Formatting in MS Word Chapter 8

Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
• Format the text
• Copy formatting
• Align the text
• Change the case of the text
Formatting
Changing the appearance of the text is called formatting. Formatting is applied
on a text to enhance its look and to make it more attractive. The formatted
text always looks beautiful and catches the attention of people who read it.
You can perform the different types of formatting on the text, like…
• Change the font face, size and color
• Change the font style
• Highlight the text, etc.
Let us learn how to perform these types of formatting.

Changing Font Face, Size and Color

 Font Face: It holds a list of font faces.
 Font Size: It contains various sizes for the text.
 Font Color: It contains various colors for the text.
To change the font face, size and color, the steps are as follows:
1. Select the text which is to be formatted.
2. Click on the Home tab.
3. Click on any of the following as per the requirement in the Font group.

Fig. 8.1: Font group

When you click on any option the changes will be reflected on the selected
text.

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Fig. 8.2: Changed font size, color and type
Making Text Bold, Italic and Underline
Apart from changing the font face, size and color of the text, you can also make
them bold, italic and underline.
• Bold: This increases the thickness of the selected text and makes it dark.
• Italic: This tilts the selected text.
• Underline: This provides a line below the selected text.
To make the text look bold, italic and underline, follow the given steps:
1. Select the text which is to be formatted.
2. Click on the Home tab.
3. Click on any of the following as per your choice.

When you click on any button the changes will be reflected on the selected
text.

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Fig. 8.3: Different effects applied on the text
Shortcuts
• Press Ctrl + B to make the text bold.
• Press Ctrl + I to make the text italic.
• Press Ctrl + U to underline the text.

Highlighting the Text

Text is usually highlighted in the document to catch the attention of people on
some important points. Highlighters are also used to mark some important
points in the document.Word provides various highlighters that you can use by
using the following steps:
1. Select the text which is to be highlighted.
2. Click on the Home tab.
3. Click on the Text Highlight Color drop-box.
4. The various highlighters appear. Select any one by clicking on it.

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Fig. 8.4: Text highlighted
Note: The highlighter from the selected text can be removed by clicking on the
No Color option in the Text Highlight Color drop-box.
Copying Formatting
Suppose in some scenario, the formatting effects applied on some text looks
good and you want to copy that formatting on some other text. This can be
easily done in Word by using Format Painter option.
The steps to use the ‘Format Painter’ are as follows:
1. Select the text whose formatting is to be copied.
2. Click on the Format Painter option in the Home tab.
3. The cursor changes into brush. Now, drag the mouse over text on which you
want to apply the formatting. The formatting will be copied.

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Fig. 8.5: Format Painter command applied on text
Changing the Alignment of Text
The position of the text in a document is called alignment. MS-Word provides
four types of alignments as shown below:

Fig.8.6: Different alignment options

Align Left: This aligns the text to the left of the page.
Center: This aligns the text to the middle of the page.
Align Right: This aligns the text to the right of the page.
Justify: This aligns the text from both sides (left and right margins) of the page.
To align the text, follow the given steps:
1. Select the text which is to be aligned.
2. Click on the corresponding alignment buttons. The text will be aligned.

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Fig. 8.7: Different types of alignment applied on text

Changing Case of the Text

While creating a document, we need to type text in different cases like in
uppercase, lowercase, sentence case, etc. MS Word provides the option to
change the case of selected text to another case. The different options are:
Sentence case: This capitalizes the first letter of the first word as capital.
Lowercase: This is used to convert the text into lowercase.
Uppercase: This is used to convert the text into uppercase.
Capitalize Each Word: This capitalizes the first letter of each word.
tOGGLE cASE: This reverses the case of each letter.
To change the case of text, follow the given steps:
1. Select the text of case which is to be changed.
2. Go to the Home tab and click on the Change Case option in the Font group.
3. The following drop-down list appears on the screen.

Fig. 8.8: Change case options

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4.Click on the required option and notice the change.

Fig. 8.9: Different change case options applied on text

Summary
• The term formatting refers to changing the appearance of the text.
• The font dialog box contains various font formatting options in the Font tab.
• Bold, Italic and Underline options are used to change the style of the text.
• You can highlight the text by using ‘Text Highlight Color’ option.
• The ‘Format Painter’ option is used to copy the formatting.
• Alignment refers to the position of the text. MS-Word provides four types of
alignments— Left, Center, Right and Justify.
• The ‘Change Case’ option holds various case options that are used to convert
the text into different cases.
Test Yourself
A. Multiple choice questions.
1. Which of the following is used to increase the tilt the selected text?
a. Bold b. Italic c. Underlined
2. The term alignment refers to:
a. Position of Text b. Direction of Text c. Selected Text
3. Which option of Word is used to copy the formatting?
a. Copy b. Format Painter c. Painter

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4. The Ctrl + J keys align the text:
a. Center b. Right c. Justify
5. Which option will you use to reverse the case of the selected text?
a. tOGGLE cASE b. Sentence Case c. Lowercase
B. Fill in the blanks.
Hints Right Font Left Home formatting
1. The _________________group contains font formatting options.
2. The term __________________ refers to changing the appearance of the
text.
3. The ______________is the default alignment in the Word document.
4. The ______________option aligns the text to the right of the page.
5. The ‘Format Painter’ is available in the ______________tab.
C. State True or False.
1. The font face, size and color options are available in the Home tab.
2. The Bold option tilts the text.
3. You cannot remove the bold, italic and underline effects from the text once
applied.
4. The ‘toggle case’ option makes the first letter of each word in a sentence
capital.
5. You cannot highlight the text in MS-Word.
D. Match the following.
1. Ctrl + B a. Justify the text
2. Ctrl + I b. Provides a line below the text
3. Ctrl + U c. Aligns the text left
4. Ctrl + L d. Makes the text bold
5. Ctrl + J e. Tilts the text
E. Answer the following questions.
1. What do you understand by the term alignment?
2. How will you highlight the text in a Word document?
3. Write the steps to apply bold effect to the text.
4. How will you convert the uppercase text to lowercase?

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5. What is the use of Format Painter?
F. Life Skills
1. Samarjeet is working in MS Word and she wants to left align the text.
But, she had forgotten the steps to do so. Help her to do so.
2. Ashish wants to apply bold and italic effects to the text in MS Word. Tell
him the shortcut keys to perform the same.
Activity Session
Fun in Searching
Encircle 5 meaningful terms extracted from this chapter in the given maze.
F
O B
N O
I T A L I C S
D A
S
A L I G N E

Fun in Exploring
Explore the different underline and font type options available in MS Word.
Use these options in the lab session and view the change on the text.
Fun In the lab
A. Go to your lab and do the following tasks:
 Write some ‘Computer Lab Etiquettes’ in the Word document.
 Apply bold, italic and underline effects.
 Highlight the heading in the document.
 Copy the formatting and apply it on some other text.
 Apply various cases on the text. Save the document.

B. Create a Poster on the topic ‘Deforestation’. Also, use various formatting

options to make poster eye-catching.

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Art Integrated Project
Create a beautiful handmade birthday card for your friend. Write a Birthday
wish in both uppercase and lowercase. Try to write the text ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’
in italics and also underline it.

Teacher’s Notes
 Demonstrate to the students how to format the text.
 Show them the use of Format Painter.
 Tell the use of alignments in the document to the students.

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