WORD PROCESSORS

Definition of word processor

Word processor is an application software that enables a user to create, save, edit, format
and print text documents. Word processing is the act of using a word processor.

Purpose of Word Processor

Typing letters, Memos, Essays, Books, Reports, Minutes, Memos, Circulars etc

Advantages of word processor compared to a typewriter and other writing tools,

i. A document can be stored in the computer for future reference in computer files
that do not occupy physical space like the one on papers
ii. Typing using a word processor is easier and more efficient because some actions
are automated. E.g. word-wrap, automatic insertion of a new page after reaching
the end of the current page. Etc
iii. Most word processors have special editing tools such as spelling and grammar
checkers and thesaurus that help the user to easily correct grammar and spelling
mistakes.
iv. With insert and type over modes available in most word processors, one can
easily insert or replace a word or a phrase without affecting the structure and
neatness of the document.
v. Word processors have superior document formatting features that make the
document more attractive and appealing to the eye. Such features include,
underlining, boldfacing, italicization, applying different colors etc.
vi. Allow multiple copy printing without retyping the entire document
vii. Using the cut, copy and paste commands, you can incorporate other text without
having to retype it.
viii. Word processor allow document protection using passwords etc

Examples of word processor programs

Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, WordStar, Lotus WordPro, AmiPro, PC-Write,
Microsoft Works etc

Factors to consider when choosing a word processor

i. Type of operating system
ii. It's user friendliness
iii. It's formatting and editing features.

Basic features of all word processor

i. Allow the user to create, save, open and' format files.
ii. Have spell checker, thesaurus and grammar checker.
iii. Provide Headers and footers, Indexing, footnotes, typefaces and character set.
iv. Have ability to create and import tables, text and graphics from other programs.
v. Word wrap: A feature that automatically moves a word to a new line if it does not
fit at the end of the current line.
How to start Microsoft word
i. Click start
ii. Point to Programs / all Programs
iii. Point to Microsoft office
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iv. Click Microsoft word

PARTS OF MICROSOFT WORD WINDOW

Maximize button Close button

Horizontal ruler
Formatting toolbar
Title Bar Standard toolbar Minimize button

Menu
bar

Text cursor

Vertical
ruler

Vertical
Scroll bar

Status bar Drawing

toolbar Horizontal scroll
Work area bar

Explanation of the parts of the Microsoft word window

i. Title bar: It displays the title of currently running application or task.
ii. Menu Bar: Provides a drop down list of commands that one can use to perform a
task e.g. File, Edit, View etc.
iii. Standard tool bar: contain standard tool bars that that allows user to create a
new document, open, save, print, do spell checking, copy or paste or even print
preview among others
iv. Tool Bar: Contains buttons and boxes that allow you to perform tasks more
quickly than using menu bar.
v. Rulers: Used to set tab stops, Index paragraphs, adjust column width and change
page margins.

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vi. Status bar: Displays information about the program currently running
vii. Work Area: This is the area where you can enter text or graphical objects.
viii. Scroll bars: Allows the user to "pan" the windows up and down or left and Right
to show information that doesn't fit in the window. .
ix. Minimize button: Reduces a window to become a button on the task bars
x. Maximize button/Restore: It stretches the windows to cover the entire screen or
restore it to its original size respectively.

Running the program

A. Creating a document
This is the process of typing text in a clean page

Steps of creating a document

i. Click on "File" from menu bar.
ii. Select "New"
iii. Click on "Blank document"
iv. Click "OK" button

B. Saving a document
This is the process of making a document exist in your computer storage media,
or on secondary storage.

Saving commands
Save
This command saves the document without changing the file name or the
location.
Save as
This command allows the user to save the document for the first time,
change the file name or save on a different location.

Saving with Password

A Password is a string of characters used to prevent access to the protected
item of document from unauthorized users.

C. Opening or Retrieving an Existing document

This refers to opening a document, which has already been created and saved.
Procedure:
i. From the file menu click open command or from the standard toolbar click
on the open button
ii. Select the drive or the folder where the file is to be saved
iii. In the file name box, type or select the name of the document you want to
open
iv. Click on the open button

E. Exiting from Word

This refers to quitting the Ms-word program completely.

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Procedure:
i. Ensure that the document to exit is saved
ii. Click on the file menu
iii. Click exit command

Editing and formatting a document

Editing a document
Editing refers to making necessary changes to an existing document either manually or
through the use of the inbuilt tools.

