WORD PROCESSORS

History:

The first version of Microsoft Word was developed by Charles Simonyi and Richard Brodie,
former Xerox programmers hired by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1981. Both programmers
worked on Xerox Bravo, the first WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) word
processor. The first Word version, Word 1.0, was released in October 1983 for Xenix and MS-
DOS; it was followed by four very similar versions that were not very successful. The first
Windows version was released in 1989, with a slightly improved interface. When Windows 3.0
was released in 1990, Word became a huge commercial success. Word for Windows 1.0 was
followed by Word 2.0 in 1991 and Word 6.0 in 1993. Then it was renamed to Word 95 and
Word 97, Word 2000 and Word for Office XP (to follow Windows commercial names). With
the release of Word 2003, the numbering was again year-based. Since then, Windows versions
include Word 2007, Word 2010, Word 2013, Word 2016, and most recently, Word for Office
365.

Definition:

Is an application software that enables the user to create, save, edit, format and print a
document.

OR,

Microsoft Word is a word processing program introduced by Microsoft Corporation. It is a

program of MS Office package. This program helps you to create professional looking
documents easily. A word processing program allows you to create different kinds of
documents. For example: resumes, reports, letters etc.. A word processor allows a user to
manipulate the text on your screen, add pictures, correct any mistake that you made, and change
the margins.

Example of word processors

Microsoft Word

Word star

Word perfect
Corel

Lotus

Word pro

K Word

Abiword

PC-Write

Advantages of using a word processor over a manual type writer

 A document can be stored in a computer for future reference

 Have special editing tools eg spelling and grammar checkers
 One can easily insert or replace a word or phrase without affecting the neatness of a
document
 One can easily produce many copies using a printer without retyping

Features of a word processors

 A word wrap which automatically starts a new line if there is insufficient room at the
hand margin
 Availability of different fonts, character sizes and styles
 Text paragraph and page formatting eg text alignment, indenting, page number etc
 Search and replace command which allow replacement of every incidence of a certain
combination of characters with a set of characters
 Undo which allows action that have been performed to be reversed
 Printing of documents single or multiple choices
 Mail merging that is very essential while similar letters have to be sent
 Ability to create and import tables, text and graphics from other programs
 Factors to consider when selecting a word processor
 The type of operating system installed
 Its user friendliness
 Its formatting and editing features
 Whether it is commercial or open source software

Parts of a Microsoft word window

1. Title bar
It a bar at the top of a the window and it displays the titile currently running application at task

2. Menu Bar

It contains menus that provides lists of commands

3. Status bar

It is an interactive strip at the bottom of the screen that acts as a communication link between
the user and the program.

Editing – Its is making necessary changes in a document

Formatting - Applying various styles or features in order to enhance the document appearance
Text Formatting Features

 Changing font type, size style

 Changing font color
 Underlining – Placing a line at the bottom of a text
 Bolding – Making the text appear more darker than the rest
 Italicizing –making the text slant forward
 Superscript and subscript
 Strikethrough

Shortcut Keys:

Open a document. Ctrl+O

Create a new document. Ctrl+N
Save the document. Ctrl+S
Close the document. Ctrl+W
Cut the selected content to Ctrl+X
the Clipboard.
Copy the selected content to Ctrl+C
the Clipboard.
Paste the contents of the Ctrl+V
Clipboard.
Select all document content. Ctrl+A
Apply bold formatting to text. Ctrl+B
Apply italic formatting to text. Ctrl+I
Apply underline formatting to Ctrl+U
text.
Decrease the font size by 1 Ctrl+Left bracket ([)
 point.
Increase the font size by 1 Ctrl+Right bracket (])
point.
Center the text. Ctrl+E
Align the text to the left. Ctrl+L
Align the text to the right. Ctrl+R
Cancel a command. Esc
Undo the previous action. Ctrl+Z
Redo the previous action, if Ctrl+Y
possible.
Adjust the zoom Alt+W, Q, then use the Tab key in the Zoom dialog box
magnification. to go to the value you want.
Split the document window. Ctrl+Alt+S
Remove the document Alt+Shift+C or Ctrl+Alt+S
window split.

Creating a New Document

There are several ways to create new documents, open existing documents, and save documents
in Word:

􀂃Click the Microsoft Office Button and Click New or

􀂃Press CTRL+N (Depress the CTRL key while pressing the “N”) on the keyboard
Opening an Existing Document

􀂃Click the Microsoft Office Button and Click Open, or

􀂃Press CTRL+O (Depress the CTRL key while pressing the “O”) on the keyboard, or

Saving a Document

Click the Microsoft Office Button and Click Save or Save As (remember, if you’re sending
the document to someone who does not have Office 2007, you will need to click the Office
Button, click Save As, and Click Word 97-2003 Document), or

􀂃Press CTRL+S (Depress the CTRL key while pressing the “S”) on the keyboard, or

􀂃Click the File icon on the Quick Access Toolbar as shown in the figure.
Editing a Document

Inserting Text

There may come a time where you may need to go and add some words or a phrase to a

paragraph that you have typed. Click where you want to add the text and start typing.

Deleting Text

You may want to delete text in a document you created. Select the text that you want to delete

and press the delete key.

Moving Text

When we have a document and are proofreading it, you may decide to move a paragraph or
some

words to a different part of your document.

1. Type the following sentences: I love the library! It holds a lot of

books. It is my favorite place.

