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Formatting Text in Microsoft Word
Page Setup
Centering Text
Line Spacing
Paragraph Spacing
Indenting a Paragraph’s First Line
Hanging Indentation
Indenting an Entire Paragraph
Selecting a Font
Font Size
Font Style
Bold
Italics
Underline
Using Symbols
Font Style
Subscripts
Superscripts
Font Styles not Supported by Microsoft Word
Constructing Tables
Inserting a Table
Formatting a Table
Table Notes
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Page Setup (File, Page Setup…
We use APA-style, which calls for one-inch margins at top, bottom, left, and right.
By default, Microsoft Word sets left and right margins at 1.25".
To change margins, select the “Page setup…” option from the “File” menu (see Figure
1).
Figure 1: “File” Menu: “Page Setup…” Option
In the “Page Setup” dialog box, the left and right margins are set at 1.25" by default (see
Figure 2).
You can change the left and right margin setting to 1" by clicking on the down pointing
arrowhead to the right of each of the 1.25" settings. When the right and left margin values are at
1" click on the “OK” button to impose the settings.
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Figure 2: Default Margin Settings
Figure 3: APA-Style Margin Settings
Centering Text (Format, Paragraph…)
Type the text you wish to center. Make sure the cursor is within the line containing the
text you wish to center. From the “Format” menu, click on the “Paragraph…” option (see Figure
4).
Figure 4: “Format” Menu: “Paragraph…” Option
This will take you to the “Paragraph” dialog box (see Figure 5).
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Figure 5: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
“Centered” Alignment
To the right of the “Alignment:” dropdown box, click on the arrowhead pointing down
and select “Centered.” Then click on the “OK” button to center the text and return to your
document.
Line Spacing (Format, Paragraph…)
Make sure your cursor is within the paragraph containing the text for which you wish to
set the spacing. From the “Format” group, click on the “Paragraph…” option. This will open the
“Paragraph” dialog box.
To double space text, click on the arrow at the right of the “Line spacing:” dropdown box
in the “Spacing” area of the dialog box and select “Double” (see Figure 6).
Click on “OK” to implement the changes and return to your document.
Paragraph Spacing (Format, Paragraph…)
To use single spaced text with space between paragraphs, click on the arrowhead pointing
up at the right of the “After:” box in the “Spacing” area and select “6 pts” (see Figure 7).
Click on “OK” to implement the changes and return to your document.
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Figure 6: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
“Double” Line Spacing
Figure 7: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
6 Point Spacing After Paragraph
Indenting a Paragraph’s First Line (Format, Paragraph…)
Place your cursor within the paragraph containing the text you wish to indent, or
highlight the paragraph sign (¶) for the paragraph where you will be typing the text to be
indented. From the “Format” group, click on the “Paragraph…” option. This will take you to the
“Paragraph” dialog box.
In the “Indentation” section of the dialog box, click on the downward pointing arrowhead
to the immediate right of the “Special:” dropdown box, and select “First line.” Make sure that
“0.5" ” shows in the “By:” box (see Figure 8).
Click on the “OK” button to apply the indentation format and return to your document.
Hanging Indentation (Format, Paragraph…)
We use hanging indentation to construct A.P.A.-style references.
Place the cursor is within the paragraph you wish to format or highlight the paragraph
sign (¶) for the paragraph. From the “Format” group, click on the “Paragraph…” option (see
Figure 9).
In the “Paragraph” dialog box, click on the downward pointing arrowhead to the
immediate right of the “Special:” dropdown box. Select the “Hanging” option (see Figure 10).
Make sure that “0.5" ” shows in the “By:” box.
Click on the “OK” to apply the indentation format and return to your document (see
Figure 11).
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Figure 8: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
Indenting First Line of Paragraph
Figure 9: “Format” Menu: “Paragraph…” Option
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Figure 10: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
Paragraph with Hanging Indentation
Figure 11: Paragraph with Hanging Indentation
Indenting Entire Paragraph (Format, Paragraph…)
In an A.P.A.-style document, we indent an entire paragraph for a quotation of more than
forty words.
To left indent all lines of text in a paragraph, select the “Paragraph…” option from the
“Format” menu (see Figure 12). In the “Paragraph” dialog box, click on the arrowhead pointing
up at the right of the “Left:” box in the “Indentation” area until you reach “0.5"” (see Figure 13).
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Figure 12: “Format” Menu: “Paragraph…” Option
Figure 13: “Paragraph” Dialog Box:
Indent Left by 0.5"
Click on the “OK” to apply the indentation format and return to your document (see
Figure 14).
