Text Effects

A new feature in Word 2010, is text effects.
The “Text Effects” button is found under the “Home” (1) tab.

The first thing you do when you want to add a text effect is select the text.
Then click the “Text effects” (2) button in the ribbon.
A menu opens.
At the bottom of the menu, we find four types of effects (4).
They are “Outline”, “Shadow,” “Reflection” and “Glow”.
For those of you who are still in doubt, “Outline” is a type of edge. Also, the difference between a “Shadow” and a “Reflection” is that a “Reflection” will be placed under the text at all times, whereas a shadow can be placed wherever you want it.

Above these options, we find a number of preset effects (3) which include all the four underlying “Text effects”.

Discussing all the various text effects here is quite impossible and also does not serve any useful purpose.
The only thing I would like to say is, you can try out all of them but don’t make the text look silly.

To delete an effect, select the text, click the “Text Effects” button in the ribbon and, move your mouse pointer over the type, and select, for eg. “No Glow” (5).

 

“WordArt”:

“WordArt” allows us to format text which is treated as an image.

To add a “WordArt”, click the “Insert” tab on the ribbon, and click the “WordArt” button.
This opens a drop-down menu with different styles.

Click the style of your choice and a text box will be displayed in your document. Enter your text in this box.

With the blocks on the edges of the frame, you can adjust the size of the frame (1).
With the green circle at the top, (2) you can change the direction of the text.

 

Your text will be displayed in your document.
Do you want to change the format of the “WordArt”? Select it, and click on the extra “Format” tab, on the ribbon. Use the various options in the ribbon to change the format of your WordArt.

The difference between a “Text effect”, and a “WordArt” is, that, a “Text effect” is still a text, whereas a “WordArt” is an image.
In other words, a “Text effect” is still treated as text.
For example, a text in which a “Text effect” has been added, will still be checked when we run a spell check.
Whereas for a “WordArt”, this will not be the case, for the simple reason that this is an image.

 

Insert Text Boxes:

I have already discussed “Building Blocks” in the previous lesson .
However, a “Text box” is another building block.

The “Text Box” is found in the ribbon, under the “Insert” tab.
When we click on it, a drop-down menu opens with various options.

Click on the text box of your choice, to place it in your document.
The text box will appear in your document, as it was shown in the example.

If you don’t find anything to your liking, you can create a text box on your own.
Click on the “Draw Text Box” option at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
This changes the cursor to a cross.
Click and drag it in your document, until you’ve reached the right size.

Whether you have chosen a text box from the drop-down menu, or you’ve made one yourself, you can start entering your text once you have inserted the text box.
All text and, the background of a “Text box” can be formatted using the “Format” tab, which appears when the text is selected.

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