Word Processing
Senior 1 · ICT
Word Processing
Lesson 3 of 5
20 min
Let's begin
Two students type the same notice for the school club. The first is one grey block of small letters. The second has a large, bold, centred title, the date in a shaded box, and the members' names in a neat numbered list. Both contain the same words, but only the second one gets read. The difference is formatting: changing how text looks without changing what it says.
The steps use LibreOffice Writer; Word paths are in brackets where they differ. The golden rule in both is: select first, then format.
Character formatting changes the look of the selected letters. Use the Formatting toolbar, or Format > Character for every option (Word: the Font group on the Home tab).
| Format | How | Example of use |
|---|---|---|
| Font (typeface) | Font Name box, for example Liberation Serif, Arial, Calibri | A clear font for the whole document |
| Font size | Font Size box, measured in points (72 points = 1 inch, about 2.5 cm) | 11 or 12 pt for body text, 16 to 20 pt for a title |
| Bold, italic, underline | Ctrl + B, Ctrl + I, Ctrl + U | Key words, titles of books |
| Strikethrough | Toolbar button | Showing an item that has been cancelled |
| Superscript and subscript | Toolbar buttons | Superscript: 5 m² or 10³. Subscript: H₂O, CO₂ |
| Font colour and highlighting | Toolbar buttons with a colour list | A red warning; a yellow highlight on a deadline |
| Change case | Format > Text > UPPERCASE, lowercase and more (Word: Home > Change Case, Aa) | Turning a heading into capitals without retyping |
Paragraph formatting affects the whole paragraph the cursor is in: you do not need to select all of it. Use the toolbar or Format > Paragraph (Word: the Paragraph group on the Home tab).
Alignment
| Alignment | Shortcut | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Left | Ctrl + L | Straight left edge, ragged right edge: normal text |
| Centre | Ctrl + E | Each line centred: titles |
| Right | Ctrl + R | Straight right edge: a date at the top of a letter |
| Justified | Ctrl + J | Both edges straight, with the spaces stretched: newspapers and books |
Indents move a paragraph in from the margins. In Format > Paragraph > Indents & Spacing you can set the indent before and after the text and a first-line indent (only the first line moves in). A hanging indent is the opposite: every line except the first moves in, as in a list of references. You can also drag the small triangles on the ruler.
Spacing: line spacing is the gap between lines inside a paragraph (single, 1.15, 1.5 or double); spacing above and below is the gap between paragraphs. Use these instead of pressing Enter twice.
Lists
Borders and shading put a line around a paragraph or colour behind it. Writer: Format > Paragraph > Borders tab for lines, Area tab for the background colour. (Word: Home > Borders button and Shading button.)
Sorting puts selected lines in alphabetical or numerical order. Writer: select the lines, then Tools > Sort, choose Ascending (A to Z, smallest first) or Descending. Choose the key type Numeric for numbers, or 10 will be placed before 9. (Word: Home > Sort.)
To remove the formatting you added, select the text and press Ctrl + M (Format > Clear Direct Formatting). (Word: the Clear All Formatting button on the Home tab.)
Tip
Select first, then format. Character formats need the letters selected; paragraph formats only need the cursor inside the paragraph.
Alignment keys: Left, cEntre, Right, Justify.
Which formats would you use to write the chemical formula of water, and why?
Solution: Subscript for the 2 (H₂O), because in a chemical formula the number of atoms is written small and low.
Keza wants both edges of her essay's paragraphs to be straight. Which alignment and shortcut should she use?
Solution: Justified alignment, Ctrl + J.
Mugisha presses Enter twice after every paragraph to leave a gap. What is the better way?
Solution: Set spacing below paragraphs (Format > Paragraph > Indents & Spacing). The gaps then stay even, and he can change all of them at once.
A list of marks 9, 45, 10, 72 is sorted ascending but comes out as 10, 45, 72, 9. Explain and fix.
Solution: The sort treated the numbers as text and compared the first digit only. In Tools > Sort, set the key type to Numeric: the result is 9, 10, 45, 72.
Remember
Sources and credits
