Editing & Formatting Documents

Character Formatting: Fonts, Sizes, and Text Effects

In the previous lesson, you learned to create and save Word documents. Now it is time to make those documents look professional. Formatting transforms plain text into polished, readable documents that convey competence and attention to detail — qualities that are essential in healthcare settings where documents may be reviewed by patients, supervisors, insurance companies, or regulatory agencies.

What Is Character Formatting?

Character formatting refers to any formatting applied to individual characters or selected text. This includes font family, font size, font color, and text effects like bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, subscript, and superscript. Character formatting is applied from the Font group on the Home tab of the Ribbon, or through the Font dialog box (accessible by selecting the small arrow at the bottom-right corner of the Font group, or by pressing Ctrl+D).

Font Family

The font family (also called the typeface) determines the visual style of your text. Word includes hundreds of fonts, but in professional healthcare documents, readability should always be your primary concern. The most commonly used fonts in healthcare and business settings include:

• Calibri — Word's default font since 2007. Clean, modern, and highly readable. Excellent for everyday office documents.
• Arial — A widely used sans-serif font that is clean and professional. Common in healthcare forms and signage.
• Times New Roman — A traditional serif font often required for formal reports, academic papers, and legal documents.
• Verdana — Designed for screen readability, making it a good choice for documents that will be viewed primarily on computers or tablets.

To change the font, select your text and choose a new font from the Font dropdown on the Home tab. You can also type the font name directly into the dropdown box for faster access.

Font Size

Font size is measured in points (pt). Standard body text in most healthcare documents is 11pt or 12pt. Headings are typically larger (14pt to 18pt), while footnotes and fine print may be smaller (8pt to 10pt). Keep in mind that patient-facing documents should use at least 12pt font for readability, and documents for elderly patients or those with visual impairments should use 14pt or larger.

To change the font size, select your text and either choose a size from the Font Size dropdown, type a specific size directly into the box, or use the Increase Font Size (Ctrl+Shift+>) and Decrease Font Size (Ctrl+Shift+<) buttons.

Bold, Italic, Underline, and Other Effects

Text effects add emphasis and visual hierarchy to your documents:

Formatting Toolbar Quick Reference

Paragraph Formatting: Alignment, Spacing, and Lists

While character formatting affects individual text characters, paragraph formatting controls the overall layout and appearance of entire paragraphs. Paragraph formatting includes alignment, line spacing, indentation, and the use of bulleted or numbered lists. These settings are found in the Paragraph group on the Home tab or in the Paragraph dialog box (select the small arrow at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group).

Text Alignment

Alignment determines how text is positioned horizontally within the margins. Word offers four alignment options:

Line Spacing and Paragraph Spacing

Line spacing controls the vertical distance between lines within a paragraph. Common settings include:

• Single (1.0) — Lines are close together. Used in forms and compact documents where space is limited.
• 1.15 — Word's default. Slightly more open than single spacing for improved readability.
• 1.5 — A comfortable reading spacing, often used in educational materials and patient handouts.
• Double (2.0) — Required for many academic papers and draft documents that need space for handwritten annotations.

Paragraph spacing (also called "before and after" spacing) adds space above or below a paragraph. This is different from pressing Enter to create blank lines — paragraph spacing is more precise and consistent. Using paragraph spacing instead of extra blank lines creates a more polished, professionally formatted document.

Indentation

Indentation moves text inward from the left or right margin. The most common types are:

• First Line Indent — Indents only the first line of a paragraph. Traditional in formal writing, though less common in modern business and healthcare documents.
• Hanging Indent — The first line is at the left margin while subsequent lines are indented. Used for reference lists and bibliographies.
• Left/Right Indent — Moves the entire paragraph inward from the margin. Useful for block quotes, special notices, or offset text such as patient instructions within a longer document.

Bullets and Numbered Lists

Lists are one of the most effective formatting tools for healthcare documents because they present information in a clear, scannable format. Use bulleted lists when the items have no required order (e.g., a list of symptoms or items to bring to an appointment). Use numbered lists when sequence matters (e.g., step-by-step instructions for taking a medication or preparing for a procedure).

To create a list, select the Bullets or Numbering button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. You can customize bullet symbols and numbering styles by selecting the dropdown arrow next to each button. Word also supports multilevel lists for creating outlines and nested items, which are useful for complex healthcare procedure documents.

Inserting and Formatting Tables

Tables are indispensable in healthcare documentation. They organize structured data into rows and columns, making complex information easy to read and compare. In medical settings, tables are used for everything from clinic schedules and staff contact lists to medication tracking charts and lab result summaries.

Inserting a Table

To insert a table in Word, navigate to the Insert tab and select Table. You have several options:

• Grid Selection — Hover over the grid to select the number of rows and columns (up to 10x8). Select to insert the table instantly.
• Insert Table Dialog — Select "Insert Table..." for precise control over the number of rows, columns, and column width behavior (fixed, auto-fit to contents, or auto-fit to window).
• Draw Table — Draw custom table borders with your mouse. Useful for complex, irregular table layouts.
• Quick Tables — Pre-formatted table templates such as calendars, tabular lists, and matrices.

Working with Tables

Once a table is inserted, Word adds two new contextual tabs to the Ribbon: Table Design and Table Layout.

Inserting Graphics, Images, and Other Visual Elements

Visual elements such as images, shapes, icons, and text boxes enhance the readability and professional appearance of healthcare documents. A well-placed clinic logo on a letterhead, an anatomical diagram in a patient education brochure, or a directional arrow on an office map can communicate more effectively than text alone.

