Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Word Processing
A Word Processor is an application package with which you can prepare
letters, reports, memos, books or any type of correspondence. You can use it
to edit, print, and save documents for future use. The most commonly used
Word Processing package is Microsoft Word, which is part of Microsoft’s Office
Suite.
Identify the “Word” icon [Office 2010]. Double clicking this icon will
close the program
The Document
This is the main part of the screen. A blank document is white with the
cursor placed in the top left-hand corner. The section that stretches across
the top of the screen is called the Ribbon.
The Ribbon contains tabs which contain different functions, tools and
formatting options. Each tab groups together similar features and functions.
By default, the “Home” tab is open – this tab contains all the basic formatting
options.
In the top left corner, you will find the Office Button [in Office 2007]. This
button provides a menu of options that allow you to print, open and save a
document. In Office 2010, the office button has been replaced the
Word icon. Double clicking this icon will bring up the office tab, which gives
you the option to close the program or the active tab.
Located next to the office button [in office 2007] or the “word” icon [in office 2010], is
the Quick access toolbar. This toolbar contains buttons that allow you to save, undo and
redo your last action. It can be customised, which allows you to add or remove buttons
that suit your needs.
Creating text is simple – you use your keyboard to type in letters and use the
spacebar to create spaces between words. The “Tab” button on a keyboard
creates larger spaces, which is useful if you want to indent sentences.
Insert Key
Esc Key Num Lock Key
Tab button
Arrow Keys
Enter Key
Space Bar
Key Components of a QWERTY Keyboard
Word wrap
When you are entering text and are nearing the end of a line (i.e. you are
approaching the right margin), if the last word is too long to fit on the line,
Word automatically moves to the next line. This feature is called soft
wrapping. There is also hard wrapping. Hard wrapping is to press the
“Enter” key to move from one line to the next. You should hard wrap only if
you want to do one of the following:
a) Create blank lines.
b) If you have reached the end of a line that you want to keep short in
appearance.
c) You have reached the end of a paragraph.
More pages are added as you need them. You can quickly tell how many
pages you have created by looking at the Status bar at the bottom of the
screen. The number of pages is indicated on the far left.
Status bar
No. of pages Layout view
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To delete the last word you have just typed, press the Backspace ( ) key.
If the character/word you want to delete is elsewhere, use the mouse to
place the cursor directly after the character and click the left mouse button.
You will see the cursor where you have clicked. Press the Backspace button
to delete the character.
You can delete characters that are directly after the cursor by pressing the
Delete button. You can also undo your last action by clicking the “Undo”
button on the Quick Access toolbar.
To delete a whole word, sentence, line or paragraph, you need to select the
text first:
1. Use your mouse button to point to the start of the text you want to
select.
2. Click the left mouse button and drag the mouse across the text while
keeping your finger pressed down on the mouse button.
3. As you are dragging, the text will be highlighted. When you have
highlighted the desired text, release the mouse button. The text you
have selected will remain highlighted.
4. Press the backspace button to delete the selected text. The same
method can also be applied to whole blocks of text.
Copying and moving text are important in word processing because it allows
you to make as many copies of a block of text as you want, while the original
block of text remains in position in the document.. The buttons for this can
be found in the Clipboard group on the home tab.
How to copy-and-paste
A copy of the block of text is placed on the clipboard. This copy can then be
inserted anywhere, as many times as you desire, into any open document.
1. Position the mouse pointer in front of the first character of the block of
text to be selected.
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the text you
want to select.
When the cut command is used the piece of document is removed and
placed in a temporary storage area called the clipboard.
4. Place the insertion point anywhere in the document, or in any other open
document, and click the “Paste” button.
Cutting and pasting is the most efficient method for moving text around in a
document.
Saving a document
File names
Closing a document
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Closing a document removes it from your screen. There are several ways to
do so, including:
a) Pulling down the “File” menu and selecting the “Close” option
b) Double clicking the office button or “word” icon on the upper left
part of the screen
or
c) Clicking on the “Close” button at the top righthand corner of the
document window.
