[Loop66]

How do I keep from committing suicide when using Microsoft Word?
I'm about 95% serious.
I use Adobe InDesign and I'm constantly stumped when it comes to doing
simple text formatting in Word. In InDesign I can use quick keys or change
fields in open toolbars to change Leading, Baseline Shift, Kerning and
Tracking. In Word, it's near impossible. Isn't there a way to easily change,
for instance, the baseline shift of ONE CHARACTER by, say, .5pt on the fly?
Please God, help. Please someone out there....
Are there any Guru's out there who know how to massage text to extremely
specific increments -- and do it easily?
Thank you for your time... (ps: I have many more questions...)

[Jay Freedman]

Baseline shift and kerning/tracking in Word are on the Character Spacing tab
of the Font dialog. First select the character(s) to be affected.

- For tracking, use the Spacing boxes. The expanding or condensing occurs
between the selected characters *and* after the last selected one.

- For baseline shift, use the Position boxes -- you don't actually need to
change the box on the left, because typing a value in the box on the right
will automatically set the left one. Positive numbers raise the characters,
and negative numbers lower them.

- The "Kerning for fonts" checkbox turns on the automatic kerning, if any,
built into the current font. There isn't any finer control, but you can
apply tracking to single characters. Fine typography it ain't.

You change leading in the Paragraph dialog, where the Line Spacing
measurement is the baseline-to-baseline distance. You can choose Exactly or
At Least, and set the amount in increments of 0.05 pt.

If you have specific groups of settings that you use frequently, defining
them in paragraph and character styles can let you apply them all in one
action; and the styles can be assigned to keyboard shortcuts and/or buttons.
And yes, a character style can be applied to as little as one character.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
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Loop66 wrote:
How do I keep from committing suicide when using Microsoft Word?
I'm about 95% serious.
I use Adobe InDesign and I'm constantly stumped when it comes to doing
simple text formatting in Word. In InDesign I can use quick keys or
change fields in open toolbars to change Leading, Baseline Shift,
Kerning and Tracking. In Word, it's near impossible. Isn't there a
way to easily change, for instance, the baseline shift of ONE
CHARACTER by, say, .5pt on the fly? Please God, help. Please someone
out there....
Are there any Guru's out there who know how to massage text to
extremely specific increments -- and do it easily?
Thank you for your time... (ps: I have many more questions...)

[[email protected]]

Uh - I'm with you there. My heart sinks when anyone tells me that we have to use Word for a job.

But then I have now moved "up" to MS Word 2011 and guess what? Microsoft have changed all the dialogues boxes and rulers and inspectors, but managed not to make it any easier to use at all!!!

Why bother?

Don't they have anyone who can design an interface at Microsoft? Why is is so impossible for them to understand that MS Word and MS Excel are essentially great programs, but with interfaces that have just evolved since v1 and never been redesigned. Half baked efforts like the new 'ribbon' make the situation worse because it doesn't include everything and too much emphasis is placed on the MS styling junk that we never use. Take a look at Quark/InDesign or pretty much any other WP package and you will find a better interface.

Where I can I am resorting to using Pages and then saving as a Word file. It does a better job.

Microsoft is just history! RIP