MS Word 2003 Useful Tips Guide - ISS - University of Leeds

Information Systems Services 

Word 2003 

Useful Tips


Useful Tips 

Information Systems Services Page 2 of 24 

IISS Training Unit Version 2.0 Word 2003 Useful Tips_NVIv2



Contents 

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 5 

Properties................................................................................................................................................ 5 

The Document Map ................................................................................................................................ 5 

The Reading Layout View....................................................................................................................... 6 

To switch off the Reading Layout View................................................................................................... 6 

Formatting Documents............................................................................................................................ 7 

Setting Tab Stops ................................................................................................................................... 7 

Deleting Tab Stops ................................................................................................................................. 7 

Text and Lines ........................................................................................................................................ 8 

Graphics.................................................................................................................................................. 8 

Creating Form Letters (Mail Merge)........................................................................................................ 9 

Creating Labels....................................................................................................................................... 9 

Autotext................................................................................................................................................. 10 

Lists....................................................................................................................................................... 11 

Changing the way Word works ............................................................................................................. 12 

Bullets and Numbering.......................................................................................................................... 13 

Creating bulleted and numbered lists as you type ................................................................................13 

Converting text into bullets or numbering ............................................................................................. 13 

Modifying formats for bullets or numbering........................................................................................... 13 

Using a symbol or a picture bullet......................................................................................................... 14 

Customising Numbered/List Styles ....................................................................................................... 15 

Adjusting tab settings............................................................................................................................ 16 

Adding a prefix ...................................................................................................................................... 18 

Adding your List Style to the Template folder. ...................................................................................... 20 

Styles and Formatting ........................................................................................................................... 21 

Creating a new style ............................................................................................................................. 21 

Applying your style................................................................................................................................ 22 

Modifying/Deleting a style ..................................................................................................................... 23 

Adding your style to the Template ........................................................................................................ 23 









Introduction 

This document outlines some useful tips to help you save time when working with Word. . 

Properties 

Properties from File menu allows you to view information on size, creation etc, it also allows you to add 

summary information. 

The Document Map 

The Document Map is a separate pane that displays a list of headings in the document. Use the 

Document Map to quickly navigate through the document and keep track of your location in it. 

Click Document Map from View menu to view a documents organisation. Click headings in the left 

hand pane to jump to different sections in the document without using the scrollbar, etc. 





The Reading Layout View 

If you are opening a document primarily to read it, using the Reading Layout view optimizes the reading 

experience. Reading layout view hides all toolbars except for the Reading Layout and Reviewing 

toolbars. 

You switch to reading layout view by clicking the Read button on the Standard toolbar or 

by pressing ALT+R in any view in Word. 

The purpose of Reading Layout view is to increase legibility. You can easily increase or decrease the 

size of the text by using the increase and decrease buttons. 

Pages represented in Reading Layout view are designed to fit well on your screen; they do not 

represent the pages you would see if you were to print the document. If you want to view the document 

as it would appear on the printed page, without switching to print layout view click Actual Page on 

the Reading Layout toolbar. 

When you want to stop reading the document, you can switch from Reading Layout view by 

clicking the Close button on the Reading Layout toolbar or by pressing ESC or ALT+C. 

If you want to modify the document, simply edit text as you read, without switching out of reading layout 

view. 

To switch off the Reading Layout View 

To switch off the Reading Layout view, simply choose Print Layout or Normal View from View Menu 

or click Close on the Reading Layout toolbar. 

To prevent Reading Layout view from opening 

automatically, click Options from Tools menu. Next 

click the General tab, and then clear the Allow starting 

in Reading Layout check box. 





To select an entire document, press CTRL + A. 

To close all open Word documents, press SHIFT, and then from File Menu, click Close All. 

Formatting Documents 

To change the margins, column settings, headers and footers, page numbers, etc for part of a document, 

first create Section Breaks. Choose one of the options listed, e.g. Continuous for starting a new 

section without inserting a page break. 

NB: Press F1 when inserting a section break to give you an explanation of the different types of 

breaks. 

