Table of Contents

Microsoft Word 2010 Exercise 1

Starting Microsoft Word

On the lower left hand corner of the screen you will see the start icon. Click the start icon click the All Programs menu, then chose the Microsoft Office item, and finally click on the Microsoft Word 2010 icon to launch the application.

Creating New Documents

To create a new document (file), all you have to do is to request Word to open a new file for you. Click the File tab, select the template on which you want to base your document (or Blank document for no template) and then click the Create button.

Entering Text

When typing text into your document, do not press Enter at the end of each line–use the Enter key only to end paragraphs or to create blank lines. Word's line wrap feature will dynamically create the needed line breaks within paragraphs for you.

Selecting Text

Selection allows you to identify and format (underline, italicize, embolden, change the font of, etc.) certain pieces of text within a document.

Some shortcuts to select text

To select Do this
A word Point to the word and double-click the left button
A sentence Hold down Ctrl and click the left button anywhere in the sentence
A line Move the pointer to the left of the line and click
A paragraph Move the pointer to the left to the paragraph and double click, or triple-click anywhere in the paragraph

To select all text, select the Home tab, in the Editing section click the Select item and select Select All. A keyboard shortcut for selecting all text is to hold down the Ctrl and A keys simultaneously (Ctrl+A).

There are many more selection shortcuts in addition to the above.1)

Change Text Styles, Typeface and Point Size

Alternately, use the Font, Point Size and Style icons in the Font group on the Ribbon directly. Or, use the Mini Toolbar that pops up when you make a selection.

Text Alignment

Alignment of the text may be changed for selected text, or if no text is selected for the paragraph in which the cursor is situated. Alignment can be to the left (left-justified or ragged-right), center, right (right-justified or ragged-left), or fully justified.

Align the text left or right

Center the text

Justify the text

You can justify text, which applies alignment to both left and right margins. Note that this might make the last line of text in a paragraph considerably shorter than the other lines.

Borders, Shading, and Page Borders

Complete or partial borders can be placed around paragraphs, tables and pictures.

Border options:

Border patterns:

Border shadings:

To put a border around a page

  1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click Page Borders.
  2. Make sure you are on the Page Border tab in the Borders and Shading dialog box.
  3. Select the style, color, and width of the border.
  4. To specify that the border appears on a particular side of a page, such as only at the top, click Custom under Settings. Under Preview, click the edges where you want the border to appear.
  5. Select the style, color, and width of the border.

To specify an “artistic” border, such as trees or cupcakes, you may select an option in the Art box.

To put a border around a paragraph

  1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click Page Borders. (Yes, this doesn't make sense.)
  2. The Borders and Shading dialog box will open. Click the Borders tab, and then click one of the border options under Settings.
  3. Select the style, color, and width of the border.

Headers and Footers

You can have Microsoft Word put the same piece of text at the very top or at the very bottom of every page. These are called headers and footers respectively.

There are pre-designed headers or footers that you can insert in your document and then change as needed. Or you can create your own header or footer with a company logo and custom look, and save the new header or footer to the gallery.

Inserting headers or footers

To insert the same header throughout a document:

  1. On the Insert tab, click the Header icon.
  2. Click the header design that you want.
  3. Click on the various parts of the header that has been added to the document and insert the desired content.

To insert the same footer throughout a document:

  1. On the Insert tab, click the Footer icon.
  2. Click the footer design that you want.
  3. Click on the various parts of the footer that has been added to the document and insert the desired content.

Formatting headers or footers

  1. Select the text and use the formatting options on the Ribbon.

Removing headers or footers

  1. Click anywhere in the document.
  2. On the Insert tab, click Header or Footer.
  3. Click Remove Header or Remove Footer.

Saving Documents

After you have created or edited your document, and when your document is complete, you should save it to the storage area assigned to you for your use. To achieve this, do following:

An important note on saving

Save your document at very frequent intervals (say, every 5 minutes) and before printing! If the computer you are using should fail for some reason, all the work you did since saving your document will be lost forever!

Saving a Document Under a New Name

You may want to save an existing document under a new name, leaving the original document under its old name for backup purpose or future references.

Previewing Documents

If you want to get an idea of what your document will look like before you print it out (which is a really good way to save paper and ink!), you can do so by previewing it as follows:

Printing Documents

To print your document:

Opening an Existing Document

To open a document (file) which already exists on your storage media or file server:

Additional options for opening the document are available in the dropdown menu attached to the Open button.

Word Practice: Create a New Document

Create a new document by using the Blank Document template. Then type the text2) shown below into your new document. Remember that you should not press Enter at the end of each line; use the Enter key only to end paragraphs and to create blank lines.


Edouard Manet: French Painter

Edouard Manet was born on January 23, 1832 in Paris. He is often identified with the “Impressionists,” and was influenced by them. However, because of the Paris art world's generally hostile regard for Impressionism, he chose not to exhibit with them. He preferred to show his work in the more conservative exhibitions sponsored by the French government.

Manet learned to paint in the traditional style, but his work became more spontaneous after his exposure to Claude Monet and the other “Impressionists.” He used expressive outline, severe lighting contrasts, bold color and rich texture to portray the world around him.


After you have entered the text above, experiment with all the formatting options discussed so far. Practice saving and re-opening the document. Then preview and print your document.

1)
For a comprehensive table of selection shortcuts, see Exhibit 10-10 of Pinard, Katherine, and Robin M. Romer. CMPTR. Boston, Mass.: Cengage Learning, 2012
2)
“Edouard Manet | French Painter.” Lucidcafé Interactive Café and Information Resource. http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jan/manet.html (accessed February 24, 2011).