In the Foundation level, we talked about applying borders to a page. Did you know that you can apply borders to a paragraph as well?

 

To do this, first we need to decide where we want our border to appear. We have two choices. First, you can apply it directly around a section of text, like this:

 

 

Or, we can apply it around the whole paragraph, like this:

 

So, if you want it around a block of text, first you must select that text. If you’re applying the border to a paragraph, just place your cursor in that paragraph. (If your paragraph has line breaks in it, however, you should select the paragraph.) You can even select multiple paragraphs to apply borders to.

 

After you have selected the text you would like to apply your border to, click the Format menu and click Borders and Shading. After you click this command, you’ll see this window appear:

 

 

 

 

We’ve numbered the above picture so we can walk through the different steps of applying a paragraph border.

 

1.   Choose a setting from None, Box, Shadow, 3-D, and Custom. Click on the graphic next to each setting to select it. Each graphic represents what that setting will look like; the preview box marked with a 6 will also show you a sample of the setting.

2.      Select the border’s style. There are many styles to choose from, including wavy lines, solid lines, dotted lines, and patterned lines. The style list will change as you add colours and widths.

3.      Select the border’s colour. You can click the drop-down arrow to choose from a palette, but there is an option in that menu to create a custom colour.

4.      Select the border’s width. The actual point sizes will vary depending on the setting you have chosen, but normally you can choose from ¼ point line (very thin) to a 6 point line (very thick). (Lines are measured in font point sizes.)

5.      Use these buttons to apply the border to certain portions of your paragraph or text. Use the  button to apply the border to the left of the paragraph;  to apply it to the right;  to apply the border to the top of the paragraph, and  to apply it to the bottom. If you have selected multiple paragraphs, you will also see buttons to add or remove lines between the paragraphs. (These options normally do not apply to text-only borders; clicking any option will toggle the border on and off.)

6.      This box will show you a preview of the settings you choose.

7.      Use this drop-down menu to apply the border to one or more paragraphs or selected text.

8.      Clicking this button will open an Options window.

 

 

This window will show you a preview of the settings you have chosen. It also has text boxes so you can enter how far each side of the border will be from your text.

9.      Click this button to show the Tables and Borders toolbar. You can use this toolbar to add a simple border to a part of your text or your page. You can also use this toolbar to change the border’s weight, style, and colour.

10.  Click this button to choose a type of horizontal line to insert.

 

Once you have completed these steps, click OK to complete the process or click Cancel to discard your changes. Remember that you don’t necessarily need to complete all the steps; for example, you can just select a setting and use the default style, colour, and weight choices.

 

Let’s look at some samples of completed dialog boxes before we move on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see how you can combine different effects to create a truly unique border. You can also change the border at any time by selecting the text or paragraph it applies to, clicking the Format menu and clicking Borders and Shading. You can also remove the border by following those steps and choosing none in the Borders dialog box.