4 COMPUTER WORD PROCESSING

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/word2016/

Introduction to Word Processors

Word processing refers to the process of creating a word document. It involves typing,
editing, formatting and printing of text document using a word processor.

A word processor is a computer program that can be used to create, edit, format, store and
print a document that contains text and graphics.

Common examples of word processors include: Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, Lotus
WordPro, Apple Pages, OpenOffice.org Writer, etc. Kword, Lyx, Libreoffice writer, Text
maker, Kingsoft writer, Word pad, WPS office, Quick office.

Word processors are mostly used for writing letters, reports, projects, books, essays, memos,
resumes (CVs), Mailings, Labels, Certificates, Brochures, Calendars, Stories, simple
calculations

Text editors are simple word processors that are generally used to type without any special
formatting. Text editors are mainly used to create small notes, memos and programs.

Examples of common text editors are: Notepad, Notepad++, Gedit, Sticky Notes, etc.

Types of Word Processors

There are two types of word processors but the most common two are
❖ Manual word processors for example, Type Writers
❖ Electronic Word Processors – for example, MS Word, Lotus WordPerfect.

Functions Of the Word Processing Software

• Editing and proofreading documents
• Formatting documents
• Saving documents for future use
• Printing hardcopies of documents

Page 1 of 8
Common Terms Used in Word Processing
1. Typeface or font type is the shape of the characters such as Times New Roman, Arial,
and Tahoma.
2. Line spacing refers to the amount of space between two lines of text, measured in
points.
3. Text alignment refers to the way text is arranged relative to the margins i.e. in
▪ Left alignment, text is arranged to the left margin of a document page
▪ Centre alignment, text is arranged in the center of a document page
▪ Right alignment, text is arranged to the right margin of a document page
▪ Justification, text is arranged to both the left and right margins at the same time.

4. Indent is the amount of white space set between the margin and the beginning of text.
Indents can be: The first line indent, Hanging indent and or Right indent.
5. Formatting text is the process of changing the appearance of text in a document. It
involves bolding, italics, underlining, changing font color, etc.
6. Editing text refers to making changes in the content of an existing document. It
involves cutting, pasting, overtype, undo, insert, and deleting.
7. Copy makes a copy of the selected text to the clipboard, does not move it from its
original position.
8. Cut moves the selected text from its original position and to the clipboard.
9. Note: Copy and paste duplicates the text, while Cut and paste moves the text to a
new position.
10. The clipboard is an area of memory where copied or cut text or items are temporarily
held before being pasted
11. Paste special helps avoid pasting the text with all its formatting. The paste special
feature provides more control over what to paste.
12. Format painter copies formatting effects to the selected text
13. Header refers to the text that appears in the top margin of all pages in a document
14. Footer refers to text that appears in the bottom margin of all pages in a document
15. Ruler is used to set the indent, margin and tab markers.
16. Tabs Stops are places where text can be made to line up. Click the ruler bar at the
desired position.
17. Hardcopy is a printed copy of a document

Page 2 of 8
 18. Soft Copy is a non-printed copy of a document
19. 18. Overtype or overwrite mode causes any typed characters to replace the characters
at the cursor
20. Paragraph is the text between one paragraph break and the next. A paragraph break is
inserted by pressing the Enter key.
21. Saving This is to write the document's current state from RAM to a storage device.
22. Proofreading is reviewing a document to ensure its accuracy. Proof reading features
include Spelling and Grammar Check (F7), Thesaurus, etc.

Features Of a Word Processor

1. Word Wrap automatically breaks the text to the next line without pressing the enter
key
2. Text wrap is a facility that allows text to surround embedded features such as pictures,
tables, etc.
3. Find is a feature that allows the user to locate all occurrences of a particular character,
word or phrase.
4. Replace allows the user to substitute existing characters, words or phrases with the new
ones.
5. Spell checker checks spellings in the entire document once
6. Autocorrect corrects spellings of individual words as they are typed
7. Grammar checker reports grammatical errors and suggests ways to correct them.
Grammatical errors are usually marked by a wavy green line
8. Thesaurus suggests alternative words with the same meaning for use in the document
9. Mail Merge is a feature used to create similar documents such as letters to be sent to
several people
10. Page numbering numbers the pages automatically in a document
11. Tables allow users to organize information in form of rows and columns
12. Columns This arranges text into two or more columns
13. Drop cap formats the first letter in paragraph to be dropped across two or more lines
14. Clipart refers to pre-made images about various subjects used to illustrate concepts in
documents
15. Templates establish the initial document layouts and formats for various document
types
16. Printing refers to converting soft copy to hard copies

Page 3 of 8
17. Word Count establishes the number of words, characters, paragraphs, etc. used in a
document
18. Footnotes are used to comment on or provide specific reference for text in a document.
It appears at the bottom of text on a page
19. Endnotes are used as references that provide additional information about a word or
phrase within a document. It appears at the end of a page
20. Insert and Delete allows a user to add and remove portions of text while editing
document
21. Page orientation is the layout in which a page is arranged for normal viewing. it can
be:
❖ Portrait; is the layout of a page in which the height of a page is greater than the
width
❖ Landscape; is the layout of a page where the width is greater than the height

