5.1.3: Setting Paragraph Alignment and Hyphenation
- Page ID
- 66486
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Setting Paragraph Alignment and Hyphenation
Paragraph alignment determines how the edges of each paragraph aligns with the left and right margins. Alignment settings apply to all text within a paragraph. Remember that a paragraph is created each time the user presses the Enter key. To display the hidden characters, including paragraph marks, press the 
symbol in the Paragraph group of the Home tab. Press the button again to hide the formatting marks.
- Left-aligned text is the default paragraph format. The left edge of the paragraph is flush, and the right edge is jagged. This option is typical for letters and reports.
- Centered text is equally distant from the left and right margins. Common uses are titles and headings.
- Right-aligned text is flush with the right edge, and the left edge is jagged. Typical uses are dates or headers and footers.
- Justified-aligned text spreads the text evenly between the left and right margins, leaving both edges flush, unless the final line has limited characters. This option is common for newspaper columns and textbooks.
Hyphenation can improve the overall readability of certain documents. Hyphenation is the process of adding hyphens to words at the beginning of lines so the hyphenated part will fit at the end of the previous line. The hyphens are inserted between syllables in a word. Word can automatically hyphenate your document for you, or you can use the hyphenation tool to manually hyphenate your document.
Users can customize their hyphenation settings via the Hyphenation Options dialog window. Use caution when manually inserting hyphens, because the hyphen will always remain even if editing moves the word to the middle of a line, and results in the word no longer needing hyphenating.
Indenting Paragraphs
Indenting a paragraph results in moving the editable insertion point from the left or right margins. Users can indent the left or right edge of a paragraph, just the first line, or all lines except the first line. Paragraphs are indented relative to the page’s margins, and indenting a paragraph doesn’t affect the paragraph’s alignment. The default indents are 0 inches, meaning that lines of text extend from the left margin to the right margin. Indenting paragraphs can be performed by pressing the Decrease Indent or Increase Indent buttons on the Paragraph tab of the Home tab. Alternatively, to make precise changes to the Left and/or Right Indents or Paragraph Before/After Spacing, utilize the Paragraph group of the Layout tab. Indents are measured in inches and Spacing is measured in point, much like font sizes.
A semi-block letter style requires the first line of each paragraph to be indented from the left margin, which is known as a first-line indent. Precise indent definitions can be specified in the Paragraph dialog window which can be opened by clicking the Launcher button in the Paragraph group. Alternatively, indents can also be set by dragging the markers on the ruler:
A first-line indent requires the user to drag the marker on the ruler to the position where the first line of the paragraph should begin. Typically, this is the .5” mark, which can also be accomplished by pressing the Tab key to indent the first line to the default .5” tab stop. A hanging indent occurs when the subsequent lines of a paragraph are indented more than the first. Hanging indents are often used when manually creating citations in a bibliography. To create a hanging indent, drag the marker on the ruler to the right. When citing long quotations in a research paper, users typically use both a left and right indent to offset the quotation, as shown below.
Setting Tabs and Tab Stops
Tabs allow users to align text vertically at a specific location in a document. A tab stop is a point on the horizontal ruler that indicates the location at which to align text. A tab stop is a location where the insertion point will stop when the user presses the 
key. Tab stops can be used to help align text to create columns of data. Custom defined tab stops are displayed on the ruler above the document. A set of default tab stops are located every half inch, but they do not appear on the ruler. When a new tab stop is defined, Word automatically removes the default tab stops to the left. Using tabs, users can align text to the left, right, or center of a tab stop, or text can be aligned at a decimal point. Word stores paragraph formatting, such as tab stops, in the paragraph marks at the end of a paragraph. Therefore, when the user pressing the ENTER key, tab stops are copied to the next paragraph. The same tab stops can then be used in sequential paragraphs to create columns of text. Tabs can be set by clicking on the horizontal ruler, or by using the Tabs dialog window. The following icons represent different tab stops on the horizontal ruler:
Each type of tab stop is used in the example shown below. Note the markers on the ruler:
The default tab stop is Left, but tab stops can easily be switched by multi-clicking the tab selector 
on the horizontal ruler. Existing tab stops on the ruler can be dragged to a new position if needed. To remove a tab stop, drag the tab stop off the ruler and release the mouse. The text will realign itself to the existing tab stops. Once the tab stops are in set, newly inserted text will align to the stops when the tab key is pressed. Alternatively, some users prefer to enter text with tabs, but without tab stops, and then apply the tab stops to the existing text.
The Tabs dialog window is useful for adding new, and editing existing tab stops.
The window can be opened by double-clicking an existing tab stop or by clicking the Tabs… button in the Paragraph Dialog window, which is opened from the Paragraph Launcher button. The Tabs window is useful for precise position definitions, and it is the only option for adding Leaders to tab stops. A tab leader is a character that is repeated to fill the space spanned by a tab. The dotted leader is very commonly used on menus to make it easier to associate the menu description with its correlating price. The Tabs window is also a convenient way to clear one or all tab stops in a document.