“Introduction to Microsoft Word and Word Processing”

"Introduction to Microsoft Word and Word Processing" – Part 2

Microsoft Word is practically speaking "identical" on both the Macintosh and Windows computer platforms. Thus we can learn to use the Macintosh version of Word on an IBM compatible and visa-versa. While we will be using Microsoft Word as our word processing program, many of the techniques we’ll cover are applicable on other word processing programs as well.

Most Microsoft programs allow a minimum of 3 different ways to accomplish any single task. It isn’t necessary for you to learn all three. Simply pick the method which best fits your personality type. I personally like the Hot Keys, which allow me to keep my hands on the keyboard. Please note that Mac and PC Hotkeys are the same except the PC always uses the Control Key Ctrl along with another key and the Mac always uses the Command Key (Apple) Key along with another key. For Example: Undo on the PC is Ctrl+Z: Undo on the Mac is (Apple)Z

Intermediate Skills (continued):

Using and Formatting Tables

Tables, which can be visible or invisible, are used to divide your text into "cells" not unlike those found in a spreadsheet program like excel.

To insert a table:

Click on the "Insert Table" tool and select the number of columns (vertical) and rows (horizontal) that you use wish to insert. –or- select "Insert Table" from the "Table Menu"

To format a table:

Select the rows and/or columns to be formatted. If you place your cursor over a line which seperates your cells, the icon changes shape to indicate that you can now move the line up/down (horizontal lines) or left/right (verticals lines).

While your table is selected, you may select additional tools to adjust cell size either from the "Table" menu or by clicking on the selected table with the right mouse button. These tools include the "Distribute Rows Evenly" and the "Distribute Columns Evenly" tools.

You may also elect to format it’s borders and shading with the "Borders and Shading" tool. The Borders tab allows you to select which cells will have borders and what shape/color the borders will be. The Shading tab allows you to select which cells will be shaded and with what color.

The "Table Autoformat" tool allows you to choose from a number of pre-configured templates and allow Word to do the formatting for you.

To "Delete" a cell, you must select the undesired rows and columns, and then select "Delete Columns" from the "Table" menu.

Using Columns

Formatting text into columns is pretty straight forward with Word:

Switch to page layout view.
To format the entire document in columns, click Select All on the Edit menu.
To format part of the document in columns, select the text.
To format existing sections in columns, click in a section or select multiple sections.

Click on the Columns tool.

Drag to select the number of columns you want.

If you want to adjust the column widths and spacing, drag the column markers on the horizontal ruler.

Tip To set exact column widths and spacing, follow steps 1 and 2. Then click Columns on the Format menu, and select the options you want.

Note You can't use newspaper columns in headers, footers, comments, or frames. To arrange text in these areas, use a table.

Headers and Footers

On the View menu, click Header and Footer.

To create a header, enter text or graphics in the header area. Or click a button on the Header and Footer toolbar.

To insert	Click
Page numbers	Page Numbers
The current date	Date
The current time	Time
Common header or footer items, such as running total page numbers (Page 1 of 10), the file name, or the author's name	Insert AutoText, point to Header, and then click the item you want

To create a footer, click "Switch Between Header and Footer"

to move to the footer area. Then repeat above step.

When you finish, click Close.

Tip The text or graphics you enter in a header or footer is automatically left aligned. You may want to center the item instead or include multiple items (for example, a left-aligned date and a right-aligned page number). To center an item, press TAB; to right align an item, press TAB twice.

Multimedia Skills:

Inserting Clip-Art:

Word comes with its own set of pictures in the Clip Gallery. The Clip Gallery includes a wide variety of clip art that makes it easy for you to dress up your documents with professionally designed images. You'll find everything from maps to people and from buildings to scenic backgrounds.

It's easy to select a picture. Just point to Picture on the Insert menu, click Clip Art, and then click the Clip Art or Pictures tab. The Clip Gallery includes a handy Find feature to help you locate just the right images for your document. It also includes its own Help system, where you'll find such information as how to add your own pictures to the gallery, how to keep it up to date, and how you can personalize it to suit your own needs. To use the Find feature or to get Help, click Find or Help on the Clip Art or Pictures tab.

Adjusting the image size:

Select the drawing object you want to resize.

Drag a sizing handle until the object is the shape and size you want.

Adjusting the text wrap:

You can choose how you want text to wrap around a graphic or text box. For example, you can place a graphic between columns of text and still retain the column format.

To wrap text around a graphic or text box, select the graphic or the text box, click "picture" from the "Format" menu, click the "Wrapping" tab, and then select the wrapping options you want.

Inserting Custom Graphics

You can also insert pictures and scanned photographs, called imported art or graphics, from other programs and locations. To insert a picture from another program, click Picture on the Insert menu, and then click From File. When you select a picture, the Picture toolbar appears with options you can use to crop the picture, add a border to it, and adjust its brightness and contrast. To insert a scanned photograph (requires scanner), click Picture on the Insert menu, and then click From Scanner. The image appears in Microsoft Photo Editor, a program you can use to edit the picture.

You can also draw your own pictures by using options on the Drawing toolbar. For more information about drawing, check out "drawing objects" in the help program.

Inserting Word-Art

You can create special text effects by using the new WordArt button on the Drawing toolbar ¾ and you can use additional features, such as 3-D effects and textured fills.

On the Drawing toolbar, click WordArt.
Click the special effect you want, and then click OK.
In the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, type the text you want to format, select any other options you want, and then click OK.
To add or change effects to the text, use the buttons on the WordArt and Drawing toolbars.

Inserting Sounds

To insert a sound file into a Word document, you can use Sound Recorder, a Microsoft Windows accessory that lets you record, edit, and play sound files. To use Sound Recorder, you must have a sound card and speakers installed on your computer. If you want to record live sound, you also need a microphone. For more information about Sound Recorder, click the Help menu in Sound Recorder.

Inserting Video

You can insert a video file into a Word document by using Media Player, a Microsoft Windows accessory that lets you play audio, video, or animation files.

To use Media Player, you should have a sound card installed on your computer. For more information about Media Player, click the Help menu in Media Player.

Internet Skills:

Saving Word Documents to the Web

Choose "Save As HTML" from the "File" menu and then edit as necessary. To post the resulting file to "BowNET", you’ll need to import the file into your web site with FrontPage.

Browsing within Word

I’m not sure how useful a feature this is, but you can use Word as a WWW browser if you add the "Web" toolbar to your Word toolbars.

Using HyperLinks within Word

This actually is useful if you’re distributing your Word documents in an electronic format. When you type in a URL such as http://www.bownet.org , Word automatically makes it into a hyperlink. Clicking on this hyperlink will automatically launch your WWW browser and connect you to the indicated URL.

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