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Subject:Character styles in Word (was:The Old Argument) From:Jean Weber <jean -at- wrevenge -dot- com -dot- au> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 22 Jan 2000 13:20:07 +1000
Melanie,
You're right, Word's online help doesn't mention "character styles," though
I think they are discussed somewhere in the help on styles. So, here's the
secret.
In Word97, to define or change character styles, choose Format > Style. In
the Style dialog box, look in the list of defined styles on the left. Most
of the styles have a little paragraph symbol in front of them. Some have a
little underlined a. (If you don't see any of those, choose "All Styles"
from the drop-down list below the style list.) The style preceded by the
underlined a are character styles. Examples are hyperlink, page number,
footnote reference, strong, and emphasis.
You can change any of these by selecting it and clicking Modify, then
continuing as you would for modifying a paragraph style (except that some
of the options aren't available). (If anyone's every wondered how to change
the look of hyperlinks in their Word documents, that's where you do it.)
You can define a new character style in much the same way you define a new
paragraph style. In the Style dialog box, click New. In the New Style
dialog box, on the top right-hand side is a drop-down list that defaults to
Paragraph. Select Character, then continue as usual. (Name the style in the
box on the top left-hand side.)
Hmmm.... methinks I should add this to the next edition of my "Electronic
Editing" book.
Regards, Jean
Jean Hollis Weber mailto:jean -at- wrevenge -dot- com -dot- au
The Technical Editors' Eyrie http://www.wrevenge.com.au/
Avalook at Australia Travel site: http://www.avalook.com.au/
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Melanie Shook wrote:
>>Frame lets you assign a character style within a paragraph style.
Win Day responded,
>So does Word. I use this feature regularly, for the reasons you mention.
Melanie then asked,
>Win, if this works, please explain it. In Word, you can change the
>formatting of highlighted text, but as far as I know, it's not a "character
>format." That is to say, in Frame you can name this format "DefinedTerm"
>and then easily change the properties of all text to which the "DefinedTerm"
>character tag has been applied. <snip>
>If Word has this feature, I would love to be able to use it - I
>couldn't find anything in the help, other than changing the format of
>highlighted text.
