Splitting Lines of Text


Occasionally you may need to divide a line of text so that part of the line is flush with the left margin and part with the right margin. For example, in a section heading, you might put a chapter title on the left, and the section title on the right (see FIGURE 3).

Similarly, it's common to split a line of text this way in headers and footers. The trouble is, your program's Help files don't tell you how to do this. Here's the technique.Word 97 and 2000: Put the cursor on the line whose formatting you want to alter. To set the right-aligned tab, click the small box at the left of the ruler until the symbol in the box looks like a backward letter L. Click on the ruler near the right margin, and then drag the newly inserted tab to the right as far as you can.

Type the left part of the text on the line. Press <Tab> and type the right part of the text, which will automatically align with the right margin. If the text already exists on the line, position the cursor where you want to split the line, and press <Tab>. Note: If you expect to use this alignment often, create a style for it. Select the paragraph by clicking in the

left margin of a line formatted as described above. Select FormatòStyle and click New in the Style dialog box. Type a name such as SplitLine in the Name box of the New Style dialog box; then click Add to Template and OK. Click Close in the Style dialog box. Now you can use this style to create divided lines any time you want. WordPerfect 8 and 9: Type the text you want to left-align. Press <Alt>-<F7> or select FormatòLineòFlush Left. Type the right-aligned portion of the text. If the text already exists on the line, simply place the cursor at the location where you want the split to occur, and then either press <Alt>-<F7> or select FormatòLineòFlush Right.


Category:Word Processing
Issue: August 2000

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