Types of paragraphs in Word. Adjusting indents and spacing in MS Word

Creating a paragraph indent, for all its simplicity and prosaicness, often raises many questions. They relate to how to indent paragraphs, how to eliminate design errors, and what traditions need to be followed for different purposes.

Why do you need paragraph indentation?

A red line, or paragraph indentation, greatly facilitates the perception of text, as it visually separates one paragraph from another, structuring the printed page and emphasizing the logical composition of the text.

In paper publications, paragraphs are distinguished by the fact that the beginning of each of them is moved several characters either to the right (in regular texts) or to the left (in presentation texts, booklets, or if the design idea requires it).

On browser pages (in Internet texts), paragraphs do not contain indentations, but are separated from each other by an additional line (or increased spacing).

These two design options should not be confused. When laying out a paper publication, you should use paragraph indentations and do not separate fragments of text with increased spacing, and when preparing text for publication on the Internet, it is better to use an empty line or increased spacing - it is in this form that both paper and online text will be convenient for reading.

Create a red line using the Paragraph dialog box

Paragraph indentation in Word can be created in several ways.

Select the text (the “Select All” tool or Alt and A(F)) and call the “Paragraph” dialog box: the “Page Layout” tab, click on the dialog box call button (the small icon to the right of the word “Paragraph” - a triangle inscribed squared). In the window that appears, select the “Indents and Spacing” tab, find the “Indentation” option and in the “Indents” group set the “First Line” parameter. The Paragraph dialog box can also be accessed from the Home tab, Paragraph group.

Creating a red line using a ruler

Select the text and adjust the indentation using the slider on the ruler. There are two sliders on the right - upper and lower. The bottom one is for aligning regular lines, the top one is for aligning red lines. As you move the top slider, the paragraph indents will change.

Erroneous formatting using spaces

Editors and proofreaders of book publishing houses, as well as university teachers, very often have to deal with errors in the design of paragraph indents in manuscripts.

The most common of them is paragraph indents created using spaces. For some reason, many people prefer to align text, headings, and verses using spaces. Often there are even empty lines and text wrapping on next line using this sign. Of course, this makes the work of creating the text time-consuming and the text unruly. When formatting and layout, lines “go”, paragraph indents may turn out to be of unequal length, etc. Layout of such text is very problematic: first you need to get rid of numerous spaces. Regarding the registration of student qualification works, then, unfortunately, the use of spaces damages the student’s reputation, since he looks very “dense” and inept.

Inappropriate formatting using tabs

The second mistake is the inappropriate use of the Tab key. Not only does the text contain unnecessary characters that interfere with the final processing and preparation of the text for printing, they significantly complicate the work on creating the text, obliging the author to endlessly press the key. In addition, the design of paragraph indents using tabulation entails errors: firstly, according to statistics, the author regularly forgets to press a key when starting a new paragraph, and secondly, errors appear when the author decides to break an existing paragraph into two or more.

It is better to use tabulation only when formatting such fragments of text that differ from the main block: these can be poems, statements of rules, laws, conclusions, etc. It is quite advisable to format each such fragment using the paragraph indentation created by tabulation.

How to quickly fix errors

If paragraph indentations in the text are already incorrectly formatted, the text is full of unnecessary non-printable characters, they must be eliminated before preparing the text for printing. You can check your text for such errors using the “Show all characters” tool (Home tab, Paragraph group).

You can eliminate unnecessary characters using the Replace tool (Home tab, Editing group). In the “Find” field, enter two spaces, and in the “Replace” field, enter one space. Click the Replace All button. All double spaces will be replaced with single spaces. Click “Replace All” until the post-replacement report shows “Number of replacements made - 0.”

If the number of spaces before each first line was odd, then you will need to remove the single remaining space. In the "Find" field, insert a paragraph mark ("More" - "Special" - "Paragraph Mark") and a space, and in the "Replace" field - only a paragraph mark. The Replace All command will eliminate spaces after paragraphs.

In a similar way, you can remove tabs and many bizarre combinations of unnecessary characters (for example, sometimes, especially when working on a text for a long time and returning to it multiple times, spaces are duplicated by tabs).

After cleaning the file from such errors, you can correctly format paragraph indents.

To make a paragraph in text Word editor, you need to set the appropriate parameters in the paragraph tab, or set them on the top ruler of the document. To start a new paragraph, you just need to hold down the Enter key and the cursor will move to new line, which will begin with a paragraph.