{At the end of this class session, students will be required to create
a folder in the Documents folder which will be used to store their
practical exercises and evaluation activities for the term.}
Evaluation Exercise1
2. You want to place the same sentence several times in a document. You
would:
a. Cut, select, paste
b. Select, copy, paste
c. Select, cut, paste
d. Copy, select, cut, paste
application used in the creation editing and printing out of documents. Some commonly
MICROSOFT WORKS AND CLARIS WORKS and the most popularly used word
processor, Microsoft Word. It has features such as word-wrap, which automatically takes
Opening a document
When you need to work with an existing document, you have to open it first.
Opening a document places a copy of the original in a document window; the
original is left intact in its location in backup storage.
To open a document:
2. The “Open” dialog box appears. Select the location where the file is
stored.
Formatting a document
In order to present a neat and well-arranged document, you must format it.
To format means to set the specifications of the document’s appearance. All
documents have default settings. These are the features such as page size,
margin size, line spacing, and font style and size that have been preset.
Character Formatting
Fonts
The word Font refers to the typeface (shape of the character) that you wish
to use for a particular piece of text. Types of Fonts include Times New
Roman, Oxford, Batang, Arial and Abadi. There are literally thousands of
fonts, some of which can be downloaded for free from the Internet.
Bold makes the text thicker. You can bold or emphasize text by
clicking the B on the standard toolbar. Shortcut key: Ctrl +B
Italic pushes the text into a right slant. You can Italicise text by
clicking the I on the standard toolbar. Shortcut key: Ctrl +I
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You can apply more than one formatting feature to the same character.
Alternatively, you can click any of the buttons and start typing. The
formatting will be applied as you type. Click the button again to turn the
formatting off.
Point Size
The point size describes the height of a character. The larger the point size,
the larger the font.
1. Select the text you want to apply the font to, or place your cursor in
the section of the
document where you want the font to start.
Or
1. Pull down the “Format” menu, and then click “Font.” The font dialog
box will appear.
2. The top part of the dialog box is divided into three (3) areas: “Font”,
“Font Style” and
“Size.” To select the font type, use the scroll bar under the “Font”
heading and click on the font you want.
3. To select the font style, click on one of the available options.
4. To select the required size, use the scroll bar in the “Size” box and
select the desired size: 8,
9,10,11,12, etc.
Case change
To start sentences or proper nouns, you need to use upper case letters. By
default, Word types in
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lower case. To type an upper case letter, you can do one of two things:
Press the Caps Lock key on your keyboard. This will cause all letters to
be typed in upper case until you press the key again. Press the shift
button on your keyboard and hold it down while you press the letter
you want capitalized.
You may have text that is entirely in uppercase that you want to change to
lowercase, and vice versa. To do this:
You can change the colour of text, which is useful for pointing out
important text. Here are the steps to change the colour of text:
1. Select the text you want to change, or place your cursor
where you want the
colour to start.
2. Click the down-pointing arrow on the Font Colour button
and select the
colour you want to use.
3. As with highlighting, Word will remember the last colour
you applied.
Paragraph Formatting
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Applying effects
A superscript character is one that is raised above the normal line. For
example, in the mathematical expression 4x3 + 5x2 + x, the numbers 3 and 2
are superscript characters.
A subscript character is one that is placed below the normal line. For
example, the chemical representation of sulphuric acid is H2SO4. The
numbers 2 and 4 in the formula are subscript characters.
1. Click the superscript button and continue typing. Click the button
again to return to normal text.
2. To apply subscript formatting to text that has already been typed,
highlight the text that you want to subscript, then click the
superscript button.
You can also apply superscript formatting to text as follows:
Note: If you have typed the text already, highlight the text first, and then
follow the above mentioned steps.
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1. Click the subscript button and continue typing. Click the button again
to return to normal text.
2. To apply subscript formatting to text that has already been typed,
highlight the text that you want to subscript, then click the subscript
button.
You can also apply subscript formatting to text as follows:
3. Go to the “menu” tab.
4. Click “Format”.
5. Select “Font”.
6. Check the “Superscript” box in the “Effects” area and click “Ok.”
7. Type the character(s) you want to format as superscript.
Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl+=.