Block options
A. Selecting (highlighting) a block of text
The purpose of selecting text is to enable the user perform a number of editing or
formatting operations on the selected block of text. This can be done by the use of
the mouse or keyboard.

Selecting with a mouse

Procedure:
i. To select a word, place the insertion pointer on the word then, double click
it.
ii. To select a sentence, position the mouse pointer at the left margin until it
changes to a right arrow, and then click once.
iii. To select a paragraph, place the pointer at the beginning or end of the
paragraph. Notice that the pointer changes to I-beam. Now drag the I-
beam over the text to be selected and release the mouse button at the end
of the text you wish to work on.
Selecting with the keyboard
Procedure:
i.
ii. To select one word, move the insertion pointer to the beginning or end of
the word then press, Shift + Ctrl + Right or 1eft, arrow.
iii. To select one line, press Shift + Up or Shift + Down arrow key.
Alternatively, move the insertion point to the end or beginning of the line
then press Shift+Home or End keys respectively.
iv. To select an entire page, press Shift + Page Down or Shift + Page Up
v. To select the entire document, press Ctrl +A or place the cursor at the
beginning of the document then press Shift+Ctrl+End

B. To move text and objects

Moving means changing the position of text or an object in a document. Procedure:
i. Highlight the text,
ii. Click Edit menu then Cut.
iii. Position the insertion pointer where you want the text to be placed
iv. Click Edit menu then Paste

C. To copy a block of text:

Copying means creating a duplicate of text or an object. Procedure:
i. Highlight the text;
ii. Click Edit menu then Copy
iii. Position the insertion pointer where you want to copy the text,
iv. Click Edit menu then Paste

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D. Deleting text
Deleting character or a word
• To delete a character or a word from the right to the left, place the insertion
pointer on the right of the word then press the backspace key.
• To delete a character to the right of the cursor, place the insertion pointer on the
left of the word then press the Delete key.

Deleting a block of text

i. Highlight the text to be deleted
ii. Press the Delete key.
Restoring deleted text
To restore, text that has just been deleted in the current word processing session:
Click the Edit menu, then the Undo command

E. Typing modes
There are two typing modes in a word processor that assist the user in typing or editing
text documents. These are:
i. Insert mode
This is the default mode in most word processors. In this case when text is inserted
between words or characters it pushes the existing text away without replacing it.
ii. Overtype / Typeover mode
In this case, when text is typed between existing words or characters, the new text
automatically replaces the existing text by deleting it.

NB:
To switch between typeover and insert mode, simply press the insert key on the
keyboard or double click the OVR label on the status bar.
Find and replace
When you need to search for a word or phrase in a large document, use the Find
command. In case you wish to replace a word or phrase, use the Replace option.
Procedure:
i. Click Edit menu, then click Find command
ii. Type the text or phrase you want to search for then click find next button.
iii. Continue clicking Ok to find next
iv. Click OK when the message appear telling you that the Microsoft word has
finished searching the document
NB: You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F to find.

Some search options:

You can specify search options by clicking the more button to display them. They
include:
i. Match case
This identifies only text that matches in case with that in the find what box e.g. it
will not find the word DEEN if you typed deen and selected the match case
option.
ii. Whole Word
Searches for a word or phrase that is whole. If it is part of another word it will not
be found, e.g. the word ever will not be found in words like however, Whenever
etc. during the search.
iii. Use wildcards

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Wildcards are special symbols such as * and? that are used to represent a set of
words with certain characters in common e.g. names like Jeff, Joe, Jane can. be
represented using a wildcard as J* which means all names starting with J.
iv. Like
Searches for words which are similar in pronunciation e.g. fare and fair.