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Figure 14: Indented Quotation
Selecting a Font (Format, Font…)
There are many typefaces (called fonts) that you may use in your document. Resist the
temptation to use “exotic” fonts. Fonts that appear attractive are often more difficult to read than more
mundane fonts.
In professional writing, we want the reader to attend to the content conveyed by the text.
It is usually best to use the “Times New Roman” font for reports. I sometimes use the “Arial”
font for section headings, although this is a violation of A.P.A. Style conventions.
We format text font in two ways: using the “Font…” option from to “Format” menu or
using the font dropdown box on the toolbars beneath the menu bar.
In each instance, we begin by highlighting the text we wish to format (see Figure 15).
Select the “Font…” option from the “Format” menu (see Figure 16). In the “Font” dialog
box, select the “Arial” option from the scroll box for the “Font:” dropdown box (see Figure 17).
[I have an add-in for Asian fonts in my version of Microsoft Word, so my
“Font” dialog box has two dropdown boxes – one for Latin text (Western)
fonts and another for Asian text fonts. It is likely that the version of
Microsoft Word that you are using has a single dropdown box for fonts
that is simply labeled “Font:.”
Click on the “OK” button to format the font and return to your document.
To format the font from the toolbars, highlight the text to be formatted (see Figure 15)
and then click on the downward pointing arrowhead to the right of the font box in the toolbar
(see Figure 18). To change the font to “Arial,” click on “Arial” in the dropdown list. Figure 19
shows the highlighted text with the “Arial” typeface.
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Figure 15: Highlight Text
Figure 16: “Format” Menu: “Font…” Option
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Figure 17: “Font” Dialog Box: Select “Arial”
Figure 18: Formatting Font from the Toolbar
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Figure 19: Arial Font
Font Size (Format, Font…)
A font size of 12 is preferred for professional reports.
As was the case for selecting a font, we may set text size in two ways: using the “Size…”
option from to “Format” menu or using the size dropdown box on the toolbars beneath the menu
bar.
In each instance, we begin by highlighting the text we wish to format.
Select the “Font…” option from the “Format” menu (see Figure 20).
The default font size is 12 (see Figure 21). Select a font size of 14 the “Size:” scroll box
(see Figure 22). Click on “OK” to resize the font and return to your document.
To format font size from the toolbar, highlight the text to be resized and then click on the
downward pointing arrowhead to the right of the font size box in the menu bar (see Figure 23).
To select a size of 14, click on 14 in the dropdown list.
Figure 24 shows the text at size 14.
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Figure 20: “Format” Menu: “Font…” Option
Figure 21: “Size:” = 12
Figure 22: “Size:” = 14
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Figure 23: Formatting Font Size from the Menu Bar
Figure 24: Font Size = 14
Font Style (Format, Font…)
There are several styles that we may apply to text. Three of them are bold, italic, and
underline.
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Bold
Bold text is often over-used. If we use bold styling at all, we may use it for titles and
headings.
Highlight the text to be styled and open the “Font” dialog box. The default style is
“Regular” (see Figure 25.1). Select “Bold” from the “Font Style:” scroll box (see Figure 25.2).
Click on “OK” to apply the bold style to the font and return to your document.
Figure 25.1: “Font style:” = “Regular”
Figure 25.2: “Font style:” = “Bold”
To apply the bold style from the menu bar, highlight the text to be styled and then click
on the “B” to the right of the font size box in the menu bar (see Figure 26).
Figure 26: Applying Bold Font Style from the Menu Bar
Figure 27 shows the bold style text.
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Figure 27: Text with Bold Style
Italics
We use italic text to emphasize words or phrases. In A.P.A.-style references, titles of
books and journals are in italics. Journal volume numbers are also in italics.
Highlight the text to be placed in italics and select “Font…” from the “Format” menu
(see Figure 28).
Figure 28: “Format” Menu: “Font…” Option
The default style in the “Font” dialog box is “Regular” (see Figure 29). Select “Italic”
from the “Font Style:” scroll box (see Figure 30). Click on “OK” to apply the italic style to the
font and return to your document.
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Figure 29: “Font style:” = “Regular”
Figure 30: “Font style:” = “Italic”
To apply italic style from the menu bar, highlight the text to be styled and then click on
the “I” to the right of the font size box in the menu bar (see Figure 31).
Figure 31: Applying Italic Font Style from the Menu Bar
Figure 27 shows italic style text in a reference.
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Figure 32: Italic Style Text
Underline
When drafts of documents were produced using a typewriter, underlining was used to
emphasize text that would be placed in italics. Since word processing applications allow us to
place text in italics, we rarely use underlining.
Highlight the text to be underlined and select “Font…” from the “Format” menu (see
Figure 33).
Figure 33: “Format” Menu: “Font…” Option
The default style in the “Font” dialog box is “(none)” (see Figure 34.1). Select the type of
underlining you wish to apply from the “Underline Style:” dropdown box (see Figure 34.2).
Click on “OK” to apply the underlining to the font and return to your document.
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Figure 34.1: Default “Underline style:” = “(none)”
Figure 34.2: “Underline style:” = “───”
To apply underlining from the menu bar, highlight the text to be underlined and then
click on the “U” to the right of the font size box in the menu bar (see Figure 35).
Figure 35: Underlining from the Menu Bar
Figure 36 shows regular, italic, and underlined text.
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Figure 36: Regular, Italic, and Underlined Text
Using Symbols (Insert, Symbol…)
We shall go through writing the formula for the sum of squares to demonstrate how to
use and format symbols in the document text.
Σ(Y-µY)2
Place the cursor where you want to insert capital sigma (Σ), then select the “Symbol…”
option from the “Insert” menu (see Figure 37).
Figure 37: “Insert” Menu, “Symbol…” Option
This will take you to the “Symbol” dialog box. Select the “Symbols” tab and make sure
that “(normal text)” appears in the “Font:” dropdown box at the upper left corner of the dialog
box.
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Figure 38: “Symbol” Dialog Box, “Symbols” Tab
Scroll down about 25 lines until you reach the Greek letters. The words “Basic Greek”
will appear in the “Subset:” box at the upper right corner of the dialog box.
Click on the capital sigma (Σ) to highlight the letter. Then click on the “Insert” button to
place Σ in your document.
Figure 39: “Symbol” Dialog Box: Capital Sigma Selected
After you click on “Insert,” the “Cancel” button at the lower right corner of the dialog
box will change into a “Close” button. Click on the “Close” button to return to your document.
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Figure 40: “Symbol” Dialog Box: “Close” Button
Type in the formula until you reach the point where you need to insert the symbol “µ”
(see Figure 41).
Figure 41: Insertion Point
Select the “Symbol:” option from the “Insert” menu. This will take you back to the
“Symbol” dialog box. Make sure that you are within the area defined by the “Symbols” tab and
that “(normal text)” appears in the “Font:” dropdown box.
Scroll until you reach the Greek letters again.
Click on the lower case mu (µ) to highlight the letter. Then click on the “Insert” button to
place µ in your document.
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Figure 42: “Symbol” Dialog Box: Lower Case Mu Selected
Click on the “Close” button to return to your document.
Type in the rest of the formula.
Figure 43: Unformatted Formula
Font Style (Format, Font…)
Subscripts
To create the “Y” subscript for µY, highlight the “Y” immediately after the µ.
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Figure 44: Highlighted Text
From the “Format” menu, click on the “Font…” option.
Figure 45: “Format” Menu: “Font…” Option
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This will take you to the “Font” dialog box. Make sure that you are in the area defined by
the “Font” tab.
Look in the “Effects” area of the dialog box.
Place a check mark in the checkbox to the left of the “Subscript” option.
Click on the “OK” button to format “Y” as a subscript and return to your document.
Figure 46: “Font” Dialog Box: Select “Subscript”
Superscripts
We use superscripts in mathematical operations to indicate exponents. We also use them
to indicate notes.
For the equation example, we wish to format the “2” as an exponent.
Highlight the “2.”
Click on the “Font…” option under the “Format” group.
In the “Font” dialog box, place a check mark in the checkbox to the left of the
“Superscript” option.
Click on the “OK” button to format “2” as a superscript (exponent) and return to your
document.
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Figure 47: “Font” Dialog Box: Select “Superscript”
Font Styles not Supported by Microsoft Word
To represent the formula for a sum of squares for a sample, you would have to show the
symbol for a sample mean ( Y ) in the formula. Microsoft Word does not have a procedure for
formatting text with a horizontal line above a letter.
To represent such characters, we would have to use a special application (e.g., Equation
Editor) to place an object in the Word document, or draw the character on the printed document.
To revise the printed document, type the formula as follows:
Σ(Y-Y)2
After you print your document, draw a bar with black ink above the second “Y” in the
formula to create the symbol for the sample mean.
Figure 48: Revised Printout
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Constructing Tables (Table)
You may create tables in a document using the options under the “Table” menu.
These tables require some formatting since Microsoft Word does not prodice A.P.A.-tyle
tables.
Inserting a Table (Table, Insert…, Table…)
You may want to draw a rough schematic of a table before inserting it into your
document. You can use the schematic to find how many rows and columns you should have in
your table.
For example, to prepare for constructing a table showing infant mortality rates for five
maternal age categories and four maternal race categories, I first drew the rough schematic in
Figure 49.
Figure 49: Rough Schematic of Table
I found that I would need nine rows in the table: one row for the table title, one row to
identify the headings for the four maternal race category columns, one row to identify the
column headings, five rows for the mortality rates for the maternal age categories, and one row
for the total mortality rates (for all age categories).
I would need six columns: one column to identify the row headings, one column for
mortality rates for all maternal race categories, and four columns for the mortality rates within
the four maternal race categories.
The resulting table would follow the layout shown in Table 1.
To construct this table, format an empty paragraph with before and after spacing set at
zero points (0 pts) and without any indentation. Otherwise, the cells of the table will have the
format of the text paragraphs. This may create difficulties entering data, especially if the cell
format calls for indenting text.
Click in the empty paragraph to place the cursor within the paragraph. Select the
“Insert…” option from the “Table” menu and the “Tables…” sub-option within the “Insert…”
option (see Figure 50).
This opens the “Insert Table” dialog box (see Figure 51). Change the number of columns
to 6, the number of rows to 9, and the column width to 1.0" (see Figure 52), then click the “OK”
button.
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Table 1:
Infant Mortality Rates per Thousand Live Births by Age of
Mother and Specified Race of Mother: United States, 2002
Specified Race of Mother
Mother’s
Age (years)
All Races
White
Black
American
Indian a
Asian or
Pacific
Islander
<20
20–24
25–29
30–34
35–39
≥40
Total
Figure 50: “Table” Menu: “Insert…” Option: “Table” Sub-Option
This inserts a 6x9 table into the document (see Figure 53).
Formatting a Table (Table…)
Click any where within the table and choose the “Select…” option from the “Table”
menu and the “Table…” sub-option within the “Select …” option (see Figure 54). This will
highlight the entire table.
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Figure 51: “Insert Table” Dialog Box:
Default Options
Figure 52: “Insert Table” Dialog Box:
6 Columns, 9 Rows, 1" Column Width
Figure 53: Table with Horizontal and Vertical Borders
Select the “Borders and Shading…” option from the “Format” menu (see Figure 55) to
open the “Borders and Shading” dialog box (see Figure 56).
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Figure 54: “Table” Menu: “Select…” Option: “Table” Sub-Option
Figure 55: “Format” Menu: “Borders and Shading…” Option
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Figure 56: “Borders and Shading” Dialog Box: Grid
We must remove the gridlines from the table. A.P.A.-style tables contain no vertical
lines and have horizontal lines only to mark of off certain components of the table.
Click on the “None” option in the “Setting:” section of the dialog box (see Figure 57).
Click on the “OK” button to remove the gridlines.
Figure 57: “Borders and Shading” Dialog Box: Grid Removed
We center tables within reports. This table is currently aligned against the left margin. To
center the table, select the table, open the “Table” menu and choose the “Table Properties…”
option (see Figure 58).
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Figure 58: “Table” Menu: “Table Properties…” Option
Make sure that you have selected the “Table” tab within the “Table Properties” dialog
box. Click on the “Center” option within the “Alignment” section of the dialog box.
Figure 59: “Table Properties” Dialog Box: “Table” Tab
“Center” Alignment
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Click on the “Options…” button to open the “Table Options” dialog box (see Figure 60).
Remove the check mark from the “Automatically resize to fit contents” checkbox (see Figure
61). Click on the “OK” button to apply these settings.
Figure 60: “Table Options” Dialog Box:
Default Options
Figure 61: “Table Options” Dialog Box:
No Resize Option
Type in the bottom eight rows of table content (see Figure 62). We do not enter the content
for the top two rows, since, as we shall see later, we must merge some of these cells.
Figure 62: Partially Filled In Table
Select the entire table. Open the “Format” menu and select the “Paragraph…” option. In
the “Paragraph” dialog box (see Figure 63), the default “Before” and “After” spacing settings are
zero points (0 pt). Change the “Before” and “After” spacing to three points (see Figure 64).
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Figure 63: “Paragraph” Dialog Box
0 Point Spacing
Figure 64: “Paragraph” Dialog Box
3 Point Spacing
We format table column widths next. Select the first column of the table, open the
“Table” menu, and select the “Table Properties…” option (see Figure 65).
Figure 65: “Table” Menu: “Table Properties…” Option
FirstColumn Selected
This will open the “Table Properties” dialog box at the “Table” tab (see Figure 66).
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Figure 66: “Table Properties” Dialog Box
“Table” Tab
To adjust column width, click on the “Column” tab. Figure 67 shows the column width
for the first column set at one inch (1"). Adjust the “Preferred width:” setting to 0.8" (see Figure
68).
Figure 67: “Table Properties” Dialog Box
“Column” Tab: 1.0" Column Width
Figure 68: “Table Properties” Dialog Box
“Column” Tab: 0.8" Column Width
Press the “Next Column ►►” button to move to the second column. Set the “Preferred
width:” setting to 0.8" for the second column as well. Press the “Next Column ►►” button again
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to move to the third column. Continue this process until all column widths are set at 0.8" and
then press the “OK” button. Figure 69 shows the table with reformatted column widths.
Figure 69: Partially Filled In Table (Columns Formatted)
(
To center the table text, first select all cells in the table.
We can center text from the toolbars beneath the menu bar. Click on the “Center” icon
) on the toolbar (see Figure 70).
Figure 70: Centering Text
All text within the cells will be centered.
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The next step is to create a space for a heading to span the four maternal race categories.
First, select the four cells immediately above the four specified maternal race categories
(see Figure 71).
Figure 71: Selected Cells
From the “Table” menu, select the “Merge Cells” option to merge the selected cells (see
Figure 72.
Figure 72:“Table” Menu: “Merge Cells” Option
Merge Selected Cells
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This will merge the four cells into a single cell that spans the four maternal race
categories. Type the spanner heading for the four categories (see Figure 73
Figure 73: Merged Cells and Maternal Race Spanner Heading
The next step is to create a space for the table title.
First, select the all cells in the top row of the table. From the “Table” menu, select the
“Merge Cells” option to merge the selected cells (see Figure 74).
Figure 74: “Table” Menu: “Merge Cells” Option
Merge Selected Cells
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This will merge these six cells into a single cell. Type the title for the table in this cell.
Click on the “Align Left” icon ( ) on the toolbar (see Figure 75) to left align the table title.
Figure 75: Aligning Text to Left
Figure 76 shows the table with the title aligned to the left.
Figure 76: Table with Title
A horizontal line spanning the top of the table separates the table from the table title. We
may place and remove table borders using the toolbars beneath the menu bar.
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Highlight the cell containing the title and select the “Bottom Border” icon (
toolbar (see Figure 77) to insert the horizontal line (see Figure 78).
) from the
Figure 77: Insert Border at Bottom of Title Cell
Figure 78: Table With Upper Border
We place a horizontal line beneath the heading for the four maternal race categories
(“Specified Race of Mother”).
Highlight the cell spanning the four maternal race categories and select the “Bottom
Border” icon ( ) from the toolbar (see Figure 79) to insert the spanner line (see Figure 80).
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Figure 79: Insert Border at Bottom of Specified Race of Mother Cell
Figure 80: Table With Maternal Race Spanner Line
Highlight the column heading cells and use the “Bottom Border” icon to insert a
horizontal line (see Figure 81).
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Figure 81: Table with Line beneath Column Headings
In the same way, insert a horizontal line at the bottom of the table (see Figure 82).
Figure 82: Table with Borders
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Table Notes
I obtained the data in this table from a Centers from Disease Control report. Thus, we
must place a note giving the source of the data at the bottom of the table (see Figure 83).
There are two additional notes. The one marked with an asterisk explains missing infant
mortality data for American Indian mothers who were 40 years or over. The note marked with an
“a” explains that Aleuts and Eskimos (Inuit) were included in the “American Indian” category.
Figure 83: Table with Notes
Table 1 shows the formatted table with notes.
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Table 1:
Infant Mortality Rates per Thousand Live Births by Age of
Mother and Specified Race of Mother: United States, 2002
Specified Race of Mother
Mother’s
Age
(years)
All Races
White
<20
10.4
20–24
Black
American
Indian a
Asian or
Pacific
Islander
8.8
15.2
9.1
9.2
7.8
6.4
13.9
9.4
5.2
25–29
6.0
5.1
12.4
7.6
3.9
30–34
5.6
4.7
13.4
7.6
4.3
35–39
6.5
5.5
14.5
8.5
5.4
≥40
8.5
7.3
16.1
*
8.2
Total
7.0
5.8
13.8
8.6
4.8
Source: National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 53, No. 10, November 24,
2004, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* Figure does not meet standards of reliability or precision; based upon fewer
than 20 deaths.
a
Includes Aleuts and Eskimos.