Inserting Pictures

To insert an image, go to the Insert tab and select Pictures. Word offers two options:

• This Device — Insert an image file stored on your computer (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, etc.)
• Online Pictures — Search for stock photos and creative commons images from within Word using Bing Image Search

After inserting an image, select it to display the Picture Format contextual tab on the Ribbon. This tab provides tools for adjusting and formatting the image:

Inserting Shapes and Text Boxes

The Shapes gallery (Insert tab > Shapes) provides lines, arrows, rectangles, circles, callouts, flowchart elements, and more. Shapes are useful for creating diagrams, process flows, and organizational charts in healthcare training materials.

Text boxes are rectangular containers that hold text and can be positioned anywhere on the page. They are useful for sidebar content, callout boxes, and pull quotes. To insert a text box, go to Insert > Text Box and choose from built-in styles or draw your own.

Headers and Footers

Headers and footers appear at the top and bottom of every page in a document. They are commonly used for:

• Organization name and logo — Branding on every page of the document
• Document title — Especially in multi-page reports
• Page numbers — Essential for documents longer than two pages
• Date or version number — Helps recipients verify they have the current version
• Confidentiality notices — Required on documents containing patient information

To insert a header or footer, go to Insert > Header or Insert > Footer and choose from built-in designs, or select Edit Header/Edit Footer to create a custom one. You can also insert page numbers directly from Insert > Page Number.

Page Setup and Document Layout

Page setup options control the overall physical layout of your document — how it will appear when printed or viewed in Print Layout mode. These settings are found on the Layout tab of the Ribbon.

Margins

Margins are the blank spaces between the text and the edges of the page. Word's default margins are 1 inch on all sides, which works well for most healthcare documents. However, you may need to adjust margins for specific purposes:

• Narrow margins (0.5 inch) — When you need to fit more content on a page, such as a dense reference chart or a multi-column patient handout
• Wide margins (1.25 or 1.5 inch) — When documents will be hole-punched for binders, or when you want a more spacious, readable layout
• Custom margins — For documents with specific requirements, such as letterhead with a pre-printed logo area at the top

To change margins, go to Layout > Margins and select from presets, or select Custom Margins for precise control.

Page Orientation

Word offers two page orientations:

• Portrait (vertical) — The default orientation. Taller than it is wide. Best for letters, memos, reports, and most healthcare documents.
• Landscape (horizontal) — Wider than it is tall. Best for wide tables, charts, timelines, and certificates. In healthcare, landscape orientation is often used for scheduling grids, comparison charts, and printed certificates of completion.

Page Breaks and Section Breaks

A page break forces the text following it to start on a new page. Insert a page break by pressing Ctrl+Enter or going to Insert > Page Break. Use page breaks instead of pressing Enter repeatedly — this ensures your document reflows correctly if you add or remove content above the break.

A section break divides your document into sections that can have different formatting. For example, you might want the first page of a clinic report in portrait orientation with different margins, while the second page is landscape with a wide table. Section breaks (found under Layout > Breaks) make this possible. Each section can have its own headers, footers, margins, orientation, and page numbering.

Find and Replace, Spelling and Grammar, and the Format Painter

Word includes several powerful editing tools that help you work efficiently and maintain accuracy in your documents — both of which are critical in healthcare settings where errors can have serious consequences.

Find and Replace

The Find and Replace feature (Ctrl+H) allows you to locate specific text in your document and optionally replace it with different text. This is enormously valuable in healthcare documentation where names, terms, dates, or codes may need to be updated throughout a document.

The Find pane (Ctrl+F) opens the Navigation pane on the left side of the screen, showing all instances of your search term with surrounding context. You can select any result to jump directly to that location in the document.

The Replace function (accessed from Find and Replace dialog or Ctrl+H) lets you specify both the text to find and the replacement text. You can replace occurrences one at a time or use Replace All to change every instance simultaneously. Use Replace All with caution — always review the results to ensure no unintended replacements were made.

Spelling and Grammar Check

Word continuously checks your spelling and grammar as you type, marking potential errors with colored underlines:

• Red wavy underline — Indicates a possible spelling error. Right-click the word to see suggested corrections, add it to the dictionary, or ignore the suggestion.
• Blue double underline — Indicates a possible grammar or style issue (such as subject-verb disagreement, passive voice, or informal language). Right-click to see suggestions.

You can also run a comprehensive review by pressing F7 or going to Review > Spelling & Grammar. This opens the Editor pane, which walks through each issue one at a time. In healthcare documentation, always run a spelling and grammar check before finalizing any document — errors in patient-facing materials undermine your organization's credibility, and errors in clinical documentation can lead to misunderstandings about patient care.

Be aware that Word's spell checker may not recognize specialized medical terminology. Words like tachycardia, hemoglobin, or acetaminophen may be flagged as misspelled even when they are correct. You can add these terms to your custom dictionary so Word recognizes them in the future (right-click the term and select "Add to Dictionary").

The Format Painter

The Format Painter is one of the most useful — and underused — tools in Word. It copies all formatting from one selection and applies it to another, saving you the time of manually setting font, size, color, spacing, and other attributes for each section of your document.

To use the Format Painter:

1. Select the text that has the formatting you want to copy.
2. Select the Format Painter button (paintbrush icon) in the Clipboard group on the Home tab.
3. Your cursor changes to a paintbrush. Select or drag over the text you want to apply the formatting to.

Double-click the Format Painter button to "lock" it on, allowing you to apply the same formatting to multiple selections. Press Esc or select the Format Painter button again to turn it off. This is invaluable when you need to format multiple headings, labels, or sections in a long healthcare document consistently.

Creating a Formatted Patient Information Sheet: Step-by-Step

Let us bring all of these formatting skills together with a practical healthcare scenario. Imagine you need to create a patient information sheet about preparing for a blood draw: