Formatting at Three Levels

Formatting at Three Levels

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Formatting is implemented at three levels – the section or document level, the paragraph level, and the character level. Keep this concept in mind as you design your document, by specifying the specifications from the top down. Thus, the first step is to specify the section formatting, then the paragraph formatting, and lastly the character formatting.

The section level includes columns, paper size and orientation, margins, headers, and footers.

The paragraph level includes alignment, line spacing, left, right, and first line indents, tab settings, borders, and shading.

The character level includes the typeface (serif or sans serif), type size (measured in points), and type style (regular, bold, or italic). Borders and shading can also be implemented at the character level.

Bear in mind that too many different formats on one page can be distracting, and in almost all cases, less is better. Be conservative. Do not think that you have to demonstrate everything you know how to do in each and every document that you create. Try to avoid more than two different typefaces (fonts) in the same document and achieve variety through different styles and type sizes.