Formatting
In the days of the typewriter, text formatting was limited and straightforward. The font was set and there were few options for emphasising text or laying out a page. Even simple tables were hard to format in a standard letter or memo.
When we needed to publish a document more professionally, we generally worked with graphic designers and typesetters who handled the layout and design. Specialist editors or communications staff helped to prepare the text for publication, and style guides tended to cover what these specialists needed to know about formatting and design.
Since the personal computer and word processor arrived, this has all changed.
Sophisticated tools for formatting text are now standard with most software, enabling a wide range of fonts and options for styling them. And we can print documents ourselves in a wide range of formats.
The digital age has also generated new formatting questions, such as how to make text easy to read on screen or how to format email addresses and hyperlinks.
This section of the ASG covers the most common issues when formatting text in everyday documents:
