Microsoft Word pros, I need help!

[lsquare]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to office. I have no idea why by default, Office uses so much spacing between each line of text. It appears to be double space, but I could be wrong. How do I change that?

Also, I want to text on each end of the same line. The simplest way to do this is to insert a table with 2 columns and 1 row. This way I can have text in two boxes and then indent them to left and right. Then I can make the borders invisible. The problem with this method is that it doesn't create any spaces below the box. So you have text that literally touches the border area. Which looks kind of bad. Is there another way to do this or at least provide some spaces?

Thx!

 

[Anubis]

if you have the formatting bar showing there is an icon with up and down arrows next to horizontal lines that will change the spacing. its prob set to 2 and you sound like you want it on 1

you can go to format - Coloumns to get 2 comoums on the page however they wrap from bottom to top IIRC, however you can prob change that

 

[Binky]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to office. I have no idea why by default, Office uses so much spacing between each line of text. It appears to be double space, but I could be wrong. How do I change that?

Swipe the text, right click it and select Paragraph, change spacing to 0 points before and after, and make sure Single line spacing is selected. The "At:" box is usually blank.

Also, I want to text on each end of the same line. The simplest way to do this is to insert a table with 2 columns and 1 row. This way I can have text in two boxes and then indent them to left and right. Then I can make the borders invisible. The problem with this method is that it doesn't create any spaces below the box. So you have text that literally touches the border area. Which looks kind of bad. Is there another way to do this or at least provide some spaces?

I'm not sure I follow completely, but you can make space between cells in a table by making each row taller, then selecting the row (or multiple rows) and setting the cell alignment (right click, Cell Alignment) to be centered vertically.

 

[Leros]

Like Binky said, the default is to add spacing after a paragraph. Remove that setting.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I'm presuming you have Word 2007.

Line height defaults to 1.15, not double. To change line height open the paragraph settings dialog box by going to the Paragraph segment of the Home tab and clicking the tiny 'icon' in the lower right corner. You can then change the Line Spacing setting to 'Single' rather than 'Multiple':1.15 .

To change the table margin you'll have to go to 'Table Properties'. I usually call it up by clicking within the table, and then right-clicking the little grip icon that pops up in the top left corner. I think 'Table Properties' is the last option in the context menu that pops up when you right-click it. Can't tell you where to go from there because I don't have Word 2007 in front of me right now.

 

[lsquare]

Swipe the text, right click it and select Paragraph, change spacing to 0 points before and after, and make sure Single line spacing is selected. The "At:" box is usually blank.

Thx, that did the trick.

I'm not sure I follow completely, but you can make space between cells in a table by making each row taller, then selecting the row (or multiple rows) and setting the cell alignment (right click, Cell Alignment) to be centered vertically.

Ok, let's put it like this. I insert a table with 2 columns and 1 row. Once I finished adding text to the table, I'll want to add text outside of the table. So I press "enter", which will now put the cursor just below the table. I add text, but there is literally no spacing between the next line of text and the table border. It doesn't look very natural. How do I add some spaces in between the table border and the next line of text?

 

[lsquare]

I'm presuming you have Word 2007.

Indeed.

To change the table margin you'll have to go to 'Table Properties'. I usually call it up by clicking within the table, and then right-clicking the little grip icon that pops up in the top left corner. I think 'Table Properties' is the last option in the context menu that pops up when you right-click it. Can't tell you where to go from there because I don't have Word 2007 in front of me right now.

I can't figure out how to do it base on the instructions that you have provided.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I can't figure out how to do it base on the instructions that you have provided.

Select the last row of the table, right-click on that row and choose Table Properties. Choose the Cell tab and click on the Options button. Uncheck the "Same as whole table" checkbox, set the bottom cell margin to something like 0.06", and click on OK.

 

[lsquare]

Select the last row of the table, right-click on that row and choose Table Properties. Choose the Cell tab and click on the Options button. Uncheck the "Same as whole table" checkbox, set the bottom cell margin to something like 0.06", and click on OK.

That doesn't do the trick. It just made the cell bigger and doesn't separate the table border from the text on the next line. This wouldn't be an issue if I make the borders of the table invisible.

 

[Binky]

Try two options and see what works for you:

Center the cell text (like I posted above) by selecting the cells, and setting the Cell Alignment to be centered horizontally and/or vertically.

Select all of the cells and Format the Paragraph. Add an Indent from the Left to push the text a bit out to the right.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

That doesn't do the trick. It just made the cell bigger and doesn't separate the table border from the text on the next line. This wouldn't be an issue if I make the borders of the table invisible.

Sorry about that. When I read your OP I read it as the borders were going to be invisible, but it seems you meant only the inside borders.

To do it another way, select the table then right-click/Table Properties. On the Table tab under "Text wrapping" click on "Around" then click the "Positioning" button. In "Distance from surrounding text" specify the distance you want under "Bottom." That should do the trick for you.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Sorry about that. When I read your OP I read it as the borders were going to be invisible, but it seems you meant only the inside borders.

To do it another way, select the table then right-click/Table Properties. On the Table tab under "Text wrapping" click on "Around" then click the "Positioning" button. In "Distance from surrounding text" specify the distance you want under "Bottom." That should do the trick for you.

What he said.
Basically you just pull up the Table Properties dialog and poke around till you find the setting. You know it's got to be in there somewhere. Doesn't take a lot of hand-holding to figure out.