Line Spacing
Line spacing is the distance between lines of text and is relative or depends
on the size of the font on a line. The larger the font size, the larger the line
spacing. Appropriate line spacing improves the appearance and readability of
a document. The line spacings available include single, double, 1.5 and
multiple. The default line spacing is single, but you may want to change that
for some kinds of document.
3. Select “Paragraph”.
4. Select the required spacing by clicking on the arrow under “Line spacing”
and selecting the option from the drop-down list.
Align text left: this button lines up text with the left margin. The text on
the right is ragged, which means that lines off text can vary in length.
This is the default alignment in Word.
Center: this button lines up text in the centre of the page so that the
right and left sides are ragged.
Align text right: this button lines up text with the right margin and
leaves the left side ragged.
Justify: this button lines up text with the right and left sides so there are
no ragged edges.
Line spacing is used to change the spacing between lines of text. Printed
documents are often easier to read if there are slightly wider spaces between
the lines. The standard line spacing is 1.0. to adjust the line spacing, click
the Line Spacing button and select the spacing you want to apply from the
list.
A header is the set of text or graphics that appears in the top margin of a
page, sometimes of the whole document. A footer is the set of text or
graphics that appears in the bottom margin of a page, sometimes of the
whole document. Headers and Footers commonly are used to show
information such as the title of a document, or the chapter name and/or
author name, page number, current date and time, etc. They are used in
order for you to save time, by not having to repeatedly type the same thing
on every page, as well as to ensure accuracy.
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The Header and Footer group on the Insert tab Home tab
2. A list of the different kinds and styles of headers or footers will display.
For now, select “blank”.
3. If you have selected a header, the page will move so the top margin of
the page is displayed. If you have selected a footer, the bottom margin is
displayed. In the blank section in the margin you type the text you want.
[Students will be asked to enter some text in the header and
footer of a document].
4.Notice that a new tab appears – Header and Footer Tools. You can use the
options on this tab to format your header or footer.
5.Click the close the “Header and Footer” button to exit the margin and
return to the main text.
You can edit or remove headers and footers by clicking Header and Footer
Tools then Header or Footer and selecting the Edit Header or Edit Footer
option, or the Remove Header or Remove Footer option.
Page numbers are a special kind of header or footer. They number the pages
in their correct order so that when you print the pages there is no danger will
mix them up.
4. Click the Close Header and Footer button to return to the main text.
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Page breaks
Word automatically determines the end of each page, which depends on the
page size you have chosen. These automatic page divisions are called soft
page breaks. However, you may want to insert a page break before the
normal end of a page. This type is called a hard page break. How breaks
are displayed will depend on the kind of Word view you are using.
On the Insert tab in the Pages group, you can click the Page Break button to
start the current line of text on the next page. The break ensures the text
will always appear on a new page, even if you add more text above it. This
is a useful feature if you want to separate chapters or sections of a
document.
[Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl+enter]
Margins are the blank spaces around the work area of a sheet of paper, or
the distances between the text and the edges of the paper. There are four (4)
margins: top, bottom, left and right.
To adjust the margin size, click the Margins button. In the list that displays,
select one of the preset margin settings. Each setting displays the width of
each margin. The standard setting is Normal. To create your own margins,
select Custom Margins at the bottom of the list. This launches the Page
Setup dialogue box. Here you can type in your preferred margin sizes in the
Margins section.
Note that the gutter margin is the space allotted for binding.
Portrait: the long side of the page is vertical; this is the default
orientation.
Landscape: the long side of the page is horizontal.
To change the orientation, click the Orientation button and select the
orientation you want to apply.
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To break text into columns, perhaps for a newsletter, click the Columns
button and select the number of columns you want per page. If you select
Two, the entire document will be restructured so the information on each
page is split over two columns. You read the columns from top to bottom,
left to right.
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Indents
Indents can be controlled using the Paragraph group on the Page Layout tab.
An Indent is space between the edge of the margin and the text. You can
create an indent from the left margin by clicking the up arrow in the Left
Indent field until you are happy with the indent space. To decrease the
indent, press the down arrow. You can create an indent from the right
margin in the same way by pressing the up and down arrows in the Right
Indent field.
Footnotes and endnotes can be controlled using the Footnotes group on the
References tab. A footnote is a reference inserted in the bottom page
margin. Footnotes are additional or incidental information. The text on the
page contains a superscript with a number, and the corresponding number
appears at the bottom of the page with the footnote.
Tables
When the tale is selected, the Table Tools tab becomes available. The tools
allow you to modify your table.
Inserting Graphics
Depending on the nature of your document, you may be able to enhance its
presentation by inserting some graphics. Here are the steps to insert a
picture or graphic stored on your computer:
1. Use the cursor to click in the document where you want the picture to be
inserted.
2. In the illustrations group, click the Picture button.
3. The Insert Picture dialogue box opens. Browse to where the picture is
stored on your computer.
4. Select the picture and click the Insert button.
5. The picture will be pasted into the document. A new tab, the Picture Tools
tab, will display. Play with the options on this tab to adjust your picture.
6. You can change the size of the picture by clicking and dragging on one of
its corners.
7. Return to the text by clicking anywhere in the text. This closes the Picture
Tools tab.
1. Click once on the graphic. The graphic is displayed with eight selection
handles around it.
2. To reduce or enlarge the graphic proportionately.
a) Click on any of the corner handles.
b) Drag away from the centre of the graphic to enlarge its size.
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1. Select the graphic by clicking the mouse pointer anywhere within it except
on one of the eight handles.
2. Click and hold down the left mouse button until a small square appears on
the tail of the pointer.
3. The graphic can then be dragged to the desired position.
In the same group, you can use the Clip Art and Shapes buttons to add more
graphics. Clip art is a selection of built-in graphics. If you click this button, a
pane on the right of the document opens and allows you to search for
graphics using keyword. For example, if you type “birthday”, the search will
return all clip art related to “birthday”.
The Shapes button provides drop-down list with a large variety of shapes you
can add to your document.
Text wrapping
To control the wrapping of text around a table, select the table and right
click. Select Table Properties from the context menu. There are two text
wrapping options on the Table tab in the Table Properties dialogue box.
None: select this if you want the table to appear on its own, with text
above and below it.
Around: select this if you want text to display along the sides of the
table where there is space.
You can adjust the alignment of the wrapping by selecting one of the options
in the Alignment section of the Table tab.
Combining documents
You can insert text from another document into the current document. This
saves you having to retype text or having to open the other document and
copy and paste text from that document to the current document.
1. Place your cursor in the current document where you want the text to
be inserted.
2. In the Text group, click the down-pointing arrow next to the Object
button.
3. Select Text from file.
4. Browse to the document containing the text you want to use, select it
and click the Insert button.
5. All the text from the selected document will be pasted into the current
document.
Mail Merge
Main/Primary Document
The Main document, also called the primary file or form file contains the
letter or other document that is mean for each recipient. It also contains the
merge fields, which are positioned at the points where the information from
the data source is to be printed. When the mail merge begins, the merge
fields are replaced with the information from the data source.
The information stored in the data source is organized in the form of a table.
The first row, known as the header row, contains the merge fields. A merge
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field is the name of a data item that will be stored in data source and later be
merged into the main document. Some common filed names are Title,
FirstName, Address, PhoneNo. etc.
Each row after the header row contains the information that is unique to
each document, and is known as a data record. The collection of data
records is called a data file.
1. Click the Start Mail Merge button and select Step by Step Mail Merge
Wizard. This is the
easiest way to create a mail merge, because a wizard provides step-by-
step instructions for completing the task.
2. A Mail Merge pane on the right opens, Select the type of document you
want to send out, such as Letters.
4. If you have the letter open, select Use the current document and click
Next.
5. Now you need to give the location of the recipients’ names and
addresses. If you have the list already, you select Use an existing list.
You can also choose to type a new list or use contacts you have stored in
a spreadsheet or a database.
7. The Select Data Source dialogue box displays. You can select the list by
browsing to it, selecting it and clicking Open. Click Next.
8. Find a place in your document where you want the recipient’s information
to appear. If you want an address block to appear, select the Address
block link from the right-hand pane.
9. In the Insert Address block dialogue box, you can set up how you want
the information to appear, such as the way the recipients’ names will be
displayed.
