Office 2010 Made Simple

Why You Should Use Styles Rather Than Direct Formatting

In Word, the best and fastest way to format your documents is by using styles rather than by applying direct formatting such as boldface or a font. A style is a collection of formatting that you can apply with a single click of a mouse or with a keystroke. For example, Figure 8–1 shows a short section of text that uses four styles:

• Heading 1. This style uses 20-point Cambria font, dark blue color, and boldface to stand out. The paragraph has 24 points of space before it, which helps to draw the reader's eye to it. You'd use this style for the top-level headings in the document.
• Body Text. This style uses 11-point Calibri font in black, so it looks like standard text. The paragraph has 6 ...