Setting Tab Stops 

Tab stops are located on the horizontal ruler; they enable you to line up text to the left, right, centre, or to 

a decimal character or bar character. 

Click Left Tab at the far left of the horizontal ruler that is displayed across the top of the document 

window 

until it changes to the type of tab you want: Left Tab , Right Tab , Center Tab , Decimal Tab 

, or Bar Tab . 

Click the horizontal ruler where you want to set a tab. 

Deleting Tab Stops 

To delete a tab stop simply drag it off the ruler. 





Text and Lines 

To return to the location of the last edit, press SHIFT + F5. 

To edit in Print Preview (which is accessed by clicking the Print Preview button on the toolbar), click 

the Magnifier on the Print Preview toolbar. 

To insert symbols and other special characters, click Symbol from Insert menu. 

To create a line, hold down the hyphen key, type in at least 5 hyphens and then press ENTER. 

To create a thicker line, hold down the SHIFT key, type in at least 5 underlines and then press ENTER. 

Graphics 

To use a button on the Drawing Toolbar multiple times, double click the button. 

To restore an imported graphic to its original size, press CTRL and then double click the graphic. 

To resize a graphic, click on the black markers and drag out to the required size. 

To wrap text around a graphic, click the graphic and then click Text Wrapping on the Picture toolbar. 

Choose one of the options available. 





Creating Form Letters (Mail Merge) 

Click Letters and Mailings from Tools menu and then Mail Merge Wizard. Follow the step by step 

instructions to create your letters. 

To preview the form letters. Click the View Merged Data button on the Mail Merge toolbar. 

Creating Labels 

To make a sheet of identical labels, click Letters and Mailings from Tools menu. Click Envelopes and 

Labels and then click the Labels tab. Choose Full page of the same Label. 

Type the address in the Address window. 

Click the Options button to choose the Labels 

size. 





Autotext 

The AutoText feature lets you specify a short name for a body of text or graphics and lets you insert this 

automatically into a document by just typing the short name. 

Select or type some text/paragraph. 

Press ALT + F3 to open the Create AutoText window or from Insert menu select AutoText and then 

click AutoText. 

Type a name (at least four characters) for the piece 

of text/paragraph and click Add and then OK. 

To use this AutoText entry, simply type the short name. The AutoText entry will appear. Press TAB or 

ENTER to accept it. 





Lists 

Word can sort a list of names in an alphabetical order by using the Sort Text 

command. 

Type a list of names, pressing ENTER after each name. 

Select the entire list. 

From Table menu, click Sort. 

Click Options and then Other. In the check box press the SPACEBAR and then click OK. 

In the Sort by list, click Word 1 and then OK. 

The list will be sorted alphabetically. 





Changing the way Word works 

Are you unhappy about the way Word sometimes works? Options to 

will help you adjust certain features. Click on the tabs to modify any 

settings. 





Bullets and Numbering 

Microsoft Word can automatically create bulleted and numbered lists as you type, or you can quickly add 

bullets or numbers to existing lines of text. This section shows you how to change the alignment and tab 

setting of text and also how to add a prefix to the numbering format. Finally it shows you how to add this 

style to the Template folder. 

Creating bulleted and numbered lists as you type 

Type 1. to start a numbered list or * (asterisk) to start a bulleted list, and then press SPACEBAR or TAB. 

Type any text you want. 

Press ENTER to add the next list item. 

Word automatically inserts the next number or converts the asterisk to a bullet. 

To finish the list, press ENTER twice, or press BACKSPACE to delete the last bullet or number in the 

list. 

Converting text into bullets or numbering 

Select the items you want to convert to bullets or numbering. 

Next on the Formatting toolbar, click Bullets or Numbering . 

Tip: You can select different bullet styles and numbering formats by clicking Bullets and Numbering on 

the Format menu and then choosing a new style. 

Modifying formats for bullets or numbering 

Select the list that has the bullet or number format you want to change. 

