Section: Commands Found in <b>More Advanced</b> Programs
...Subsection: High-End Formatting Tools

There are a few more elaborate formatting tools generally found only in the higher end word processors. These tools border on desktop publishing, and allow you better control of your document. You probably won't use them every day, but they are wonderful when you need them.

Tables

On a typewriter, creating a table required judicious use of the TAB key and very careful planning. Most advanced word processors allow you to create tables very easily. You can usually select the number of rows and columns, change the size and format of rows and columns, and easily copy and paste specific cells. The table tool is worth learning.

Columns

Sometimes you will want to have a page formatted into two or more vertical columns. This was quite tedious on a typewriter, but there is usually some kind of tool to make column creation easier on a modern word processor.

Lists

You will frequently find tools for making lists. Lists can have automatic numbering (like an outline) or each list item might have a small icon marking, called a bullet. Most modern word processing programs have some kind of tool to make list management easier.

Graphics

Most high-end word processing programs enable you to incorporate graphics into text documents with relative ease. Often they incorporate small painting programs so you can generate your own graphics as well. To make graphics and text easier to work with, many word processing programs include frames, which are boxes on the screen that can hold text and graphics. When you mix text and graphics on a page, you may want to investigate frames in the on-line help so you can have more control over how the text and graphics interact.