Replace command
i. Click Edit menu then Replace command. From the dialogue box that appears
ii. Type the name you want to replace in the Find What box and the one that will
replace it in the Replace with box.
iii. Click the Find next button to find the next occurrence of the word then
iv. Click Replace button to replace first word or replace all the occurrences of the
word in the document at once
Proof reading
This refers to checking whether the document has typographical or grammar errors.
Proofreading Tools
Spelling and grammar checker
This is an in-built tool that helps the user to, correct spelling errors and incorrect
grammar structures. However, the checker can only recognize errors of those words
whose correct spelling is in its dictionaries.
Procedure:
i. Click Tools menu option.
ii. Click Spelling and grammar on the drop down menu. The spelling and grammar
checker dialog box appears
Either choose one of the following buttons:
a) Change to correct only the highlighted incorrect word.
b) Change All to correct all the occurrences of the misspelled word.
c) Ignore to retain the highlighted and continue.
d) Ignore All to retain all the occurrences of the same word or phrase in the
document from another language e.g. a Kiswahili
e) Click Add to add the word into the custom dictionary.
f) In case you want to undo the changes made, click on the Undo button at the lower
bottom of the spelling and grammar dialog box.
g) Click Cancel to exit in the middle of the spell checking and close to exit at the
end of spell checking
Thesaurus
It's a tool that helps the users finds words or phrases with similar meaning or opposite
meaning to the one selected.
Procedure:
i. Select a word or a phrase.
ii. Click Tools, and then point to Language.
iii. Click Thesaurus.
iv. For synonyms, under the heading Replace with Synonym, choose an alternative
word phrase you intend to use as replacement for the selected text

Auto-correct
This feature automatically detects wrongly spelt or capitalized words

To turn auto-correct on/off

i. Click tools menu, then auto-correct.
ii. To turn on the spelling checker corrections, select the Replace text as you type
check box, and then select the automatically use suggestions from the spelling
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checker check box.

iii. To turn off the spelling checker corrections, click Automatically use suggestions
from the spelling checker check box at the bottom of the dialog box
iv. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Auto complete
This is a feature that displays a word when the user types the first few characters of the
word.

To turn auto-complete on/off

i. Click Insert menu and point to Auto text. A dropdown list is displayed.
ii. Click AutoText
iii. Select or clear the show auto complete tip for AutoText and dates check box
iv. Type in an AutoText in the Enter auto text entries here text box then click Add.
v. Click close.
Undo & Redo
UNDO feature enables the user to cancel the most recent editing action while REDO
feature repeats the last action.

Text Formatting
Formatting refers to applying various styles or features to enhance the documents
appearance. Such features include as bold, color, underline, changing fonts (type, style)
to improve text appearance.
Procedure
i. Highlight the text to be formatted
ii. From Format menu, click the Font command. A dialog box with all text-
formatting features is displayed
iii. Choose the appropriate text formatting style of your choice

Bolding
This feature makes the text look thick and darker than the rest of the text in a
document. (From the keyboard press Ctrl+B)
Italicizing
To italicize is to make the text slant forward. (From the keyboard press Ctrl+I)
Underline
This is placing of any line style under text. (From the keyboard press Ctrl+U)
.
Superscript/Subscript
Superscript
Describes text that is slightly higher than other text on a, line while
Subscript
Describes text that is slightly lower than other text on a line.
Changing the font and font color:
In most cases, the font default color is black. However you can change the font color for
example to red, green, blue etc.

Drop caps
When you wish to attract the reader's attention by making the first character in a sentence
large, taking more space in the next line. Such kind of a character is said to be "dropped".
Procedure:

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i. Highlight the first character in the sentence

ii. From the Format menu, click Drop Cap. Drop cap dialog box appears
iii. Click Dropped or in margin
iv. Select font in case you wish to apply a certain font to the dropped cap
v. Specify the number of lines to drop.
vi. Click OK
Change Case
This refers to switching between different cases provided by Microsoft word

When typing a text, there are a number of cases the user may intend to apply in order to
create contrast within the text. These are:
i. Sentence case: All the first characters in a sentence are in uppercase (capitalized).
ii. Lowercase: All characters appear in lowercase.
iii. Uppercase: All characters appear in uppercase.
iv. Title case: All the first characters of each word in a sentence appear in uppercase.
v. Toggle case: It changes upper cases to lowercases and vice versa.

Procedure:
i. Highlight the text to change case
ii. Click on the format menu
iii. Click change case. Select the appropriate case
iv. Click OK

PARAGRAPH FORMATTING

A. Text Alignment
This refers to how text is lined up on the page relative to the left, right or centre of the
page.

There are four ways in which text can be aligned

Left Alignment
Text is lined up evenly along left margin.
Right alignment
Text is lined up evenly along Right margin
Centre alignment
Texts are centered unevenly between the left and right margin.
Justification alignment
Text is arranged evenly along left and right margin.

