Word 2000 in a Nutshell

Name

Format → Paragraph

Synopsis

Format → Paragraph is the least efficient way to do some things, and the most efficient (or only) way to do others. Setting indents, for example, is much easier to do from the ruler or with keyboard shortcuts. Setting an automatic space between paragraphs, on the other hand, can only be done through the Paragraph dialog box. For a complete discussion of character and paragraph formatting and styles, check out Chapter 2.

Choose Format → Paragraph to open the Paragraph dialog box. To apply paragraph formats to a single paragraph, the insertion point need only be in the paragraph; the paragraph itself doesn’t have to be selected. If you wish to apply formats to a series of existing paragraphs, however, all of them must be selected before opening the Paragraph dialog box.

Use Styles for Paragraph Formatting, Too

Unless making minor adjustments to an individual paragraph’s formatting, it is almost always better to modify the paragraph formatting for style used by the paragraph instead. This changes all paragraphs using that style and helps maintain consistency. Read more about styles later in this chapter.

The Paragraph dialog is divided into two tabs: Indents and Spacing and Line and Page Breaks.

Indents and Spacing Tab

Use the Indentation section of the Indents and Spacing tab (Figure 8-3) to modify first line, left and right side, and hanging indents for a paragraph. Left and right indents control the spacing of the paragraph from the left and ...