How to use word processing?

Using a word processing system like Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or Microsoft Works might seem fairly easy and intuitive, but in reality, it isn’t. Many people who grew up with typewrites try to use a word processor program just like a typewriter, which is not how software was intended to be used. Even those who have never used a typewriter before tend to overlook many of the valuable features that a word processing program will offer.

Flexibility is where the true value of a word processing program lies. With a typewriter, if you made changes to the first page in a long document, you would have to retype the entire document. With word processing, if you make changes to the first page of a document, all of the other pages will adjust to that change automatically. Here are a few tips when using a word processing program:

Overuse of the spacebar is the biggest mistake of most novices. The computer uses better spaced fonts than a typewriter, which means that extra spaces after sentences are not really needed. There should be no extra spaces at all after colons and things of that nature.

More importantly, never use the space bar to move text over in a page. If you want the text to be centered on the page, let the word processing program center it automatically for you. Many programs have an icon located on the Formatting toolbar at the top of the page that will center the text automatically. If you change the size of the page then, the text will remain centered.

If you want to create text or numbers in columns, don’t use the space bar to move the text. Instead, set tab stops by clicking your mouse in the ruler located at the top of the screen. There are many types of tabs that can be used. By reading the word processors help files, you will learn how to use them.

Word processing programs automatically wrap the text from one line to the next. Because of this, there is no reason to hit the enter key when you get to the end of a line. You can keep typing and let the computer figure out where to break the text. Don’t separate a word by hyphenating it at the end of a line. If you let the computer complete the wrap function, and later insert or delete text, the computer will automatically adjust the lines for you.

A header can be thought of as a line or two of text that appear on every page or every section of a document. Footers are the same, except that they appear at the bottom of the page. In Word, you set up a header or footer by clicking View, then header/footer and enter the information you would like to have appear.

Many word processing programs use style sheets, which are sometimes referred to as templates. A style sheet is basically a form that defines the layout of a document. You can specify the size of the pages, the fonts to use, the margins, and other details. Then you create a template with those parameters, using them over and over again. If you choose, you can even define different style sheets or templates for different projects.

All word processing programs use default setting to create documents. Unless you change the settings, every document will be based on these settings. In Microsoft Word, the default template is referred to as the normal template. If you discover that each and every document in Word uses fonts that are too small, click on Format, then choose Font. Change the font size to something bigger here.

Do not be afraid to play around with your word processing program. Read over the help files, try different things, and don’t use your word processing program like a typewriter. It is much more powerful than any typewrite could ever be.