22. Paragraph spacing determines the amount of space between paragraphs

23. Document views. These include;
▪ Normal view which shows formatting such as; line spacing, font, point size,
italics, etc.
▪ Web layout view enables user to view the document as it would appear in a
browser.
▪ Print layout view shows the document as it will look when printed.
▪ Reading layout displays the screen for easy more comfortable reading of the
document
▪ Outline view displays the document in an outline form

24. Blocking or highlighting text refers to selecting text to make it ready for modification
25. Sorting is the arranging a list of text paragraphs, lines, words, etc.
26. Superscript is a feature that places text above another e.g. X2
27. Subscript is a feature that places text below another e.g. X2
28. Borders and shadings help to enclose text or objects in a frame or boarders
29. Page breaks are used to terminate a page prematurely
30. Gutter margin is a feature that adds extra space to the side or top margin to ensure
text is not hidden by the binding.

Page 4 of 8
 31. Page margins are the blank spaces around the edges of the page.
32. Print preview is a feature in that enables users to view the document the way it would
look when printed.
33. Clip art gallery: allows a user to insert drawings, diagrams, and photographs into a
document.
34. Mathematical formulae typesetting: allows a user to typeset complex mathematical
formulae within the program.
35. Indices of keywords and their page numbers;
36. Tables of contents with section titles and their page numbers;
37. Tables of figures with caption titles and their page numbers;
38. Cross-referencing with section or page numbers;
39. Footnote numbering;

Common Parts of a Word Processor

1. Title bar displays the task currently running. it also has the minimize, restore or
minimize and close buttons
2. Menu bar has a group of commands that are used to manipulate the document
3. Tool bars has buttons for quick execution of frequently used commands
4. Document window is the working area where the document is created
5. Status bar displays information such as current insertion pointer position, progress,
pages, edit mode, etc.

Page 5 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Advantages Over Ordinary Typewriter
▪ Easy and fast to make changes to the document than in typewriting
▪ It is possible to proofread the document and correct mistakes before printing
▪ Have many features to create documents that look professional and visually appealing.
▪ Documents can normally be previewed before being printed.
▪ Documents can be saved for future use and editing.
▪ Convenient to create form letters and mailing labels.
▪ Can be used to carry out simple calculations in a document.
▪ Ability to work with drawings and objects.
▪ Word processors can save softcopies for future use while with a type writer; a document
has to be retyped if needed again.
▪ With a word processor, it is possible to undo a mistake, while any error made with a type
writer is impacted on the printout.
▪ A type writer prints one character at a time while a word processor prints many pages at
a time.
▪ Easier to add graphics, drawings in a word processor than to draw with a type writer.
▪ The user can type continuously while user needs to advance the lever of a typewriter
manually, at the end of every line.
▪ It is simpler to align text in a document while with a type writer; one has to manually
align the text, which is very difficult.
▪ A word processor has Copy, cut and Paste features and text can be copied to and pasted
from the clipboard while a type writer has no clipboard.
▪ A word processor can work on many pages at a go by inserting pages numbers, footers,
headers, watermarks, etc. while a type writer works on one page at a time.
▪ A type writer makes a lot of noise during its operation as compared to a word processor

Disadvantages Of Using Electronic Word Processors

❖ It takes time to learn how to use the effectively.
❖ Not faster compared to pen and faster
❖ You need access to a computer with installed word processor.
❖ Very expensive to access compared to pen and paper.
❖ It is not easy to read long documents on the computer screen.
❖ Sometimes the printer may print not the exact copy on the screen.
❖ Word processors cannot be used without electricity.

Page 7 of 8
 ❖ Word processors Use is Expensive due to the cost of computers.
❖ They have led to Unemployment of typists because one person using a word processor
can do a lot of work in a short time, which would be done by many using type writers
❖ Many people are computer illiterate, and cannot use the program.
❖ Computers have Viruses, which lead to loss of data in soft copies.
❖ Using word processors on light emitting computer monitors for long leads to eye
disorders, which isn’t the case with type writers
❖ Word processors require additional hard ware like printers in order to obtain hard
copies yet with typewriters, whatever is typed is permanent and instantly available as
a hard copy: there is no delay for printing or risk of unintended file deletion.

Commonly Used Word Processing Keyboard Shortcuts

The following among many others are some of the common word processing keyboard
shortcuts that provide quick access to the usage of it.
Ctrl-A selects entire text Ctrl-O Open a document
Ctrl-B bolds selected text Ctrl-P Print
Ctrl-C copies selected text Ctrl-R Align—Right
Ctrl-D Open the font preferences window. Ctrl-S Save
Ctrl-Enter Breaks the page Ctrl-Shift-C Copy formatting
Ctrl-F Find Ctrl-Shift-D Double Underline
Ctrl-F10 Maximize window Ctrl-Shift-W Underline words only
Ctrl-F4 Close Ctrl-U Underline
Ctrl-F5 restores a window Ctrl-V Paste
Ctrl-H Replace Ctrl-W Close
Ctrl- Italics Ctrl-X Cut
Ctrl-J Justify—Full Ctrl-Y Redoes an action
Ctrl-K Hyperlink Ctrl-Z Undoes an action
Ctrl-L Align—Left Ctrl-Shift-<or> Increase/ Reduce Font
Ctrl-N New document

Page 8 of 8