Setting character-related properties
Character-related formatting includes such properties as font, font size, font style, font decoration, and so forth. You can directly change the character properties of a text selection, or you can include character properties in a style that you apply to elements or element fragments.
To change the character formatting of selected text
- Select the text you want to format.
- On the Home menu, click Font.
- Specify values for the properties you want to apply to the text. (See the property descriptions below.)
To include character properties in a style
- On the Home menu, go to Style, and then click Define Styles.
- In the Style list, select the style you want to modify. (Or create a new style.)
- Click the Character tab and specify values for the properties you want to include in the style. (See the property descriptions below.)
General properties
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Font |
Specifies the font family. |
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Size |
Specifies the font size. If you do not specify a unit, pixels are used. |
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Weight |
Specifies the thickness of characters. A numeric value sets the font weight on a scale from 100 (lightest) to 900 (darkest). 400 is equivalent to “normal”; 700 is equivalent to “bold”. |
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Style |
Specifies the font style: normal, italic, or oblique. |
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Font color |
Specifies the text color. Click the box and select a color. |
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Bg color |
Specifies the background color. Click the box and select a color. |
Decoration
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Underline |
The text will be displayed with an underline. |
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Upperline |
The text will be displayed with an overline. |
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Strikethrough |
The text will be displayed with a line through the center. |
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Blinking |
The text will blink periodically. (Netscape only) |
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None |
Clears all text decoration. This is useful when you want to override text decoration specified in a style. |
Spacing
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Letter |
Specifies the amount of space between characters. If you do not specify a unit, pixels are used. |
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Word |
Specifies the amount of space between words. If you do not specify a unit, pixels are used. |
Additional character formats (only in Font dialog box)
If you are directly formatting selected text (that is, you are not defining a style), several more properties are available when you click the More button in the Character Styles dialog box.
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Citation |
Marks the text as a citation; displayed in italics by most browsers. |
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Code |
Marks the text as a code sample; displayed in a monospaced font by most browsers. |
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Keyboard |
Marks the text as text to be entered by the user; displayed in a monospaced font by most browsers. |
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Blinking |
Makes the text blink periodically. (Netscape only) |
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Definition |
Marks the text as the defining instance of a term; displayed in italics by most browsers. |
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Sample |
Marks the text as sample output from a computer program; displayed in a monospaced font by most browsers. |
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Strong |
Marks the text as strongly emphasized; displayed in a bold font by most browsers. |
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Emphasis |
Marks the text as emphasized; displayed in italics by most browsers. |
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Variable |
Marks the text as a variable; displayed in italics by most browsers. |
Related topics
Setting paragraph alignment, indentation, and line height
Setting margins, padding, and borders
Setting background colors and images