Font Styles

To further enhance the appearance of text, a font can use another characteristic referred to as style. Originally, the Microsoft Windows operating system proposes four styles but many commercial applications may provide additional styles. The application you use also lets you know what font styles are available and how to access them. If you are using WordPad, the font styles are represented with three buttons on the right side of the Formatting toolbar:

You can also access the font styles in the Font dialog box.
The most regularly used style of a font is referred to as regular. It simply consists of displaying the characters in their normal settings.
A character is referred to as bold if it appears thicker than it would regularly display. The Microsoft Windows operating system defined various degrees of boldness but, by default, it provides only one to many applications. The bold style can be used to emphasize an aspect of a word, a quote, or a section of a paragraph. To apply the bold style, if you are using WordPad, you can use the Bold button of the Formatting toolbar. If you are using the Font dialog box, you can select Bold from the Font Style combo box.
A character is italicized if it displays with an angle in the North-East direction. To apply this style, in WordPad, you can use the Italic button of the Formatting toolbar. The Font dialog box provides an Italic option in the Font Style combo box.
A character is said to be underlined if a horizontal line appears under it. By default, the Microsoft Windows operating system provides one type of underline but commercial applications may supply variations. To use the underline style in WordPad, you can use the Underline button of the Formatting toolbar.
The last font style you can use is called strikeout. It allows you to strike a horizontal line in the center of one or more characters. To apply this style, if you are using WordPad, display the Font dialog box and click the Strikeout check box.

Techniques of Using Font Styles

So far, we mentioned that, to apply a style, you can use either its corresponding button on a toolbar or the Font dialog box of the application. In reality, the behavior depends on the state of the item that needs to be modified.
By default, to apply a font style, you should first select a character, a word, or a group of words, and then apply the desired style. In reality, each style uses Boolean algebra. If the item selected already doesn't have the style that you want to apply, the selected style would apply. If the selected item already has the style that you try to apply, the existing style would be removed or restored. For example, if you select a word that is using the Regular style and you apply the Bold style, the selected word would receive the Bold style. Other the other hand, if you select a word that is already using the Bold style but you apply the Bold style, the selected word would loose the Bold style and would become Regular.
Besides, or instead of, applying one style at a time, you can combine style. Once again, remember that the styles use a Boolean approach. If an item already has one style and you apply another style,, the new style would be added to (or coupled with) the existing style. Based on this, for example, you can apply the Bold to an already underlined word, the word would then become underlined and bolded.

Practical Learning: Applying Font Styles
1- Select the first line of text: Common Sense
2- On the Formatting toolbar, click the Bold button
3- Find and select Fundamental Human Attributes
4- On the Formatting toolbar, click the Underline button
5- On the last line of the text, select John Pollock
6- On the main menu, click Format -> Font...
7- In the Font Style combo box of the Font dialog, select Bold

8- Click OK
9- Still on the last line of text, select Essays of a Private Life
10- Right-click the selection and click Font...
11- In the Font Style combo box, select Italic and click OK
12- Click the last line that is empty
13-Type o+ continuously to cover the whole line
14- Select the new last line of text
15- On the main menu, click Format -> Font...
16- In the Effects section, click the Strikeout check box and click OK

Paragraph Alignment
Introduction
Another aspect of text formatting involves the alignment of a paragraph of text. There are three options. You can align a paragraph to the left (the default), the center or the right section.
Aligning a Paragraph
Before aligning a paragraph, you don't need to select any word in it. The position of the caret indicates what paragraph is selected. Therefore, to start, first position the caret anywhere inside the desired paragraph. To align it, if you are using WordPad, you can click one of the alignment buttons on the Formatting toolbar:

The alignment buttons behave like a group, similar to the radio buttons of a group box: only one of them can be clicked at a time. If you click a button that is already down, nothing would happen. If you click a button that is up, its alignment would be applied, the new button would be become down, and the previous button would become up.

Practical Learning: Aligning Paragraphs

1- Click anywhere in the first line of text. For example, click between e and n
2- On the Formatting toolbar, click the Center button
3- Before the last line of text, click between both Ls of Pollock
4- On the main menu, click Format -> Paragraph...
5- In the Alignment combo box of the Paragraph dialog, select Right 6- Click OK