Chapter Two (PageMaker) - Character Formatting - I

Character Formatting:

Using the Text tool, you can insert new text, delete unwanted characters and cut and paste. You can also change fonts, adjust type sizes and add type styles such as boldface and italics.

Moving the Cursor:

To position the I-beam, move it to where you want to begin entering text and click the left mouse button. (For details Click Moving the Cursor in PageMaker). 

Selecting Text:

After you have entered text with the text tool, many of the changes you might make to it, such as formatting and rearranging, require that you first, select the text to be affected. PageMaker offers several ways to select text while you are using the text tool:

1.Click and drag across the text.

2. Click at the beginning of the text, place the I-beam at the end of the text, and press Shift as you click.

3. Place the I-beam on a word and double click to select the word.

4. Place the I-beam on a paragraph and triple-click to select the entire paragraph.

5. Hold down the Shift key as you press the arrow key. The Shift key will also extend the selection of any of the key combination.

Once you have selected a text, do not type anything. If you do, you will replace the selected text with whatever you type.

Formating Character:

The three primary qualities you can assign to characters are font, size and type style. The following sections define these formatting options.

Using Fonts:

PageMaker defines the word font as a specific typeface, such as Helvetica, Time Roman, and Courier. It does not refer to a character’s size or style (bold, italic, etc.).

Choose a font that matches the tone and style of your document as well as the age and sophistication of your audience. An advertisement for financial planner should use conservative, formal typeface, while a party invitation could use something more fun and casual.

The spacing of a particular font is either proportional or fixed. In a fixed-space font, each character is assigned the same amount of space, regardless of how thin or fat the character is. In a proportional font, the space of each character occupies depends on the size of the character. For example, a lowercase i or t takes up much less space than an uppercase M or W. Proportion fonts are used most often in professional publications. If the type face has Courier or Mono in its name, you can assume it is a fixed-space font.

To see which fonts you have, display the Type menu and choose font. The submenu lists the fonts available on your target printer. The one that has a check mark is the currently selected font. If you have more fonts than can fit on a single list, click More at the top of the list.