12. You can now preview how each merged will look. Click on the forward
[>] and backward [<] buttons to preview each letter with each recipients’
address.
14. Click Edit individuals if you want to personalise a letter, else click Print
to print the letters.
207-212
15.
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The “Find and Replace” function is used to find a word or string of characters
and replace it with another word or string of characters without you having
to manually search the document line by line.
You can replace text with other text by using the Find and Replace function.
For example, you may realise that you have spelled someone’s name
incorrectly throughout a document and want to change all instances to the
correct spelling.
Track changes
The Tracking and Changes groups are on the Review tab. You may not be the
only person who works on a document. For example, you may write a draft
assignment and ask a friend to read it and make some suggestions and
improvements. Then it may be useful to track changes. Once enabled, it
marks any changes, usually in red.
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To turn it on, go to the Tracking group on the Review tab. Click the Track
Changes button. To turn it off, click the button again. The marked changes
will still be visible. If you are happy with the changes that were made, you
can apply them and remove the marking by clicking the Accept button and
selecting Accept All changes in Document. You can accept changes one at a
time by selecting Accept and Move to Next. Use the Previous and Next
buttons to step through the changes. If you want to reject a change, click
the Reject button and select Reject Change.
1. Click the Review tab and go to the Proofing group. Click the Spelling and
Grammar button.
2. This starts the spell check and opens the Spelling and Grammar button.
4. In the Suggestions list in the lower pane there are suggestions for what
the spelling should be. Select the correct one and click Change.
5. If you do not agree that there is a mistake, click the Ignore button.
Word has a built-in Auto Correct function that corrects minor spelling and
grammar mistakes as you type. For example, it is easy spell the word “the”
incorrectly if you are typing fast. The Auto Correct feature will usually
correct this for you. If you want to find an alternative word, the Thesaurus is
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a useful tool. You can click the “ignore” button to ignore the suggestion or
click on “Change” to accept it.
Password protection
You may have documents that you do not want other people to open or edit.
You can protect documents with a password.
1. Click the Office button / File tab and select Save As.
2. In the Save As dialogue box, click the Tools button and select General
Options.
3. In the General Options Dialogue box, you can create a password to
open the document and one to modify it. You can set one or both.
4. When you have finished, click the OK button.
Printing
Your document has been formatted and checked and you are ready to print
it. Check that a printer is connected to the computer and that the computer
is properly set up to communicate with the printer. Fill the printer with
paper. Switch on the printer.
1. Click the Office button/File tab and click Print from the menu.
2. In the Print dialogue box, you can select the name of the printer you are
using from the Name
drop-down list.
3. Make sure the All radio button is selected if you want to print all the pages
in the document,
otherwise type in the range of pages you want to print in the Pages text
box.
4. Adjust the number of copies you want by using the up and down arrows in
the Number of
copies text box.
5. Click OK to print.
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Create a new folder with your name on it, and then type the following
document.
Create a new folder with your name on it, and then type the following
document. Save it as Tobago in your new folder.
Toobago
Toobago is considered one of the jewels of the Caribbean. Nature lovers and
visitors alike can experience the unspoilt lush tropical vegetation that
abounds on the island, which is also filled with a wide variety of birds and
wildlife.
The surrounding white sandy beaches with their blue Caribbean waters are
ideal for relaxation and bathing. For the adventurous at heart there is an
abundance of water sports such as surfing, scuba diving and kayaking, just
to name a few. The famous Nylon Pool is found in the waters off Store
Bay.This is a safe bathing area with clear blue water, and is located on a sand
bank about a mile from the shore. Not too far off is one of the largest barrier
reefs in the world, filled with a wide variety of colourful tropical fish.
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You can create a solid line by holding down your underscore for a few
seconds, and then pressing enter.
Newspaper Columns
Text columns are a very useful feature when you want to produce
newsletters, newspaper-style documents, indexes or any text that needs to
be in continuous columns – so that when the first column is filled at the
bottom of the page, the text is started in the next column at the top of the
page.
2. Select “Columns.”
4. The “Width and spacing” section allows you to specify the width of each
column and the spacing between them.
5. The “Apply to” box lets you choose between formatting the entire
document using columns or formatting it just from a specified point.