Word 2007: Line and Paragraph Spacing

Lesson 14: Line and Paragraph Spacing

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Introduction

SpacingAn important part of creating effective documents lies in the document design. As part of designing the document and making formatting decisions, you will need to know how to modify the spacing. In this lesson, you will learn how to modify line and paragraph spacing in various ways.

Modifying spacing

To format line spacing:

  • Select the text you want to format.
  • Click the Line spacing command in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.
  • Select a spacing option.
Spacing


OR

  • Select Line Spacing Options. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
Paragraph Dialog Box
  • Use the Line spacing drop-down menu to select a spacing option.
  • Modify the before and after points to adjust line spacing as needed.
  • Click OK.

Paragraph spacing

Just as you can format spacing between lines in your document, you can choose spacing options between each paragraph. Typically, extra spaces are added between paragraphs, headings, or subheadings. Extra spacing between paragraphs adds emphasis and makes a document easier to read.

To format paragraph spacing:

  • Click the Line spacing command on the Home tab.
  • Select Add Space Before Paragraph or Remove Space After Paragraph from the menu. If you don't see the option you want, click Line Spacing Options to manually set the spacing (see below).

Paragraph Spacing

OR

  • Select Line Spacing Options. The Paragraph dialog box appears.
  • Change the Before and After points in the Paragraph section.
Before and After Paragraph Spacing Options
  • Click OK.

Line spacing is measured in lines or points, which is referred to as leading. When you reduce the leading, you automatically bring the lines of text closer together. Increasing the leading will space the lines out, allowing for improved readability.

Challenge!

Use the resume or any Word template you choose to complete this challenge.

  • Change the line spacing of a list.
  • Change the line spacing of a paragraph of text.
  • Change the paragraph spacing between body text and a heading.

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