There are two ways to create a paragraph in Word. Fast way Paragraph placement is the Enter key. Pressing it moves the cursor to a new line, immediately adding an indent. But sometimes you need to arrange paragraphs in an already written text and edit it. In this case, you need to select the text, go to the Paragraph menu and select all the necessary parameters there: the amount of indentation, the spacing between lines and indents between paragraphs. The same can be done using a horizontal ruler on a sheet of document, also by first selecting the text.

Of course, the most convenient method for making a paragraph (for me personally) is to press Enter key. But sometimes another option is required, for example, when the text has already been completely written. Then we have to adjust the paragraphs. To do this, go to Page Layout and click on the small arrow next to the word Paragraph, as in the figure:

And here you can already configure everything as convenient for you. At the end, click OK.

I always make a paragraph in Word by pressing the Enter key. As a rule, there is a more advanced way to create paragraphs))

To do this, select the typed text in Word and click on it right click mice. Next, in the drop-down menu, look for the word Paragraph and click on it.



You will see this small field in front of you:



Here you can manually enter in the Indent field numeric value in mm, which, after confirmation, will be applied to the selected text area.

While creating text document V Word program It is possible to first type the entire text and later break it into paragraphs when editing. Or set a paragraph immediately when typing. The paragraph is obtained by pressing the Enter key, the cursor at this moment should be to the left of the first word or character of the new paragraph. You can set and adjust the indentation sizes along the ruler using the sliders, as well as in the Format - Paragraph - First Line menu.

The easiest way to make a paragraph in Word is to use a ruler. Just make the indent you need using it.

If this ruler is not installed in Word, then you need to go to the menu on the tab - View, and then go to - Show or hide, and you need to check the tab called - Ruler.



If you need to set a paragraph ruler, then there are several sliders.



There is a second option for how you can set a paragraph. For this purpose, you should select just the desired text, and after that you need to select the paragraph tab. And there you just set its length and click on the OK button.



Actually, in Word, highlighting paragraphs in the text is not at all difficult - they are formed automatically, by pressing the Enter key, with the desired indentation set - but this is only the case when we are talking about only document being created. If you need to break up ready-made continuous text, you will need to use the Paragraph menu and set all the necessary settings there.



Make a paragraph in text editor Word, you can simply press the Enter key on your keyboard - and the line will move down one line. Or use a special ruler to set the indentation size for each new transition and paragraph. You can also go to the Paragraph menu and customize it for yourself or for specific needs.

In theory it is very simple - press the Enter key. In practice, everything is incomparably more complicated.

Paragraph mark that is not even visible unless you turn on display special characters, is the most important character in the document. Without exaggeration. The only clarification. Starting with version 2007, the internal format of Word files has been completely redesigned. The changes may also have affected the paragraph mark. I didn't go into these details. But for previous versions Worda in this hidden symbol- paragraph mark - all information on paragraph formatting was stored, that is, all those settings that can be accessed through Format -> Paragraph and not only these.

Therefore, it is fundamentally important that if you want to make a document that is easy to use, set all the parameters you need in the Format -> Paragraph dialog, and do not press the Enter key several times in a row. With this approach, you can create a document containing several hundred pages and complex formatting, and the document will open and flip through as if it were only one or two pages.

Well, on the other hand, if you create documents anyhow, then even a document of several dozen pages will barely open or even crash.

And the key role here is played by how you format your paragraphs.

In other words, if you have to create long documents, it makes sense to spend some time learning how to do it correctly.

Well, by the way (rhetorically), the majority of Word users use a maximum of 5% of the program’s capabilities, even the one that was 10 years ago, but everyone wants to use the latest version.

• Paragraph in Word.

  Do new paragraph in Word it is very simple, to do this you need to press the enter key after the next sentence. And this field will create a new paragraph with default parameters. If you need to create a paragraph with new parameters, such as indent before paragraph, indent after paragraph, alignment, red line indent. To do this, you need to find the paragraph option in the main menu and configure the parameters you need.

A document is easier to read and better visually perceived if the text is divided into paragraphs and has the first line indented. When typing text on a computer using the Word interface, there is no need to repeatedly press the space bar at the beginning of each paragraph. There are several ways to create an indent, each of which has its own advantages.