Procedure to align text

i. Highlight your text.
ii. On the format menu click paragraph
iii. Select the appropriate alignment from the list box
iv. Click OK
NB: You can simply click the appropriate alignment button from the formatting
toolbar
B. Indent
Indentation refers to moving the text away from the margin.

Procedure
i. Select the paragraph to be indented
ii. From format menu, click Paragraph
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iii. Click the down arrow in the list box under Special and select First or hanging
iv. Specify by how far the paragraph is to be indented from the margin in the By text
box
v. Click OK to apply the indent and close the dialog box.

Types of Indents
First line Indent - This is where the first line is indent while the other lines are left
along the left margin.
Hanging Indent - The whole paragraph is Indent except the first line.
Full Indent - The whole paragraph is indented. Check page
C. Spacing
Line and character spacing
Line spacing refers to the vertical distance between lines of text while character
spacing on the other hand refers to the space between the characters. Examples of
line spacing specifications 1 .5 line space / Single line Space / Double line Space
To change line spacing:
i. Highlight the text,
ii. From format menu, click Paragraph to display the paragraph dialog box.
iii. Click the down arrow from the Line Spacing list box and select the type of
pacing required e.g. double, 1.5, at least etc.
iv. Click OK to effect the changes.

To change character spacing:

i. Highlight the text
ii. From Format menu, click Font
iii. Click the Character Spacing tab
iv. Adjust the spacing as required
v. Click OK.

D. Section breaks
A break is used to identify where a section, a column or a page ends and the beginning of
next.
To insert a section break
i. Position the text cursor in the document where the break is to be inserted.
ii. Click Insert then Break.
iii. From the Break dialog box select the type of section break to insert e.g.
page break.
iv. Click OK.
E. Bullets and numbering
Bullets and numbers are used to mark steps in a procedure or items in a list

To apply bullets and numbers in a list:

i. Select the list
ii. From the Format menu, click Bullets and numbering.
iii. Do one of the following;
a) To apply bullets, click the Bulleted tab.
b) To apply independent numbers click the Numbered tab.
c) To apply outlined numbered list, click Outline Numbered tab
iv. Click OK to effect the changes and close the dialog box

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Page formatting

1. Page Layout
This feature lets the user specify how text will be placed on the page from the margins.

A. Page break
This identifies the end of one page and the beginning of the next. Word automatically
insets a new page after the current one is full.
Procedure to insert a page break
i. Position the pointer where the break is to be inserted.
ii. Click Insert then Break.
iii. From the Break dialog box
iv. Click Page break
v. Then OK.

B. Columns
This refers to dividing of text into a number of columns
Procedure
i. Highlight the text.
ii. From Format menu, click Columns
iii. In the columns dialog box, select the number of columns or type in the Number of
columns text box.
iv. In the Width and spacing boxes, specify the column widths and space between
columns.
v. Click OK

C. Header and footer

Headers - Refers to text that is placed at the top of every page of a document
Footers - Refers to text that is placed at the bottom of every page
Procedure
i. From the view menu click Header and Footer
ii. In the top part of the page labeled header type the appropriate header
In the bottom part of the page labeled footer type the appropriate footer
iii. Finally click close from the header footer toolbar
2. Page Setup
The option lets the user specify the size of the margins, paper size, paper source and
layout.
A. Setting page Margins
To set up margins:
i. Click the File menu then Page setup. Page setup dialog box appears
ii. Click the Margins tab.
iii. Enter the values for the left, right, top and bottom margins in the respective boxes.
iv. Click OK
B. Setting the paper size
By default, the paper size may be either Letter or A4. An A4 paper has dimensions 210
mm x 297 mm
To specify a different papersize
i. From the File menu click Page setup
ii. In the page setup dialog box click the papersize tab.
iii. Select the size of paper required from the paper size list. If your size is different
from the ones provided, click Custom size and enter dimensions in the height and
width boxes.
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iv. Click OK.

C. Specifying page orientations

Orientation refers to the positioning of the page in relation to text. There are two
orientations
i. Landscape Orientation
In this text graphical objects are placed with the longest side of the page placed
horizontally.
ii. Portrait Orientation
In this text and graphics are printed with the longest side vertically upright

To select the orientation:

i. From File menu, choose Page setup.
ii. Click on the Paper size tab and the dialog box that comes on the screen.
iii. Select the orientation required then click the OK button.

