the Standard toolbar, click the Print Preview button , and compare your screen with Figure 1.23. Figure 1.23. Print Preview displays the entire page and enables you to see what the document will look like when printed.

4.	On the Print Preview toolbar, click Close, and then Save your changes.