From Format menu, click Bullets and Numbering, and then click the tab for the type of list you want to 

modify. 

Click the list format you want. 





Using a symbol or a picture bullet 

Select the list that has the bullet format you want to change. 

On the Format menu, click Bullets and Numbering, and then click the Bulleted tab. 

Click the list format you want to modify, or the style that is closest to the format you want. 

Click Customize. 

Decide whether to use a different symbol or a picture for bullets: 

Click Character to change the symbol. 

Click Picture to select a picture. 

Select the symbol or picture you want. 

Select any other options you want. 





Customising Numbered/List Styles 

From Format menu choose Bullets & Numbering. 

Click the List Styles tab and choose the second option. Click the Add button. 





Under Name, give the New Style a name, e.g. ISS. 

Set formatting, e.g. font, colour etc to the 1 st level. 

Adjusting tab settings 

Next click the arrow on the Format button and select Numbering. 

Click the Customize button. 





The Number position section, allows you to set the alignment for each level. E.g. for Level 1, it has 

been set to 0cm, 

therefore aligning text against the left hand margin in a document. 

The Text position allows you to set tabs and indentation, e.g. 1 cm away from the numbering. 





Repeat these steps to the 2 nd level and so on. 

Adding a prefix 

To add a prefix, return to the Customize window (Format/Numbering/Customize). 

Choose a Level e.g. Level 1. 

In the Number format section click just before the number 1. 

Ensuring that the Insert button has been pressed on your keyboard, type a prefix e.g. Activity. 

Tip: the word OVR should be greyed out (inactive) on your status bar thus allowing you to insert 

text. 





The prefix will now appear in the Preview section. 

Repeat these steps for other levels. 

Notice the alignment and tab positions. Adjust appropriately. 





Your List Style is now listed. 

Adding your List Style to the Template folder. 

Once you have set up your List Style, you can add it to the Template folder so that is available for use 

in other documents. 

Click on the Modify button. 

Select the Add to template option in the Modify Style 

window. 

To test your new style, open a new document and select 

Bullets and Numbering. 

In the List Style section, your customised style is listed for 

use. 





Styles and Formatting 

A style is a tool that helps you format a document. Instead of applying each thing individually, you apply 

the style once and you're done. The style is there for you to use again and again. 

Character styles 

To view some pre-existing styles click the Styles and Formatting 

button on the Toolbar. From the drop down list, simply select one 

of the styles and this will be applied to your text/paragraph. 

These are applied to blocks of words and letters rather than to paragraphs. 

Paragraph styles 

Paragraph styles includes font type, size, text positioning and spacing. A paragraph style can be applied 

to one or more paragraphs. 

Creating a new style 

You can also create your own style. 

From the Styles and Formatting pane click New Style. 





Give the New Style a name, e.g. MyStyle 

In the Style type box, click Paragraph/ 

Character, to specify the kind of style you are 

creating. 

Next customise the font, size, colour etc. 

Click OK. 

Yours new style will appear in the list. 

Applying your style 

Select the text or click within the paragraph you want the style to apply to. 

Click the style you want in the Styles and Formatting task pane. 

The style is applied. 

When you apply a style, all the formatting of that style is applied at once. 





Modifying/Deleting a style 

Styles can be modified/deleted from the Styles and Formatting pane. 

Click on the arrow against your style. 

Click Modify or Delete your style. 

NB: If you are modifying a style, this will automatically update any text/paragraph that has used 

that style. 

Adding your style to the Template 

To make your style available in every new or existing document, select the Add to Template option in 

the Modify Style window. 

Next time you open a new or existing document, your style will be available in the Styles and 

Formatting pane. 





Author Training Team 

Information Systems Services 

University of Leeds 

Date February 2007 

Description This booklet contains useful tips for using Word. 

Copyright This document is copyright University of Leeds. Material may be used for bona fide 

academic purposed. For further information please contact the Information Officer in the 

Information System Services. (email itistraining@leeds.ac.uk)

MS Word 2003 Useful Tips Guide - ISS - University of Leeds

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?