D. Page layout
This option lets the user specify how text will be placed on the page from the margins. By
default, text starts from the top margin.
To change the layout
i. From menu, choose Page setup. From the dialog box that appears
ii. Click on the layout tab.
iii. From the Vertical alignment tab, select the alignment required
iv. Then click

E. Setting tabs using the ruler

The easiest way to set tabs is by using the ruler. On the left corner of the horizontal ruler
is a tab alignment button that lets the user select the type of tab. Figure 1.28 shows
various tab alignment buttons, while Table 1.1 gives an explanation of each button.
To set the tab using the ruler;
i. Click on the tab button to choose the required tab type. Notice that the tab type
keeps on changing as you click the tab button.
ii. Set the tab stop by clicking where you want it to be on the ruler
iii. Drag the tab stop

Examples of tabs

Button Name Purpose

Text is left aligned
└ Left tab

┴ Centre tab Text is centered

Inserts a vertical line at tab

Bar tab stop and align text to the right
of the line

┴▪ Decimal tab Text is aligned at decimal

Character

┘ Right tab Text is right aligned

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F. Page Numbering
Refers to applying page numbers on every page of the document

To insert page numbers in your document

i. From the Insert menu, click Page numbers
ii. In the Position box, specify where you want the page numbers to be inserted.
iii. In the alignment box, specify whether the number is to be on the right, left, center,
inside or outside
iv. Use the Format button to choose the number format, i.e. 1,2,3…, A, B, C ..., etc.
You can start from any page number by using Start at box

Creating and editing a tables

What is a table?
It is a feature in Ms-word made of rows and columns that is used to organize and enhance
display and information.

Uses/Functions of Tables
i. Used to organize and present information.
ii. Used to align numbers for calculation purposes.
iii. Can be used to create different forms such as Invoice, Calendar etc.

Creating a new table using the insert table command

Procedure
i. Place the curser where you want the table to be created
ii. Click Tables menu, position the pointer on insert, then click Table
iii. In the Insert table dialog box displayed, specify the number of rows and columns
iv. Click OK.
Creating a new table using the drawing tool
Procedure
i. Click Tables menu, then Draw table or simply click the Draw table Button from
the standard toolbar. The mouse pointer changes to a pencil symbol
ii. Drag the pointer to draw the outline of the table
iii. Fill in the table with rows and columns by dragging the pointer, as you would
draw using an ordinary pencil.

Editing a table
A. Inserting Rows/Columns.
To insert a row:
i. Place the cursor where you want to insert a row
ii. Click Table, point Insert then click Row above or Row below.

To insert a column:
i. Place the cursor where you want to insert a column
ii. Click Table, point Insert then click Column to left then Column to the Right.

Adjusting the column width:

i. Position the mouse pointer on the row or column boundary until the mouse
pointer changes to an arrowed cross
ii. Drag the boundary to the required size.

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B. Deleting Rows/Columns/table.
i. Select the rows or columns to be deleted.
ii. From Table menu, point Delete, then table, Columns, Rows or Cells.

C. Merging cells
Refers to combining of more than one cell in a table.
To merge cells
i. Select cells to be merged
ii. From Tables, click Merge cells

D. Splitting cells
This refers to subdividing a cell or cells into more cells.
To split cells:
i. Select cells to be split
ii. From Tables, click Split cells. A dialog box appears that lets you specify the
number of rows and columns that the selected cells will be split.

Formatting table boarders and shading

Word provides the user with automatic formatting feature that lets you choose border
styles and shading
To format a table
i. From Table menu, click Table AutoFormat
ii. In the format list box, select the format you want. N: The format you choose
applies to borders, shading font and color.
iii. Click OK to apply the effects.

