Office 2008 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual

Format Menu

Even though email and news messages both trace their origins to plain text (which doesn’t contain much in the way of formatting), the advent of HTML email lets you use a variety of formatting in your missives. Those commands are thoughtfully grouped in the Format menu.

HTML

If HTML is turned on, then all of the Format menu commands listed below are available. Otherwise, most of the commands below are dimmed, and you’ll prepare your email messages using good ol’ plain, unformatted text only. Keyboard shortcut: Shift-⌘-T.

Style

Lets you choose from five different styles for your text, detailed below:

• Regular Text. You guessed it—plain vanilla text.

• Bold. Makes the selected text bold. Keyboard shortcut: ⌘-B.

• Italic. Makes the selected text italic. Keyboard shortcut: ⌘-I.

• Underline. Underlines the selected text (and makes it look like a hyperlink— great for practical jokes). Keyboard shortcut: ⌘-U.

• Fixed Width Font. Uses a fixed-width font, such as Monaco. A fixed-width font is one in which each character takes up the same amount of horizontal space (for example, an “i” takes up as much space as an “m,” making it easier for you to line up text in columns).

Font

Lists all of the fonts installed on your Mac. Choose one to use in your message.

Font Size

Lets you choose a specific point size for your text, just as you would when formatting text in Word (Font Sizes).

Font Color

Lets you choose a color for your HTML-based email fonts. It lists 16 colors: Black, Maroon, Green, Olive, Navy, Purple, ...