CLASS IX

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

UNIT – 3

OFFICE TOOLS (Word Processor)

INTRODUCTION TO WORD PROCESSOR

Word Processing Packages are the set of programs written specifically for text manipulation. Word
processing mainly involves operations like creating, editing, viewing, searching and replacing,
formatting, saving, and printing text.

Today, there are different word processors available like Microsoft Word, Openoffice.org Writer,
etc. Basic functions in all remain more or less similar and do not require advanced computer or
typing skills for use. However, a complete word processor is that which lets us work with text and
other features, for example, pictures, tables, artistic texts, to create interesting and meaningful
pages.

We will take MS Word as a sample Word Processing Tool.

STARTING THE WORD PROCESSOR

The process to start Word application depends on your Windows version. Most of the time, we
will be able to start the word processor of our choice from the Program option under the Windows
Start menu.

For example, to start Microsoft Word,

Step 1 − Click the Start button.

Step 2 − Click the All Programs option from the menu.

Step 3 − Search for Microsoft Office from the submenu and click it.

Step 4 − Search for Microsoft Word from the submenu and click it.

This will launch the Microsoft Word application.

1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar.

A pop-up menu appears.

2. Select the program you want to start.

• Click the tile that represents the program you want to run, such as Microsoft Word.
• Click All apps to view a list of all programs installed on your computer.

3. Click the Office program you want to run, such as Microsoft Word.

Your chosen program appears on the screen. At this point, you can open an existing file.

Step 1: From the desktop or 'Start' menu, open Microsoft Word.

Step 2: Microsoft Word will open up automatically into a new document ready for you to start
typing.

Following is the basic window which you get when you start the Word application. Let us
understand the various important parts of this window.
Word files are called documents. Whenever you start a new project in Word, you'll need to create
a new document, which can either be blank or from a template.

To create a new blank document:

1. Select the File tab to access the Backstage view.

 2. Select New, then click the Blank document.

3. A new blank document will appear.

To open an existing document:

1. Navigate to Backstage view, then click Open.

 2. Select This PC, then click Browse.

3. The Open dialog box will appear. Locate and select your document, then click Open.

4. The selected document will appear.

When you create a new document in Word, you'll need to know how to save it so that you
can access and edit it later.

Save and Save As

• Save: When you create or edit a document, you'll use the Save command to save your
changes. When you save a file, you'll only need to choose a file name and location the first
time. After that, you can click the Save command to save it with the same name and
location.

• Save As: You'll use this command to create a copy of a document while keeping the
original. When you use Save As, you'll need to choose a different name and/or location for
the copied version.

To save a document:

It's important to save your document whenever you start a new project or make changes to an
existing one. Saving early and often can prevent your work from being lost.

1. Locate and select the Save command on the Quick Access Toolbar.
 2. If you're saving the file for the first time, the Save As pane will appear in the
Backstage view.

3. You'll then need to choose where to save the file and give it a file name. Click Browse to
select a location on your computer.

4. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location where you want to save the
document.

5. Enter a file name for the document, then click Save.

6. The document will be saved. You can click the Save command again to save your changes
as you modify the document.

You can also access the Save command by pressing Ctrl+S on your keyboard.

Using Save As to make a copy

If you want to save a different version of a document while keeping the original, you can create
a copy.

To do this, you'll click the Save As command in the Backstage view. Just like when saving a file
for the first time, you'll need to choose where to save the file and give it a new file name.
Formatted text can draw the reader's attention to specific parts of a document and emphasize
important information.

To use the Bold, Italic, and Underline commands:

The Bold, Italic, and Underline commands can be used to help draw attention to important words
or phrases.

1. Select the text you want to modify.

2. On the Home tab, click the Bold (B), Italic (I), or Underline (U) command in
the Font group.

3. The selected text will be modified in the document.

To make text bold, press Ctrl+B or click the Bold command button.

Use bold to make text stand out on a page — for titles and captions.
To make text italic, press Ctrl+I or click the Italic command button.

Italic has replaced underlining as the preferred text-emphasis format.

Underline text by pressing Ctrl+U or clicking the Underline command button. You can click the
down arrow next to the Underline command button to choose from a variety of underline styles
or set an underline color.

To change the font size:

1. Select the text you want to modify.

2. On the Home tab, click the Font size drop-down arrow. Select a font size from the menu.
If the font size you need is not available in the menu, you can click the Font size box
and type the desired font size, then press Enter.
 3. The font size will change in the document.

You can also use the Grow Font and Shrink Font commands to change the font size.

To change the font:

By default, the font of each new document is set to Calibri. However, Word provides many other
fonts you can use to customize text.

1. Select the text you want to modify.

 2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow next to the Font box. A menu of font styles
will appear.

3. Select the font style you want to use.

4. The font will change in the document.

To change the font color:

1. Select the text you want to modify.

2. On the Home tab, click the Font Color drop-down arrow. The Font Color menu appears.

3. Select the font color you want to use. The font color will change in the document.
Your color choices aren't limited to the drop-down menu that appears. Select More Colors at the
bottom of the menu to access the Colors dialog box. Choose the color you want, then click OK.

To change text alignment:

Most word processing programs give you the capability to change the text alignment of a block of
text. This setting determines how the text is displayed horizontally on the page. The four primary
types of text alignment include Align-left, Align-right, center, and justify. By default, Word aligns
text to the left margin in new documents. However, there may be times when you want to adjust
text alignment to the center or right or justified.

1. Select the text you want to modify.

2. On the Home tab, select one of the four alignment options from the Paragraph group.

3. The text will be realigned in the document.

As you design your document and make formatting decisions, you will need to
consider line and paragraph spacing. You can increase spacing to improve readability
and reduce it to fit more text on the page.

