Paragraph formatting

Paragraph formatting

1. Paragraph Alignment

A paragraph is any text that ends with a hard return. A hard return is accomplished anytime you press the Enter key. Paragraph Alignment or justification refers to the way in which the lines of a paragraph are aligned. Paragraph alignment lets you control the appearance of individual paragraphs. There are four types of alignment available in Open office Writer - left - alignment, Right - alignment, Center - alignment, and Justify - alignment.

Left-alignment - A paragraph's text is LEFT aligned when it is aligned evenly along the left margin and uneven along the right margin. This is the default alignment when a paragraph is typed.

Right-alignment - A paragraph's text is RIGHT aligned when it is aligned evenly along the right marign and uneven along the left margin.

Center-alignment- All the lines in the paragraph are aligned to the center of the page size.

Justified-alignment - All the lines in the paragraphy, are arranged evenly both on the left and right margins. This is achieved in writer by automatically inserting additional space between the words.

Paragraph formatting can be applied by Format  -> Paragraph, the paragraph dialog box appears as displayed in Figure 6.21.

The paragraph formatting can also be done by icons using the formatting tool bar as shown in Figure 6.22 and shortcut keys as shown in Table 6.5

Table 6.5 Paragraph Alignment Icons and shortcut Keys

An example showing all the four paragraph alignment:

Left Alignment

All power is with in you take up one idea, make that one idea your life. Think of it dream of it, live on that idea let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part

of your body be full of that idea, and just leave avry other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Right Alignment

All power is with in you take up one idea, make that one idea your life. Think of it dream of it, live on that idea let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave avry other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Center Alignment

All power is with in you take up one idea, make that one idea your life. Think of it dream of it, live on that idea let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave avry other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Justified Alignment

All power is with in you take up one idea, make that one idea your life. Think of it dream of it, live on that idea let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave avry other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Example 6.1 Paragraph Alignment

2. Line Spacing:

Line spacing determines the amount of vertical space between lines of text in a paragraph. By default, the lines are single-spaced, that is the spacing accommodates the largest font in that line, plus a small amount of extra space. In Open Office, setting line spacing is quite easy through the context menu, select the line or word or phrase, right-click  -> line spacing, select the type single, 1.5 or double. There are seven different types of line spacing as seen in the dialog box given below in Fig.6.23.

·      Select the entire document by Edit  -> Select All

·      Format  -> paragraph

·      The paragraph dialog box appears, click Indents & Spacing tab

In the line spacing option, select the type and click OK button.

3. Indenting text

Indent is the distance from the left and right margin of a paragraph. It is used to improve the efficiency and readability of the paragraph and makes the paragraph look more attractive. In paragraphs, an easy way to apply indent for the first line of text can be created by moving the cursor to the front of the line and pressing the tab key on the keyboard. There are four types of indents:

·      Left Indent

·      Right Indent

·      First Line Indent and Hanging Indent.

Left indent - The Left indent controls the space between the paragraph and the left margin. This is the default indent. Each click on the Increase indent icon moves the paragraph ½ inch away from the left margin.

The left indent can also be applied by Format  -> Paragraph  -> Indents & Spacing tab, enter a value in the “before text” spin box. This results in a left indent.

Right Indent - The Right indent controls the space between the paragraph and the right margin. Each click on the decrease indent icon removes the indent applied by the Increase indent. The Right indent can be applied by the dialog box method.

Select  Format  -> Paragraph Indents & Spacing tab, enter a value in “after text” spin box. This results in a right indent.

First Line Indent - A first-line indentation indents the first line of the paragraph. It is the most common way to start a new paragraph.

This indent can be applied by Format  -> Paragraph  -> Indents & Spacing tab, select first line option in the Indent group, enter a positive value which results in first line indent.

Hanging indent -This is a special kind of indent where the first line of the paragraph alone hangs outside leaving the rest of the text. To apply Hanging indent, a negative value is given in the “first line” option of the paragraph dialog box.

4. Bullets and Numbering

Bullets and numbering are used to emphasize list of things and make list easy to read and follow. It provides an excellent way to segregate, list and organize information for a reader. You can control the appearance, or format a bulleted or numbered list.

Bullets – This is a paragraph level attribute that applies a bullet character to the start of the paragraph. In bulleted lists, each paragraph begins with a bullet

character. This is suitable when the text has to be presented as a list of items preceded by a bullet symbol and no sequence has to be followed. Bullets are quickly created by clicking on the bullet icon 

Numbering – This attribute applies a numeral to the start of the paragraph. Numbering is more suitable when the text has to be presented as a sequence. In numbered list, each paragraph begins with an expression that includes a number or letter and a separator such as a period or parenthesis. The numbers in a numbered list are updated automatically when you add or remove paragraphs in the list. Numbering is quickly created by clicking on the numbering icon. 

5. Style of Bullets and Numbering

The default type of bullet is ( . ) and the default type of numbering is (1, 2, 3 ……). The style of bullets and numbering can be changed by applying the following steps:

·      Select the text to be bulleted

·      Format  -> Bullets and Numbering

·      Select Bullets Tab

·      The Bullets and Numbering dialog box appears where different styles of bullets are displayed

·      Click on the required style

·      Click Ok button

·      The selected text is bulleted.

The bullets and numbering dialog box with the bullets tab is displayed in Figure 6.24.

If the text is not typed, then apply the steps above and then type the text, the newly entered text will appear in bulleted form.

To apply Numbering

1.   Select the text to be numbered

2.   Format  -> Bullets and Numbering

3. Select Numbering Type Tab

4.   The Bullets and Numbering dialog box appears where different styles of numbering are displayed

5.   Click on the particular style

6.   Click Ok button

7.   The selected text is numbered.

The bullets and numbering dialog box with the numbering type tab is displayed in Figure 6.25.

If the text is not typed, then apply the steps above and then type the text, the newly entered text will appear in numbered form.

Turning off Bullets and Numbering

As you can quickly add bullets or numbers to existing text by clicking on the icons, the bullets and numbers can be removed easily.

Select the text where the bullets and numbers are to be removed.

• Click on the bullets icon  again to remove bullets.

• Click on the numbering icon  again to remove numbering.