OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources]

10. About the Rulers

1 Set Writer Options

4 Type Text into a Document

11 About Paragraph Breaks and Tabs

13 Apply Paragraph Formatting

14 Set Up Page Formatting

Writer has two rulers: the

horizontal ruler and the

vertical ruler . Both of these rulers are onscreen guides that display measurement values so you'll know where on the page your text will appear. For example, if your measurements are set to inches (see

1 Set Writer Options ), the

2 on your horizontal ruler means that all text beneath that ruler's

2 is exactly 2 inches from the left margin.

KEY TERMS

Horizontal ruler A guide you can display across the top of your document that shows the horizontal position of text and graphics on the page.

Vertical ruler A guide you can display down the left side of your document that shows the vertical position of text and graphics on the page.11 About Paragraph Breaks and Tabs )

KEY TERMS

Tab stop Controls the horizontal placement of text on a line.

Indent The space between the left and right page margins and the current paragraph.13 Apply Paragraph Formatting explains how to use the

Paragraph dialog box.11 About Paragraph Breaks and Tabs for more information on centered tabs.

The ruler does more than update to reflect the current paragraph's settings. You can use the ruler to change tab, indent, and margin settings without using dialog boxes. Unless pinpoint precision is required, the ruler is actually the best place to make these changes.

For example, click anywhere on the ruler and a tab stop will appear at that location. You can drag that tab stop left or right to adjust its position. You can drag any tab stop left or right, even those you applied using the

Paragraph formatting dialog box. To change the type of tab you place, first click the tab character box at the left of the ruler to change the next tab you place on the ruler.

Click the tab character box to change the kind of tab you want to place on the ruler.

[View full size image]

If you want to increase a paragraph's

left-margin indent , click in that paragraph to display its horizontal ruler. Then, drag the ruler's left-margin indent character to its new location. After you drag the ruler's left-margin indent character, the paragraph's actual left-margin indent changes to reflect the new setting. To change the

first-line indent , drag the ruler's first-line indent character to a new location. To change the

right-margin indent , drag the ruler's right-margin indent character to a new location.

KEY TERMS

Left-margin indent An indention of the left edge of all lines in a paragraph, usually more so than in surrounding paragraphs, to set off the paragraph, as might be done for a quotation.

First-line indent A right indent of the first line in a paragraph where subsequent lines in the same paragraph align closer to the left margin.

Right-margin indent An indention of the right edge of all lines in a paragraph, usually more so than in surrounding paragraphs, to bring in the paragraph's right edge, as might be done for a quotation.

Although the horizontal ruler is constantly linked to individual paragraphs, the page's overall left and right margins also appear on the horizontal ruler. The margins are set off of the gray areas on either end of the ruler. You can change the left or right margin by dragging the ruler's edge of either margin (the position between the gray and the white of the ruler's typing area) left or right.

NOTE

Be careful that you leave enough room for your printer's required margin. For example, many laser printers will not print less than one-half inch to the edge of the paper, no matter how wide you attempt to make your margins.

You won't use the vertical ruler as much as the horizontal ruler, but it can be handy for showing the top and bottom margins on a page as well as the general position on a page where certain elements appear. For example, you can tell from the vertical ruler exactly how many inches down on a page a graphic image will appear when printed.

One of the most common uses of the vertical ruler is to show the top and bottom margin used by the document and drag these margins to a different location.

TIP

Select

Edit, Undo (or

Ctrl+Z ) to undo changes you make to the horizontal or vertical ruler.