2. Select the sentence It is my favorite place.

3. Click the Cut button in the clipboard group on the Home Tab.
4. Click at the end of the first sentence (I love the library!) so that the cursor is blinking at

right after the exclamation point.

5. Click the Paste button in the clipboard group of Home Tab on Ribbon. You should now see
the sentence that you cut reappear.

Copying Text

You may want to copy text from one paragraph to another or to a complete different document.

1. Select all 3 of the sentences.

2. Click the Copy button in the clipboard group on the Home Tab.

3. Click at the end of the last sentence and press the Enter Key twice.

4. Click the Paste button in the clipboard group of Home Tab on Ribbon. You should see a copy

of the sentences inserted in the spaces below.

Note: You can also right click on your selection and find the Cut, Paste & Copy

commands.

Using Spelling and Grammar Check

When you have finished your document you can check the spelling and grammar of your
document by using the Spelling and Grammar command. There are a couple of ways that you
can do this command. If you see a red wavy line this means it is a spelling error.

If you see a green wavy line this means it is a grammar error. If you see these errors while you
are typing you can right click on the word and it will give you suggestions to fix the error.
Below are examples of what you will see.
You can also use the Spelling & Grammar button
in the Proofing group on the Review Tab of the Ribbon. When you click this it starts to check
your grammar and spelling throughout your document. When it comes across an error a
dialogue box appears. You can either change or ignore the suggestions it gives you. It is
recommended that you use Spelling & Grammar check before you print your document.
Formatting Text

Formatting refers to the elements of styles and presentation that are added to the documents
through the use of margins, indents and text of different sizes, weights and styles.

Font: A font is a set of printable or displayable text character s in a specific style and size.

Font Size: Refers to the point size of a set of characters in a particular typeface.

Typeface: The type design for a set of fonts is the typeface. Variations of this design form the
typeface family.

For e.g.: Helvetica is a typeface family, Helvetica italic is a typeface, and Helvetica italic 10-
point is a font.
Styles A style is a format-enhancing tool that includes font typefaces, font size, effects (bold,
italics, underline, etc.), colors and more. You will notice that on the Home Tab of the Ribbon,
that you have several areas that will control the style of your document: Font, Paragraph, and
Styles.

MS Word provides a menu for formatting the text.

On the Home Tab there is a Font group. In this group you can chose the different things to
change the look of your font.

Font Group

In the Font Group you have the ability to change the Font Type, Size and can change the color,
case and look of the text with Bold, Italics, Underline, and Strikethrough. Some of the buttons
in the Font group include:

To change the font typeface:

􀂃Click the arrow next to the font name and choose a font.

Font Styles and Effects

Font styles are predefined formatting options that are used

to emphasize text. They include: Bold, Italic, and
Underline. To add these to text:

􀂃Select the text and click the Font Styles included on the Font Group of the Ribbon, or

􀂃Select the text and right click to display the font tools
Change Text Color

To change the text color:

􀂃Select the text and click the Colors button included on the Font Group of the Ribbon, or

􀂃Highlight the text, right click, and choose the colors tool.

􀂃Select the color by clicking the down arrow next to the font color button.

Highlight Text

Highlighting text allows you to use emphasize text as you would if you had a marker. To
highlight text:

􀂃Select the text

􀂃Click the Highlight Button on the Font Group of the Ribbon, or

􀂃Select the text and right click and select the highlight tool

􀂃To change the color of the highlighter click on down arrow next to the highlight button.

Grow Font/Shrink Font - - This button allows you to quickly increase and decrease the
font size without having to type any numbers in.
Clear Formatting - - This button allows you to cancel out any formatting changes you made
to the text without having to either go back through and deselect the font selections you made or
just retyping the text with plain formatting. Select your text and click this button to quickly
clear any formatting changes you do not like.

Subscript/Superscript - - This button allows you to display text in small letters either
below or above the text baseline.

Change Case - - Did you accidentally type everything in UPPER CASE and need to change
it back to lower case? Or did you decide that you want a title to be displayed in UPPER CASE?
Highlight your text and then click the drop down arrow next to this button to quickly choose the
case you desire.

Formatting Paragraphs

Formatting paragraphs allows you to change the look of the overall document. You can access
many of the tools of paragraph formatting by clicking the Page Layout Tab of the Ribbon or the
Paragraph Group on the Home Tab of the Ribbon.
Change Paragraph Alignment The paragraph alignment allows you to set how you want text to
appear. To change the alignment:

?Click the Home Tab

􀂃Choose the appropriate button for alignment on the

Paragraph Group.

􀂃Align Left: the text is aligned with your left margin

􀂃Center: The text is centered within your margins

􀂃Align Right: Aligns text with the right margin

􀂃Justify: Aligns text to both the left and right margins.

Indent Paragraphs Indenting paragraphs allows you set text within a paragraph at different
margins. There are several options for indenting:

􀂃First Line: Controls the left boundary for the first line of a paragraph

􀂃Hanging: Controls the left boundary of every line in a paragraph except the first one

􀂃Left: Controls the left boundary for every line in a paragraph

?Right: Controls the right boundary for every line in a

paragraph

To indent paragraphs, you can do the following:

􀂃Click the Indent buttons to control the indent.

􀂃Click the Indent button repeated times to increase the size of the indent.

􀂃 Click the dialog box of the Paragraph Group

􀂃 Click the Indents and Spacing Tab

􀂃 Select your indents