|
How to set default formatting for
new documents:
A
step-by-step guide
Some related pages -
WordPerfect Templates
(the default template and creating custom templates)
Page numbering
in WordPerfect
Custom line
spacing (e.g., double space, 1.5 lines, etc.) and paragraph spacing
Create
a custom template for special purposes
All about styles
Headers, footers,
and watermarks
Using two footers
at the same time
Even/Odd page identification
Footnotes and endnotes
Using the "Other
Codes" feature
Resetting margins
on page 2 |
Before you begin...
 The
<WordPerfect>
menu must be enabled for the following
menu choices to be visible. (Right-click on the menu bar to choose
a <WordPerfect> menu.)
As
with some other programs, changing default format settings means
modifying the program's default template.
The default template is the one that is currently specified in
Tools, Settings, Files, Template. You might want to locate
this file and make a copy of it to back it up before making extensive
changes to it. [See the page on templates
for more information sbout finding (and fixing) this important
file.]
In
any case, making custom format changes for new documents is easy
to do.
Method 1
[This method is best used for minor formatting
changes. For moderate to extensive changes, see Method
2.]
Step 1. Open
a new, blank document with File, New.
Step 2. In the new, blank document,
either
(a) click on File, Document, Current Document
Style (see image below)
or
(b) double-click on the [Open Style:
DocumentStyle] code in Reveal Codes, at the very top of the
document. (Code not there? See Footnote 1.)
This will open the Styles Editor dialog for
the current document style (also called the initial document
style) as shown in Step 3.
Step 3. Make
your format changes in the Styles Editor (shown below), using
that dialog's menu and/or property bar at the top of the dialog.
For example, you might
want to change the current font, font size, or page margins and
make them the default for all new documents, too. Here's how do it.
a) For
font changes, click the Font Face
and/or Font Size drop lists on the Editor's property bar and
make your selections. When you do that, you will see new [Font]
and/or [Font Size] codes appear in the Contents pane of the Styles
Editor dialog.
Tip:
It is possible to set decimal font sizes in
WordPerfect such as 11.5 point, 12.7 point, etc., and even font
sizes larger than 72 points. Click the Font size field's down
arrow button on the property bar (just to the right of the
number field) to expose the drop-down font size list. then type
the desired decimal size (in tenths of a point) in the number
field and press <Enter>. (You must press <Enter>,
rather than <Tab>: If you use <Tab>, the setting
won't "stick.")
Notes:
1. You may have noticed that the File, Document
submenu on the main WordPerfect menu has a choice, "Default
Font" (see the first image above).
For several technical reasons (see here)
it is better not to use that method to set a default font or
font size. Rather, use the Styles Editor as explained in the
current example.
2. You can also open the Styles Editor (above)
for the current document style with Format, Styles. Then, in
the Styles dialog that appears, select "DocumentStyle"
in the Available Styles list, and then click the Edit button.
As you can see, this takes a few extra mouse clicks compared
to Step 2(a) above. [The Styles dialog is also used to create
a QuickStyle; to create,
save, retrieve, delete, or edit custom
styles; or to reset WordPerfect default styles.]
b) For page
margin changes, click the Format menu
choice, then choose Margins.
This opens the Page Setup dialog. On the right
side of that dialog you can set new page margins. When you do
that, you will see new margin codes appear in the Contents pane
of the Styles Editor dialog. (Note that choosing a page margin
setting that is already in existence will have no effect, so
no code is entered.)
Tip:
To re-set page margins on the next page (if
there could be following pages), see "Need
to reset page margins on page 2 (if there is a page 2) back to
the one-inch default or some other setting?".
Similarly, you could change other formatting
using the Styles Editor's menu, such as line spacing, paragraph
formatting, etc. It is recommended you make only a few changes
at a time, to be sure they are performing as you expect.
Step 4. IMPORTANT: Be sure to enable (i.e.,
tick) the checkbox at the bottom of the dialog, "Use as
default," and click OK, then answer Yes to the confirmation
dialog that pops up. The changes will affect both the current
document and the default template that is specified in Tools,
Settings, Files, Template. Since the latter "spawns"
new blank documents when you use File, New, the changes will
be inherited by those new documents.
The "Show 'off codes' checkbox is useful
with paragraph styles.
Tips
- Since you are changing the current document's
format settings (in its initial style
code) as well as the default template's settings, you can use
this method to change just the current document's formatting
by not enabling the "Use as default" checkbox.
- Similarly, after you test the new document,
you might want to un-tick (i.e., disable) the "Use
as default" checkbox to prevent future unwanted or accidental
changes to the default template, if all you might want to do
on that future date is change your current document's
formatting and not make changes to newly created documents.
- You can, of course, change the formatting
for the entire current document directly, in the body text area
of the document (at the top of the document's body text area).
There is no need to use the Styles Editor – though it has
the advantage of "hiding" format codes inside the initial
style.
- However, remember that changes made in the
Styles Editor for the initial [Open Style: DocumentStyle]
code can be discontinued or replaced (i.e., "over-ridden")
with another similar format code further down in the document
itself. So if you make changes in the Styles Editor and they
do not appear in the current document, use Reveal Codes to examine
the document for codes that might be over-riding the settings
in the Styles Editor.
- Advanced user tip:
You can use Reveal Codes to carefully select an existing format
code from the body of any open document, copy it to the Windows
clipboard (Ctrl+C), and paste it (Ctrl+V) into the Contents pane
of the Styles Editor. The change will affect the current document
(and new documents, if you enable "Use as default").
This also "hides" the code to help keep it from being
accidentally deleted or moved. (Just remember this trick if you
ever need to restore or modify things!) For example: Hide
a [Delay] code. Reminder: Back up the document (and
the template, if you are saving the change as a default setting)
before making customizations like this one.
Method 2
For moderate to extensive changes, you can
also edit the default template directly. See this
section on the templates page. |
Barry MacDonnell's