Line spacing

Line spacing is the space between each line in a paragraph.

To format line spacing:

1. Select the text you want to format.

2. On the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing command, then select the
desired line spacing.
 3. The line spacing will change in the document.

Paragraph spacing

Just as you can format spacing between lines in your document, you can adjust the spacing before
and after paragraphs. This is useful for separating paragraphs, headings, and subheadings.

To format paragraph spacing:

1. Select the paragraph or paragraphs you want to format.

2. On the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing command. Click Add Space
Before Paragraph or Remove Space After Paragraph from the drop-down menu.

3. The paragraph spacing will change in the document.

From the drop-down menu, you can also select Line Spacing Options to open the Paragraph
dialog box. From here, you can control how much space there is before and after the paragraph.

Add Headers and Footers

The header is a section of the document that appears in the top margin, while the footer is a
section of the document that appears in the bottom margin. Headers and footers generally contain
additional information such as page numbers, dates, an author's name, and footnotes, which
can help keep longer documents organized and make them easier to read. Text entered in the header
or footer will appear on each page of the document.

To create a header or footer:

1. Double-click anywhere on the top or bottom margin of your document.

2. The header or footer will open, and a Design tab will appear on the right side of the Ribbon.

The insertion point will appear in the header or footer.

3. Type the desired information into the header or footer.

4. When you're finished, click Close Header and Footer. You can also press the Esc key.

5. The header or footer text will appear.

Editing headers and footers

After you close the header or footer, it will still be visible, but it will be locked. Simply double-
click a header or footer to unlock it, which will allow you to edit it.
Numbering Pages

Page numbers can be used to automatically number each page in your document. They come in a
wide range of number formats and can be customized to suit your needs. Page numbers are usually
placed in the header, footer, or side margin.

To add page numbers:

1. On the Insert tab, click the Page Number command.

2. Open the Top of Page, Bottom of Page, or Page Margins menu, depending on where you
want the page number to be positioned, then select the desired style of header.
 3. Page numbering will appear.

4. Press the Esc key to lock the header and footer.

5. If you need to make any changes to your page numbers, simply double-click the header or
footer to unlock it.

To add page numbers to an existing header or footer:

1. Double-click anywhere on the header or footer to unlock it.

2. On the Design tab, click the Page Number command. In the menu that appears, hover the
mouse over Current Position and select the desired page numbering style.
3. Page numbering will appear.

4. When you're finished, press the Esc key.

Grammar and Spell Check Utilities

To run a Spelling and Grammar check:

1. From the Review tab, click the Spelling & Grammar command.

2. The Spelling and Grammar pane will appear on the right. For each error in your
document, Word will offer one or more suggestions. Click a suggestion to correct the
error.

3. Word will move through each error until you have reviewed all of them. After the last error
has been reviewed, a dialog box will appear confirming that the spelling and grammar
check is complete. Click OK.

If no suggestions are given, you can manually type the correct spelling in your document.
Ignoring "errors"

If Word says something is an error, you can choose not to change it. Depending on whether it's a
spelling or grammatical error, you can choose from several options.

For spelling "errors":

• Ignore Once: This will skip the word without changing it.

• Ignore All: This will skip the word without changing it, and it will also skip all other
instances of the word in the document.

• Add to Dictionary: This adds the word to the dictionary so it will never come up as an
error. Make sure the word is spelled correctly before choosing this option.

For grammar "errors":

• Ignore: This will skip the word or phrase without changing it.

For some grammatical errors, Word will explain why it thinks something is incorrect. This can
help you determine whether you want to change or ignore it.
Automatic spelling and grammar checking

By default, Word automatically checks your document for spelling and grammar errors, so you
may not even need to run a separate check. These errors are indicated by colored lines below the
text.

• The red line indicates a misspelled word.

• The blue line indicates a grammatical error, which can include misused words.

To correct spelling errors:

1. Right-click the underlined word, then select the correct spelling from the list of
suggestions.
 2. The corrected word will appear in the document.

You can also choose to Ignore All instances of an underlined word or add it to the dictionary.

To correct grammar errors:

1. Right-click the underlined word or phrase, then select the correct spelling or
phrase from the list of suggestions.

2. The corrected phrase will appear in the document.

Format text as superscript or subscript in Word

A superscript or subscript is a number, figure, symbol, or indicator that is smaller than the normal
line of type and is set slightly above it (superscript) or below it (subscript).

Use the Superscript or Subscript buttons

1. Select the text or number you want.

2. Go to Home and select Superscript or Subscript .

Example of Subscript and Superscript

Symbols

Sometimes you may find that you need to add a symbol to your text, such as the Copyright symbol
©. Word offers a collection of symbols for currency, languages, mathematics, and more.

To insert a symbol:

1. Place the insertion point in the location where you want to insert a symbol.

2. On the Insert tab.

 3. Click the Symbol drop-down arrow. A menu of symbols will appear.

4. Select the desired symbol.

5. The symbol will appear in your document.

If you don't see the symbol you're looking for, click More Symbols... to open the Symbol dialog
box. Locate and select the desired symbol, then click Insert.

Printing a Document

Once you've created your document, you may want to print it to view and share your work offline.
It's easy to preview and print a document in Word using the Print pane.

To access the Print pane:

1. Select the File tab. Backstage view will appear.

 2. Select Print. The Print pane will appear.

You can also access the Print pane by pressing Ctrl+P on your keyboard.
To print a document:

1. Navigate to the Print pane and select the desired printer.

2. Enter the number of copies you want to print.

3. Select any additional settings if needed.

4. Click Print.