ICT 0417 - Topic 14: Styles

This section explains how to use styles in word processing software to maintain a consistent and professional presentation. Styles allow you to define formatting characteristics (like font, size, color, spacing) and apply them to text, ensuring uniformity throughout a document. This is crucial for reports, essays, and any document requiring a consistent look.

What are Styles?

Styles are pre-defined sets of formatting instructions. Instead of manually formatting each element of text, you apply a style, and the formatting is automatically applied. This saves time and ensures consistency.

Types of Styles

Most word processing programs offer various styles. Common examples include:

• Heading 1: Used for main section headings.
• Heading 2: Used for sub-headings.
• Normal Text: The default style for body text.
• Quote: Used for displaying quotations.
• List Styles: Styles for numbered and bulleted lists.

Creating New Styles

You can create your own styles to match specific requirements. The process typically involves:

1. Select the text you want to format.
2. Access the "Styles" pane (usually found in the formatting toolbar).
3. Click "New Style" or a similar option.
4. Define the formatting characteristics (font, size, color, spacing, etc.).
5. Give the style a descriptive name.

Modifying Existing Styles

You can modify existing styles to customize their appearance. This is done through the Styles pane. Select the style you want to modify and then change the formatting properties.

Updating Styles

Updating a style applies the latest formatting changes to all text that uses that style. This is a quick way to make document-wide formatting changes.

Applying Styles

To apply a style to text:

1. Select the text.
2. In the Styles pane, click on the desired style.

Example Table demonstrating Style Application

Style Name	Description
Heading 1	Main section heading - larger font, bold.
Heading 2	Sub-heading - slightly smaller font, bold.
Normal Text	Standard body text - regular font and size.
Quote	Displayed with indentation and italic font.

By consistently using styles, you can create well-structured and visually appealing documents. This also makes it easier to navigate and update the document later.