Microsoft Word 2011 Basics Note: Illustrations for this document are based on Word 2010 for windows. There are significant differences between Word for Windows and Word for Mac. Start Word From the gallery select a blank document. You are now looking at a blank Word Document Saving Your Doument Before we begin work; save your document. Use a meaningful name for the document so you can find it again later. For the class use the file name word class. Click the File Menu located on the upper left corner 1. Select Save 2. The Save As Dialog Box will appear 3. Change the Save in box to the location where you wish to save your document (Flash drive) 4. Microsoft may offer you a suggested name. You can delete it and type in any name you wish. 5. In the File Name box, type in the file name for your document. 6. Click the Save button While you are working occasionally press Command S to make sure you save your work. The Ribbon You should see the Ribbon across the top of Microsoft Excel. The ribbon contains Tabs, Groups, and Commands Page 1 of 7
At the top of the ribbon you will find the Tabs. Tabs contain logical Groups of Commamds you can use in the program. (File,Home, Insert, Page Layout...) Within each tab are Groups or sets of related commands which are logically related to the tab.each Group has a descriptive label at the bottom (Clipboard, Font, Alignment, Number, Styles...) Within each group are related Commands these may be buttons that perform an action or boxes in which you can select or enter information. Below the ribbon is the document. Page 2 of 7
Below the document is a bar which allows you to see the page number and page count as well as tools to change your view of the document and zooming of the document. Typing in the Document There is only one thing to keep in mind when you are typing a document. Only hit the Return (Enter) key at the end of a paragraph. As you type the program will manage text wrapping for you and adding extra carriage returns will only confuse that program and make your job harder in the long run. Selecting text. Before you can change your text in any way you must select the text. There are several ways to select text. 1. Drag the cursor over the text while holding down the left mouse button. 2. Hold down the left mouse button and use the arrow keys to select the text. 3. You can select one word by double clicking on it with the mouse button. 4. You can select a whole paragraph by tripple clicking anywhere within the paragraph. 5. You can use Command A (hold down the Command key and the A key at the same time) to select the whole document. 6. In the editing group you can use the select button to select text and objects using several different options. (This is outside the scope of this class.) Once you have selected your text you can use any of the tools in the font section of the ribbon to change the appearance of the font. You can also change the appearance of your text using the Styles group. Changing Paragraph Appearance To the right of the Font group on the ribbon is the Paragraph group. Commands in this group affect whole paragraphs. They include bullets, numbering and outlining; indenting and outdenting paragraphs. Sorting, showing and hiding paragraph marks; paragraph justification, line spacing and some other less used formatting tools. In the lower right corner of the group is an arrow which will open a Dialog box Page 3 of 7
which will allow you even greater control of the appearance of your paragraphs. The Insert Menu (Tab) If you commonly think of that you want to INSERT something into your document you will wish to use the Insert Menu on the Mac (Insert tab on the ribbon on the PC). On this menu you will find controls to insert tables, pictures, Clip Art, Charts and other graphic elements. You can also inert tables, hyperlinks, bookmarks, headers, footers, page numbers and all sorts of other goodies. On the Mac some of these commands can also be found the Insert Group on the Home tab. Text Boxes, Shapes and Pictures can all be placed into your document. Inserting Tables On the Mac click on the Tables Tab (Insert Tab in Windows) then the new icon (table icon on PC) select the number of rows and columns you want in your table. The table will be inserted in your document. You can add a row to your table by placing your cursor in the last cell in the table and pressing the tab key. You can also insert tables in cells in an existing table. Cells can also be manipulated using the commands on the Layout tab of the ribbon, which is only visible when the table is selected. Tabs which only appear when an object is selected are called Context tabs. On the Mac the context tab is named Table Layout, on the PC there are two context tabs Design and Layout. Page 4 of 7
Inserting Clipart On the Mac click on the Picture icon in the Insert Group on the Home Tab from this tab you may select the Photo Browser, Clipart Gallery or the Clipart Browser. On the PC select the Insert Tab click on the Clip Art Icon. The Clipart Gallery will be displayed. Type a subject for which you need clip art and Word will search for matching images if your computer is connected to the Internet this search will include online content. Page 5 of 7
Inserting Pictures On the Mac click on the picture icon on the Home Tab and select Picture from File (on the PC just click on the picture icon). An open dialogue box will be shown use this dialog to navigate to your picture, then click on the insert button. Inserting Text Boxes From the insert tab/menu select the text box icon/menu item on Windows a gallery of text boxes will be displayed and you can either select one of the predefined text boxes or draw one of your own.onn a Mac you can select from Horizontal and Vertical text boxes once selected drag in your document to place the box. Once the text box is inserted you can use the Drawing Tools context tab to format the appearance and behavior of the text box. [Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box.] Page 6 of 7
Inserting Headers and Footers On the Mac Click on the Document Elements tab and find the Header and Footer Group on the PC click on the insert tab and select header or footer. Word will open a gallery of pre-defined headers or footers (depending on your choice). You can select one of the predefined headers or footers or define your own. Headers and footers may contain any of the objects you can insert in Word. (Pictures, Clip Art, etc.) Questions? Suggestions? Keep in touch. Diana Laughlin / Tech Guide dlaughlin@estesvalleylibrary.org 970.586.8116 x834 Page 7 of 7