Microsoft Word 2A: Directory: Columns, Breaks, Sections, Drop Caps, Lines, Borders

Columns

• Normally Word uses one column for text as shown below:

• Columns are used in newspaper style brochures and pamphlets and function to flow the text from one column to the next as shown below:
• To create columns, highlight the text you want in columns and select the Page Layout tab then press the Columns button and select 2 (as shown below).

Microsoft Word has some column features, however more sophisticated desktop publishing programs like Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Pagemaker are used for professional applications in newspapers, magazine publishers and other publishing companies.

Breaks:

• Page Breaks
  • You can start a new page by inserting a page break in a document by selecting the Insert tab and pressing the Page Break button.
• Column Break
  • If you want to place an image or leave some space under a column you can click on the Page Layout Tab (not the Insert tab as above) then press drop arrow on the Break button and selecting Column
    Breaks Insert / Break / Column Break
  • Example shown below has alarge space under the first column and a small space under the second column created with column breaks

  

  Note when working with column breaks it is very helpful to turn on the paragraph marks by clicking on the show/hide paragraph mark button on the Home tab toolbar.

   

  By selecting this button you will see the .........Column Break........... appear as shown above, otherwise things can get a little tricky. The paragraph marks won't appear on your printed document and you can always click on the button again to not display them on the screen.

Sections:

• Sections are used to divide up a Microsoft Word document into areas.
• The first section may have one column and the second section may split into two columns as shown below

• This is particularly useful when using a title in the first column as shown below

• Note on the the second page of this document you could insert a continous section break so that four columns were displayed for classified ads

Drop Caps

• A drop cap is shown in the example below (the first letter in a line of text is made larger and the text wraps itself around it)
• To create a drop cap, highlight the letter then click on the Insert tab and press the Drop Cap button.

Horizontal Lines

• You can insert various horizontal lines by clicking on the Page Layout tab and pressing the Page Borders button (as shown below)

Borders:

• You can select various border options by clicking on Page Layout tab and pressing the Page Borders button then selecting the Shading tab...then selecting for example the 3D option as shown below (other options are also available)

• Note: highlight the text that you want a border on before clicking on Format / Borders and Shading

• You can also apply a border around the entire document by selecting the Page Layout tab, press the Page Border button then select Page Border.....then selecting an option

Sample Directory Listing Used in Assignment

Note: the directory listing above is divided into two sections, the top section has one column the second section has two. The title has a fill color and a thick colored line border. The clip art was inserted before and after the word RESTAURANT (without changing to "Format Tight")

This is a directory of restaurants in the area. Notice there are various format changes (bold/italic/underline and different fonts, sizes and colors as well as left and center alignment). The little apple symbols are inserted before the "A sample of our menu" line etc. A horizontal line (looks like a city skyline) between the restaurants. Each restaurant is formatted with a colored shadow border as well.

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