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As stated in the introduction to this section, there are two levels of formatting
in the word processing environment: paragraph and character.
Paragraph formatting is concerned with the appearance and placement of paragraphs in
a document. It applies properties to an entire paragraph regardless of how
many words or characters you select.
This topic explains how to set paragraph formatting properties. Some paragraph
formatting options are available from tools on the PartBar. Where appropriate, those
tools are noted in this section.
You can use the ruler in the word processing PartBar to change the indents and tab
stops in a paragraph.

To Set the Paragraph Indent Using the Ruler
Select the paragraph(s) you want to indent. You do not need to select the entire
paragraph; indentation affects all lines in a paragraph.
- Drag the Left Margin Marker to the indent you want. All selected
paragraphs left align to the marker. Dragging the left margin marker also drags the
first line marker. To move the left margin indent without also moving the first line
indent, hold down the
key or the [OPTION] key.
- Drag the First Line Marker to indent only the first line of the
paragraph(s). The left margin indent is not affected.
- Drag the Right Margin Marker to the indent you want. All selected
paragraphs right align to the marker.
- You can also set tab stops using the ruler. For more information see the topic Tabs.
- Type the paragraph you want to format. You do not need to type the entire
paragraph. Since paragraph formatting applies to all text in a paragraph, you can
enter a few words for the paragraph, format it, and then continue typing the rest of the
paragraph. The program will continue to use the paragraph formatting you established
until you change it or click elsewhere in the document where the paragraph formatting is
different.
- Select Paragraph... from the Format menu. The
Paragraph Format dialog box is displayed.

- Enter the Left Indent for the paragraph. This is the distance,
from the left margin, that the paragraph is indented. Use the tool to the right of
the field to select the unit of measurement for the Left Indent value. (See
diagram below for an example.)
- Enter the First Line indent for the paragraph. This is the
distance, from the left margin, that the first line of the paragraph is indented.
Use the tool to the right of the field to select the unit of measurement for the First
Line value. (See diagram below for an example.)
- Enter the Right Indent for the paragraph. This is the distance,
from the right margin, that the paragraph is indented. Use the tool to the right of
the field to select the unit of measurement for the Right Indent value. (See
diagram below for an example.)

- Enter the Line Spacing for the paragraph. This is the distance
between the lines in the paragraph. Use the tool to the right of the field to select
the unit of measurement for the Line Spacing value. (See diagram below
for an example.)
- This option can also be set using the line spacing tool on the PartBar
. Click the left button to decrease the line spacing, click the right
button to increase the line spacing.
- Enter the Space Before for the paragraph. This field sets how far
the formatted paragraph is set apart from the paragraph before it. The Space
Before value for a paragraph and the Space After value for the paragraph
immediately prior to the paragraph complement each other. Use the tool to the right
of the field to select the unit of measurement for the Space Before value. (See
diagram below for an example.)
- Enter the Space After for the paragraph. This field sets how far
the formatted paragraph is from the paragraph after it. The Space After
value for a paragraph and the Space Before value for the immediately following
paragraph complement each other. Use the tool to the right of the field to select
the unit of measurement for the Space After value. (See diagram
below for an example.)
- Use the Align tool to select the overall alignment of the paragraph.
- You can also set this property from the word processing PartBar. Use the alignment
buttons
to set the paragraph alignment for the currently selected paragraph.

Paragraph formatting properties.
- When finished selecting the formatting properties, click OK. If
you do not want to change the formatting properties, click Cancel.

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