Key

The easiest way to make a paragraph in Word is to use the key . To do this, place the cursor at the beginning of the red line and press on keyboard. Pressing the key once sets an indent of 0.5 inches or 1.25 cm, two presses sets an indent of 2.5 cm, and so on. Indentations created in this way visually look “correct,” but if you need to increase or decrease the indentation, you will have to edit the document manually.

Adjustment by eye under the ruler

In Word 2003, 2007 and 2010, you can make a paragraph by eye. To do this, use the horizontal ruler at the top of the page. If there is no ruler, you need to check the “Ruler” command in the “View” menu tab.

There are two ways to set up a lined paragraph:

1. Select paragraphs to edit. On the horizontal ruler, move the cursor to the small triangle at the top “First line indent”, click on it with the left mouse button and, holding it, drag it to the desired location.
2. At the intersection of the horizontal and vertical rulers, find the tab indicator (square) and click on it until the “First Line Indent” icon appears inside. Next, click on the horizontal ruler where the first line of the paragraph should begin.

Fine-tuning via the Paragraph dialog box

To fine-tune the indentation, use the “Paragraph” window. The first step is to select the paragraphs for which the indentation parameter is set, and right-click on the selected fragment. In the appeared context menu select "Paragraph".

In the “Indents and Spacing” tab, find the “Indentation” group, and in it the “First Line” column. In the drop-down menu, select “Indentation”, and in the “by” box, enter the value in centimeters. The default indent is 1.25 cm.

In Word 2010, you can also open the Paragraph dialog box by clicking on the menu on the Home tab, and then in the Paragraph group, clicking on the square with the arrow in the lower right corner. Then proceed as indicated above.

You can change the indentation - the distance between paragraphs - on the left or right, as well as the spacing in the document. You can also increase or decrease the indentation of a single paragraph or group of paragraphs within margins.

In this article

Indent the first line of a paragraph

Indent all lines of a paragraph except the first

You can create an indent, that is, add an indent not to the first line of a paragraph, but to subsequent lines.

Formatting the typed information in a document is what the user spends most of his time when working with ready file. Many users do not even know the basics of working with an office application during formatting.

How to indent in Word

The main categories that the user operates when formatting are indentation and protrusion. They are used to highlight fragments of information available in a file. Indentation is used to highlight the first line of a paragraph. In this way, it is possible to shift the first line to the right relative to the entire contents of the document. An overhang is when what is printed shifts to the left. It is natural to assume that the first is much more common than the second. In this regard, it is necessary to focus Special attention on how to indent. This skill will be useful for both experienced users and beginners. No matter how much you avoid it, sooner or later you will have to learn.

Forming paragraphs

There are several ways. To make it, select “Format” from the menu, then “Paragraph”, then determine how many units the first line will be indented. As a rule, this is 1.5 units. Save your changes. Now you can open Word and work in it, and paragraphs will be formed in accordance with the specified parameters.

Didn't like the result, do you think the paragraph was too big or small? Take advantage. It is worth saying that the user cannot always see it right away, since it may be hidden. Click on the icon on the right top corner document. Please note that the ruler is graduated, that is, centimeters and millimeters are marked on it to form indents and protrusions.

After the ruler appears, position the cursor at the first paragraph of your file, then drag the ruler slider the required number of points. Please note that this will only change the size of one paragraph. Naturally, they need to be made identical throughout the document. To do this, select the entire text and move the ruler slider to the required number of units.

Perhaps these two methods are optimal when formatting a document and creating indentation A Word document itself does not exist without paragraphs as structural units, and indentation is the formative element of a paragraph.

There is another way to make a red line. However, it is not entirely correct, or rather non-academic, since it creates problems with further editing of the typed information. It's about about the tab key, or Tab. It advances the first line of a paragraph by a certain number of units. The use of tabs is not normative, although it is more light comfortable way.

However, if you want to learn correct academic formatting, then it is better to immediately get used to using the first two methods. Remember, it is always more difficult to relearn than to learn again. With Word, formatting cannot be avoided.

Concerning different versions“offices”, then the basics of editing in them are not fundamentally different. Therefore, you can safely learn from an application of any year.

Sometimes when formatting a document, in addition to indents, other format categories are added, for example, styles, . Such a complex format is time-consuming and inconvenient to display every time. Word offers the ability to copy an existing format. To do this, use the Document Format function.