NB: You can also format a table by using the table's toolbar. If the toolbar is not
displayed, click View, point to Toolbars then click Tables and Borders

To add table shading

i. Select the table to change the boarders
ii. From the format menu choose boarder and shading
iii. Select shading
iv. Select the type of Fill in to be applied in the table
v. Finally click OK

To change table borders

i. Select the table to change the boarders
ii. From the format menu choose boarder and shading
iii. Select borders
iv. Select the appropriate setting, style, color, and width
v. Click on Apply to choose the appropriate option e.g. Cell, table text etc
vi. Finally click OK

Table conversion
This feature allows the user to convert table to the text and Text to table
A. To convert table to the text
i. Select the entire table or row and columns you want to convert to text.
ii. From Table menu, point to convert, then click table to text A dialog box is
displayed that requires you to specify how the text will be separated after
conversion
iii. In the separate text box, enter or select the character to be used as a separator.
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iv. Click OK

B. To convert text to a table

i. Select the text that you want to convert to a table.
ii. From Table menu, point to convert, then click Text to Table. A dialogue box is
displayed that requires you to specify the number of rows and columns
iii. From Separate text at, specify whether the table will be defined by paragraphs,
commas, Tabs or other characters
iv. Click OK

C. Importing tables
Microsoft Word lets you import tables from other applications or an existing file.
To import a table,
i. Click the Insert menu then Objects. A dialog box appears
ii. From the Object type select the type of object to insert e.g. Adobe table.
iii. The program in which the table was created in starts and lets you choose a table
from it and return back to Microsoft Word. Alternatively click Create from file.
This lets you browse for a file that contains the table you wish to insert.
iv. Click OK to insert the table.

D. Performing arithmetic calculations in a table

It is possible to perform mathematical calculations such as sum, product and count, if a
table has numerical figures.
To perform calculations:
i. Click the cell in which you want the result to be placed.
ii. From the Table menu, click Formula. A formula dialog box is displayed.
iii. Type the formula you want or select from the Paste function box.

E. Sorting
In Microsoft Word you can sort a list of text, numbers and dates in ascending or
descending order.
To sort a list or table:
i. Highlight the text list or table you want to sort.
ii. From the Table menu, click Sort.
iii. Select the type of data to be used when sorting i.e. Text, Number or Date.
iv. Click either Ascending or Descending order
v. Click OK.

Mail merging
Mail Merge is the process of generating personalized letters or documents by combining
a main document e.g. a letter with an existing data source such as the contact book.

Files created in Mail Merge

i. The Primary file (Main document)
This file contains data that will appear in all documents.
ii. Data Source (secondary file)
This file contains variable information e.g. Names, Address, Telephone etc.
iii. Merged File
Once you finish inserting merge fields from the data source in the main document,
you can merge

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To create the Main document

i. Type a new letter or open an existing letter
ii. From the tools menu, selects letters and mailings
iii. Click mail merge
Step 1: Select document type
iv. From the option button Choose letters click next starting document
Step 2: if the document to mail merge is the one already opened choose
v. From the option buttons choose use current document and click next
Step 3: Since you do not have an existing list of recipient for your letter
vi. Choose the option button “type a net list” and click create
Step 4: In the new address list message box click on customize
vii. Delete all unwanted field names and finally click OK
viii. Always click on new entry to add a new recipient finally click Close
Step 5: Saving the address list
ix. Save the address list in the appropriate location
x. Mail merge recipient list will appear
a. If you want to mail merge to all click OK else customize by un-checking
the appropriate check box
xi. Position the cursor to the position where you want the merge fields to appear
Step 6: From the mail merge toolbox that will appear
xii. Click on the insert merge fields icon
xiii. Choose appropriate field names and click insert button finally when over click
close
xiv. Click on the icon merge to new document
a. From the message box and option button choose appropriate choice i.e. to
all or from a given specific recipients
b. Click OK
NB: You may decide to save the merged document with a different name for printing
latter
NB From Step 6
Merging the document
Once you finish inserting merge fields from the data source in the main document, you
are now ready to merge.

Merge options

A. To merge to a new document

Click the Merge to new document icon on the mail merge toolbar.

B. Merging to printer
Click the Merge to printer icon on the mail merge toolbar. Before you merge to a print or
other device, you may want to preview the appearance of the merged documents. For
example, you can preview the merged documents one at a time. You can also collect the
merged documents into a new document, so you can review and personalize the
documents.

C. Preview merged documents

Before you print the documents, ensure that you've inserted merge fields in the main
document and selected a data source.
To preview
i. Click anywhere in the main document
ii. Then click view Merged data on the Mail Merge toolbar.
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E. Send merged documents via e-mail or fax

i. Click the merge button on the mail merge toolbar to see dialog box.
ii. Select in the merge to box.
iii. Click the setup button to specify the e-mail addresses or faxing number
iv. Then click the merge button.
v. The Internet connection wizard starts and if your computer is properly configured,
the mail-merged document will be sent.

