1. How to Apply Typographic Emphasis
1. For starters, let’s use typographic emphasis (bold, italic, underline) to make the report title stand out.
To do this, select the text you want to emphasize. Click on the bold button on the Microsoft Word ribbon.
Note that the ribbon also has the buttons to apply italic, underline, strikethrough, and other formatting effects for text. Follow the same steps to apply those effects.
2. Now, let’s change the font, font size, and color of the title.
Again, select the text. Click the drop-down arrow on the font section of the ribbon, then select the font you want to apply. In this case, I’m using Arial bold.
3. To change the font size, highlight the text. Click the drop-down arrow on the font size indicator on the ribbon. Click on the font size of your choice.
Or, after highlighting the text, you can type the font size into the font size indicator on the ribbon. This is especially useful when the font size you want isn't available in the font size selector.
4. You can also use the Increase Font Size or Decrease Font Size buttons on the ribbon to quickly change the font size.
5. We can easily change the font color as well.
Highlight the text, then click the down arrow beside the Font Color selector. Click on the color of your choice.
Choose More Colors… if you wish to apply a custom color.
2. How to Change Capitalization in Word
Microsoft Word also allows you to easily and quickly change the capitalization of your text. For example, if we want to make the title all uppercase, we don’t have to retype it.
Highlight the title, then click the Change Case button on the ribbon.
Or, highlight the text, go to Format > Change Case…
… then click on the radio button for the case you want to apply. Click OK.
Now the title is looking much better. It’s the most prominent part of the document and commands the reader’s attention. However, we can still improve its readability.
3. How to Format Paragraphs
One way to make your document easier to read is by increasing white space around lines and paragraphs.
1. To adjust the line spacing, select the text. Click on the arrow on the Line and Paragraph Spacing button. Select the line spacing you wish to apply.
2. To change the spacing around a paragraph, select the paragraph. Click on the arrow on the Line and Paragraph Spacing button > Line Spacing Options…. Then, type the amount of spacing before and after the paragraph. (Tip: You can adjust other settings from this dialog box as well.)
For the title, I'll add a generous amount of space after the paragraph, to set it apart from the rest of the document.
3. Finally, let’s change the alignment of the title. Select the text, click on either the Align Left, Center Text, Align Right, or Justify button on the ribbon. Since this is a title, let’s use Center Text.
These simple formatting effects make the title stand out from the rest of the document.
4. How to Work With MS Word Styles
As much as Word makes it easy to format text, if you need to apply formatting effects on the entire document, the process becomes tedious.
Word solves that through styles. MS Word Styles allow you to define a set of formatting commands and apply them automatically to every item in the document with that style.
Let’s look at a specific example:
1. How to Modify a Paragraph Style
Let’s follow the steps above to define a style for the main headings of the report with the following characteristics:
- Font: Arial
- Size: 14 points
- Color: Blue-grey
- Typographic Emphasis: Bold
- Case: Capitalize each word
- Alignment: Left
- Line spacing: Single
- Paragraph spacing: 6 pts before paragraph, 0 pts after paragraph
