Use a Style

Using a style is simple. You can apply a style to selected text to format that text with the style’s character and paragraph formatting. Microsoft Office 2007 Word comes with several styles, and you can add your own. Applying a preexisting style is far easier than formatting text repeatedly with the same formatting characteristics.

Suppose that you routinely write résumés for other people. You might develop three separate sets of character and paragraph formats that work well, respectively, for the title of a résumé and an applicant’s personal information and work his-tory. Instead of defining each of these formats every time you create a résumé, you can format a paragraph with each style and store the styles under their own names (such as Résumé Title, Résumé Personal, and Résumé Work). The next time you write a résumé, you need only to select a style, such as Résumé Title, before typing the title. When you then type the title, the title looks the way you want it to look without your having to designate a character or paragraph format.

You can easily apply a style to selected text by clicking to select the style you want to apply from the list of styles. Word supplies styles, and over time, you will add your own.

You can create styles from scratch by formatting selected text to match the style you want to define and then saving that formatting as a style. In subsequent editing sessions,that new style will be included among the styles from which you can choose.

1  Select the Text for the Style

When you want to apply a predefined style to text, first select the text. Most of the time you’ll select a paragraph to format with a style, so if nonprinting characters are showing, be sure to include the paragraph mark when you select the text if you want the style to apply to the entire paragraph. The for-mat of the text will completely change depending on which style you apply, but the text itself will not change.

2   Display the Available Styles

Point to one of the three styles on your Home ribbon to see how those styles will format your selected text. As you point to each style, Office Ultimate 2007 Word’s live preview changes the selected text to reflect the current style.

Click the down arrow to the right of the three styles to display the collection of styles already defined.