How to Get the Most Out of Microsoft Word

Word is not an especially difficult software package to use. At its most basic level, all you really need to do is load the package and start typing in order to produce some documents. However, being more aware of Word’s features will enable you to make full use of its capabilities and produce better-quality output.

Before beginning a document, ascertain exactly what sort of a document you are seeking to produce. Is it a CV, a letter, a memo? If it falls into one of these categories, you should consider the available templates. When you select the new document icon in the top-left, you will be presented with the template page. Scroll through the tabs for memos, letters, and CVs to make an appropriate selection from the choices available. Doing this will not require any formatting, presenting you with well-formatted documents, and you will only have to replace the text. These templates will no doubt give you a greater appreciation of what Word can produce when fully used.

Of course, if a suitable template is not available, then you will have to produce a document manually. This will take longer, and a greater appreciation of how to format documents will be required.

The default toolbars include the main settings available. First, do take note of the font option. Times New Roman is a standard font, but there is a whole selection of alternatives available. Likewise, you might wish to adjust the size of the fonts by raising the number in the text size box, adjacent to the font option. To adjust the text alignment, simply select the four alignment options (left, right, center, or justify). Bold, italics, and underline features will also produce the name-related formatting to any text selection you make. If you wish to add bullet points, then enter the text, highlight it, and select the bullet points option on the right of the alignment options.

For report writing and manuals, headers and footers can be included in documents by clicking View and Headers and Footers. This will bring up the appropriate tab and allow you to add things like date, time, and page numbers, which can be applied to each page of the document. Index and tables can be added to add index references to technical manuals or contents pages for business reports. This option is easily accessed from the insert menu. They come in a range of styles that you can choose from to fit your own document style.

Word also provides art features, which will enable you to create attractive text-based pages, like adverts, newsletters, and brochures. These are available in the art toolbar (click insert and go to pictures). Color can be added with the color features. Use Word Art, and you can produce great word art styles for page headlines. Text boxes allow you to lay the text out on screen, Publisher style. Clip art will enable you to add pictures and graphics to give your documents real visual appeal. To include diagrams like flow charts, shape facilities (auto-shapes) are available.

The object tool allows you to link data from other sources. For example, if you wish to include a graph from Excel, simply click insert, options, and then the relevant data file to be linked. This is one of the most useful and flexible features of Word.

A simple tip for using these features is to go to the toolbars option in view and then tick on all the toolbars and drag them to the top so they are all on display. These toolbars contain the features that will really enable you to produce top-quality Word documents. Make use of them, and your documents will be enhanced considerably, enabling professional standard documentation to cater to your business needs.