Formatting text — case, superscript/subscript, font colour, highlighting

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. How do you type H two O with a small two, or x squared with a raised two? Today we will learn to format text. We will change case, use superscript and subscript, and add font colour and highlighting.

First, a new term. Formatting means changing how text looks, not what it says. The words stay the same, only their style changes. Always select the text first, by dragging over it, and then apply the format. If something goes wrong, press Ctrl and Z to undo.

Here are the basic formats, the same in Writer and in Word. Bold, with Ctrl and B, makes letters thick for important words. Italic, with Ctrl and I, slants letters, for names of books. Underline, with Ctrl and U, draws a line below. The font name box changes the style of letters, such as Arial. The font size box makes letters bigger or smaller, measured in points.

For more choices, use one dialog box. In Writer, open Format, then Character. In Word, click the small arrow in the Font group, or press Ctrl and D. It holds all the font settings in one place. It also shows a preview, so you see the result before you click OK.

Case means whether letters are capital or small. Upper case makes every letter capital, and it suits short headings. Lowercase makes every letter small. Sentence case makes only the first letter of the sentence capital. Capitalize each word makes the first letter of every word capital, useful for titles. You do not need to retype anything to change the case.

In Writer, select the text, open Format, then Text, and choose a case. In Word, click the Change Case button, marked with a capital A and small a, on the Home tab. In both, Shift and F3 cycles through the cases each time you press it. Pause and predict: you type india with a small i. Which case fixes it? Sentence case, which makes it India.

Superscript text is small and raised above the line. We use it for powers, like x squared, and for dates, like first with the letters s t raised. Subscript text is small and lowered below the line. We use it in chemical formulas, like H two O for water. Normal text sits on the line, and x two typed normally is not x squared.

Select only the character you want to raise or lower, not the whole word. In Writer, superscript is Ctrl, Shift and P, and subscript is Ctrl, Shift and B. In Word, superscript is Ctrl, Shift and the equals key, and subscript is Ctrl and equals. Both formats are also check boxes in the Character or Font dialog box. Press the same shortcut again to return to normal text.

Font colour changes the colour of the letters themselves. In both programs, use the button with a letter A and a coloured bar below it. Clicking the button applies the colour shown on the bar. Click the small arrow next to it to choose another colour. Use dark colours on a white page, because yellow letters on white are hard to read.

Highlighting colours the background behind the text, not the letters. It works like the yellow highlighter pen you use on your notes before exams. In both programs, select text and click the button with a highlighter pen. To remove highlighting, choose No Fill, or No Color in Word. So remember, font colour changes the letters, and highlighting changes the background.

Let us revise what we learned today. Always select the text first, and then format it. Case can be upper, lower, sentence case or capitalize each word. Superscript raises text, like x squared, and subscript lowers it, like H two O. Font colour changes the colour of the letters. Highlighting changes the colour behind them. Try writing a science note with a formula and a highlighted key point.