Microsoft Word Software Tip:
Pick Up the Tab with Microsoft Word
By Joshua Feinberg

Need help creating an easy-to-read table of contents, menu or price list? Have you ever wondered how to automatically enter those dotted lines that connect text entries? Save time and give your documents a professional touch with tab formatting in Microsoft Word.

Highlight or select the paragraph where you want to insert leader characters before a tab stop.

Then from the Format pull-down menu, click the Tabs command. In the Tabs dialog box, under Tab stop position, enter the desired position of the new tab (in inches) or select an existing tab stop.

Under Alignment, select one of the five displayed Alignments for the text at the tab stop. If you're preparing a menu or price list, I suggest starting with Decimal Alignment so that your monetary figures line up at the decimal point. Otherwise, most people choose the default Left Alignment.

Under Leader, click the option you'd prefer -- blank, dashes, periods or a line -- and then click Set. Leader 2 (dots) tends to be the most popular selection when you want to add an automatic Leader to your tab formatting.

Click OK when you're finished to close the box.

Note: Be sure to click the Set button in the Tabs dialog box before exiting. Forgetting to click Set is one of the most common mistakes that people make when selecting custom tab formatting in Microsoft Word.

Copyright (C) 2002, KISTech Communications Corporation

Joshua Feinberg is an internationally recognized small business technology expert, consultant, columnist, author, keynote speaker, and trainer. He is a published Microsoft Press author, as well as the creator of and two-year veteran writer of the Microsoft Direct Access "VAPVoice: Notes From the Field". 
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