Settings made in the Font dialog box are applied to any new text that’s typed or to any selected text.
❯❯ The Automatic font color (refer to Figure 1-5) is the color set by the current style or the document theme. For the Normal style, the color is black.
❯❯ Refer to the next section for information on the +Body and +Headings fonts, shown in the Font dialog box.
To spare you the expense of hiring a graphics designer, Word comes with multiple sets of document themes. These are organized by elements such as heading and body fonts, colors, and effects. The purpose isn’t to replace styles, but rather to offer preset combinations that work well together. In fact, you don’t need to mess with document themes, if you don’t want to.
To view available documents, click the Design tab. Themes are available from the Themes button, which includes all theme elements: fonts, colors, and effects. The Style Set gallery is used to select specific fonts. Individual theme attributes can be set as well, as illustrated in Figure 1-6.
FIGURE 1-6: Document themes.
The Fonts button in the Document Formatting group shows a list of fonts you can choose from to replace the current document theme. These fonts become the +Body and +Heading fonts, shown in the Fonts dialog box. (Refer to Figure 1-5.)
Selecting a new font, or any document theme element, immediately affects all aspects of the document – if you’re using Word’s standard styles from the Normal template. If you’ve set your own styles, theme changes may not have any effect.
The default font is set in the Normal template, which Word uses for any new document without a specific template assigned. The Normal style in the Normal template is preset to match the document theme, but you can change that setting. Follow these steps:
1. Press Ctrl+D.
The Font dialog box appears.
2. Choose the typeface you want to use for all new documents opened in Word.
Say you want to use Times New Roman. If so, choose that typeface in the Font dialog box.
3. Set the text size.
4. Set any additional text attributes.
You probably don’t want to set any additional attributes, but if so, do it now.
5. Click the button Set As Default.
Word prompts you to indicate whether you want to make the change only for the current document or for all new documents based on the Normal template.
6. Choose the option All Documents Based On the Normal.dotm Template.
7. Click OK.
From this point onward, all new documents that you create use the typeface and size and any other attributes you selected.
❯❯ To start a new document in Word, press Ctrl+N.
❯❯ This change doesn’t affect documents that use a template other than Normal.
Typography Control
Word offers some typeface options that go beyond standard text formatting. These controls let you manipulate the typeface in degrees beyond standard attributes. The modifications let you reset text size, spacing, and position. They also let you hide text, which is a curious attribute, yet it remains a valid option in Word.
The Scale command changes the text size in a horizontal direction, so it’s different from point size, which sets the typeface’s overall size. Use the Scale command to fatten or thin your text, making it wider or narrower.
To adjust the width of a chunk of text, obey these directions:
1. Select the chunk of text to modify.
2. Press Ctrl+D.
3. Click the Advanced tab in the Font dialog box.
4. Choose a percentage value from the Scale menu, or type a specific scale.
The larger the percentage, the wider each character becomes.
5. Click OK.
The new width is applied to your text.
Figure 1-7 illustrates the effect of changing the text scale. For each scale percentage, note that the text height (size in points) remains the same. Only the text’s width changes.
❯❯ I don’t recommend setting the text scale for your document’s body text. This type of command is best suited for headings or other document elements where unusually sized text draws attention.
❯❯ Setting a very narrow text width is one way to generate a font size that’s otherwise too small to produce.
❯❯
❯❯ Some typefaces don’t scale well at the larger end of the spectrum. You must decide whether a scaled typeface is worth any ugliness generated by the effect.
FIGURE 1-7: Examples of text scale.
You probably don’t think about the spacing between characters, which is exactly what a typeface designer wants. Despite all that talent and effort, Word lets you override the decisions of a typeface designer and reset the amount of space between characters in a line of text.
To condense or expand spaces between each letter, obey these steps:
1. Select the text you want to expand or condense.
2. Press Ctrl+D to bring up the Font dialog box.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. From the Spacing menu, choose Expand or Condensed to increase or reduce the space between letters in the selected text.
5. Manipulate the By gizmo to set how wide or narrow to set the spaces between letters.
Use the Preview box to see how the settings affect the selected text. Figure 1-8 illustrates some of the settings.
6. Click OK to set the character spacing.
FIGURE 1-8: Character spacing settings.
As with changing the text scale (refer to the preceding section), I recommend manipulating character spacing only for document titles and headings.
To adjust the spaces between specific letters in a typeface, you can apply kerning to the text or use special character combinations known as ligatures.
Kerning is a character-spacing command that involves only specific letters. It scrunches together those characters, such as the A and V, to make the text more readable. To kern text in your document, heed these directions:
1. Press Ctrl+D.
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