Character and paragraph formatting

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. Two students type the same notice, but one looks neat and the other looks messy. The difference is formatting. Today we learn character formatting and paragraph formatting in a word processor.

Formatting means changing how text looks, without changing the words. Character formatting changes only the letters you select, like making one word bold or bigger. Paragraph formatting changes a whole paragraph, like centring a heading or adding space between lines.

Let us start with character formatting. A font is the design or style of the letters, such as Liberation Serif or Arial. Font size is measured in points, and twelve points is normal for body text, while titles use sixteen or more. Font colour changes the letter colour, and highlighting colour paints behind the letters, like a highlighter pen.

Some effects have quick shortcuts in Writer. Bold, Control plus B, makes key words dark and thick. Italic, Control plus I, slants letters and is used for book names. Underline, Control plus U, draws a line under text. Superscript, Control plus Shift plus P, raises text, like the two in x squared. Subscript, Control plus Shift plus B, lowers text, like the two in H two O.

For all options in one place, select the text and open Format, then Character. The Font tab lets you choose font, style and size together. The Font Effects tab has font colour, strikethrough and capital letter effects. The Position tab has superscript, subscript and the spacing between letters. Microsoft Word has a similar Font dialog.

Let us predict. Kavya selects only the word notice in her first line. She presses Control plus B and then Control plus E. Which change affects the whole paragraph? Bold is character formatting, so only the word notice becomes bold. Control plus E is centre alignment, a paragraph format, so the whole paragraph moves to the centre.

Now paragraph formatting, starting with alignment, which means how lines sit between the margins. Left alignment, Control plus L, is used for normal text. Centre, Control plus E, is used for titles and notice headings. Right, Control plus R, is useful for the date or a signature. Justified, Control plus J, makes both edges straight, like a newspaper column.

Next, indents. An indent is extra space between the text and the page margin. A before text indent moves the whole paragraph inwards from the left. A first line indent moves only the first line in, as in many essays. You can drag the markers on the ruler or type exact values in Format, then Paragraph.

Spacing makes a page easy to read. Line spacing is the gap between lines inside a paragraph, such as single, one and a half, or double. Paragraph spacing adds space above or below a whole paragraph, so you do not need empty Enter lines. Both are found in Format, then Paragraph, on the Indents and Spacing tab.

Lists are also paragraph formatting. Bullets put a dot before each item, for things in any order, like items to carry for a picnic. Numbering puts one, two, three, for steps that must follow an order. You can choose styles from Format, then Bullets and Numbering, or the toolbar buttons. Pressing Enter twice ends the list.

Two more helpful tools. The Borders tab in Format, then Paragraph, draws a box around a paragraph, useful for a notice. The Area tab adds a background colour. To copy formatting from one place to another, click the text, click the Clone Formatting paintbrush, and then select the new text. In Microsoft Word, this same tool is called Format Painter.

Let us format a school notice for sports day. The heading is bold, sixteen points and centred. The body text is twelve points, justified, with one and a half line spacing. The event rules go in a numbered list. The principal's name at the end is right aligned.

Let us recap. Character formatting changes only the selected letters. It includes font, size, colour, bold, italic and underline. Paragraph formatting changes the whole paragraph where the cursor is. It includes alignment, indents, spacing, lists and borders. Clone Formatting copies a look from one place to another.