Inserting graphics
Working with graphics
The term graphics refers to non-text images generated by a computer. This includes
photographs, drawings and graphs. Graphics present information in a form that is easy to
understand.

Types of graphics
i. Drawing
ii. Pictures
iii. Charts

Sources of objects
Microsoft Clip Gallery, a scanner, or by using drawing tools available in Microsoft Word.
Inserting a clip art or a picture from clip gallery:
i. Position the insertion pointer where you want your object to be inserted,
ii. On the Insert menu, point to Picture then click Clipart. Click on the tabs to select
on the category of objects i.e. clip art, pictures, sounds or videos.
iii. Double click on the object you want or click it once then click the Insert button.
iv. Use the object place holders to resize your object. If you place the mouse pointer
on one of these holders, it turns into a two headed arrow, hold down the mouse
button and drag to increase or reduce the object size
v. Click anywhere outside the object to remove the holders.
vi. To move you object to another position, click inside the object. The pointer turns
into an arrowhead cross. Hold down the mouse button and drag your image to a
new location

Inserting an image from a scanner

The computer must be connected to a scanner to complete this procedure. A scanner is a
data capture device that transforms a hand copy , or real graphical object into digital
form.

To scan an object:
i. Position the insertion pointer where you want your picture to appear
ii. From the Insert menu, point to Picture and then click from scanner or Camera.
iii. To scan, follow the instructions that come with your scanner.
iv. When the image appears on the screen you can edit and format it as required the
same way you would with a clipart.

Inserting a picture from another file

i. Position the insertion pointer where you want your picture placed
ii. From the Insert menu, point to Picture, then click from file
iii. Locate the file that contains the image you want to insert e.g. from your flash
disk, from a compact disk etc.
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iv. Select the object you want to insert

v. Then click the insert button.
vi. When the image appears on the screen you can edit and format it as required the
same way you would with a clipart.

Drawing an object using MS Word drawing tools

Microsoft Word provides the user with basic drawing tools such as polygons, lines, a
circle, stars and banners, callouts etc
To display the drawing tool bar if hidden
i. Click on View menu
ii. Toolbars then click on Drawing the toolbar will be displayed

To draw a line, a circle an arrow or a rectangle:

i. Click on the appropriate shape button. The pointer changes to a plus sign.
ii. Place the pointer where you want to draw that shape and drag to the required size
To draw an object using the Autoshapes:
i. Click the Autoshapes button. A menu is displayed showing categories of shapes
you can choose from
ii. Point to the category required then select the type of object you wish to draw
iii. Place the pointer where you want to draw that shape and drag to the required size.

Editing and formatting a drawn object

You can resize, move, fill color and change the drawing outline:

To resize or move a drawing

i. Click anywhere inside it. The place holders appear
ii. To move it, hold down the mouse button and drag.
iii. To resize it, place the pointer at one of the place holders and drag

To fill the object with color and fill effects

i. Click the object. The place holders appear.
ii. Click the down arrow of Fill colour button, the one that looks like a bucket
pouring ink
iii. Select the color you want applied. To fill the drawing with texture, gradient or
pattern, click the effect button. From the resulting dialog box, select the
appropriate fill effect

Printing a document
The main purpose of any word processor is to prepare documents for printing; this cannot
be accomplished without a printer. Before you print, always ensure you preview you
document to confirm that no details are outside the printable area and that the document
layout is okay

Using print preview

This enables one to view your document before printing

To print preview
i. From File menu, select Print preview
ii. Click the close button or Esc key to return to your document

To print:
i. From File menu, click on Print.
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A dialog box appears where you can specify:

a. The type of the printer installed in your computer other than the default
printer
b. Whether to print the whole document or a range in the Page range box
c. Number of copies to print per page in the Number of copies box then
ii. Click OK to start printing.

Short cut keys when using the keyboard

Ctrl + A = Select All
Ctrl + B = Bold
Ctrl + C = Copy
Ctrl + F = Find
Ctrl + G = Go to a particular page
Ctrl + I = Italics
Ctrl + N = New blank page
Ctrl + O = Open
Ctrl + P = Print
Ctrl + S = Save
Ctrl + X = Cut
Ctrl + U = Underline
Shift + F3 = Change Case for the first letter if its in small letters else it changes
the entire
word or sentence to upper case and opposite is also true

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