Word for good design

Designers have a vocabulary all their own. If you’re getting design work done, knowing the right terminology will help you communicate with one another and get the results you envision. (We promise it’s a whole lot easier than high school French.)

Take a look at these design terms. Study them. Commit them to memory. Eh… That’s too much work. Just bookmark this page and use it as your design word cheat sheet. Here are the most important descriptive design words you should know:

• Design: composition, balance, proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, white space, hierarchy
• Photography & artwork: resolution, DPI, PPI, bleed, trim, pixels, crop, stock photo
• Typography: serif, sans serif, script, ascender, baseline, descender, kerning, leading, tracking, weight
• Color: hue, tint, tone, shade, saturation, monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic, opacity, CMYK, RGB
• Website elements: header, navigation bar, breadcrumb trail, landing page, HTML, user interface, wireframe
• File formats: AI, EPS, PDF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, PSD, TIFF
• Logo types: abstract mark, emblem, lettermark, pictorial mark, mascot, wordmark

Design
—

Composition and layout

Composition is the arrangement of design elements that form a whole image. A successful composition attracts the viewer and guides their eye across the design. In visual art, you might hear this referred to as “form.” In graphic design, it’s often called layout. Composition is made up of a number of different visual design elements, including balance, proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast and white space.

Balance

This isn’t your ability to walk a straight line after three beers. In design, balance involves the placement of elements on the page so that the text and graphic elements are evenly distributed. There are three ways to achieve balance: symmetrically, asymmetrically and radially.

Symmetrical

Symmetry is achieved when all design elements are equal on both sides of a central line

Asymmetrical

When graphics and text are not equal on both sides of a central line, a design is said to be asymmetrical. In the example above, there is still balance, but there are graphics on one side and text on the other

Radial

A radial design is one in which elements radiate from a central point, creating balance.

Proximity

The way in which design elements are grouped or spaced on a page is called proximity. Great design groups like elements together.

Alignment

Alignment is the position of text or graphics, whether left, right, centered or full justified.

Repetition

To maintain a unified look, designers repeat elements throughout a design. (Repetition is also defined as the number of times your toddler asks for a cookie.)

Contrast

Contrast is achieved by including elements within the design that look measurably different from one another. A designer may use color, shape, texture, size or typeface to create contrast.

White space

White space—sometimes called negative space—is the part of the design that is unmarked by imagery or text. It’s also what Midwesterners call their depressing, winter landscape.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is a technique that designers use to determine focal point. Using a grid of three rows and columns, focal points are indicated where the lines converge. Designers use this as a guide to determine where to place important elements in their design.

Grid

A grid is a series of intersecting vertical, horizontal, angular or curved lines used to organize graphic elements on a page, as well as in relation to one another.

Hierarchy

In design, hierarchy is the organization of elements by level of importance. Newspapers, magazine spreads and movie posters are good examples of the use of design hierarchy. Headlines (also called display type) are usually placed at the top, while subheads and body copy fall underneath.

Scale

Scale is the size of an object in relation to another object (not that thing in your bathroom that you curse at each morning). Scale can be used to create interest and grab a viewer’s attention.

Thumbnail sketch

When conceptualizing, a designer will often create small, rough drawings—thumbnail sketches—to explore many ideas.

Mock-up

A mock-up is a real or digital model used to test early design ideas and see how they could look in the real world.

Photography  & Artwork
—

Resolution

The detail of an image based on the number of pixels is known as resolution. An image looks clearer when it has a higher resolution.

DPI

DPI stands for “dots per inch,” which is a measure of a printer’s quality. For high-quality printing, 300dpi is recommended. For example, a 300dpi image at 1200×1800 pixels will become as a 4×6 inch print.

PPI

PPI stands for “pixels per inch,” which is a measure of pixel density used by electronic image devices. You’ll likely see this used with scanners, cameras, TVs or monitors. Learn more about the difference between DPI and PPI.

Bleed

Sounds pretty gruesome, but bleed is when a design actually extends past its printed edge so there’s no chance of white borders when it’s trimmed down after printing.

Trim

Trim size is the final size of a printed piece after it has been trimmed from its page. Trimming is executed along crop marks that show where to cut.

Pixels

Pixels are square-shaped dots that make a digital raster image (and a really bad movie starring Adam Sandler.) The more pixels an image has, the higher its resolution.

Crop

A designer can cut out or crop unnecessary parts of an image to improve framing, highlight a specific subject or alter the image’s aspect ratio.

Stock photo/art

Stock photos and art are licensed images created by a third party. Using stock images saves on the cost of a having a professional photo shoot. Check out some of our favorite places to get good, free stock imagery.

Typography
—

Font types

Most fonts fall into one of four different font types.

Serif

Serifs are the small lines and hooks at the end of the strokes in some letters.

Sans serif

Sans means “without.” A sans serif font has no serifs.

Script

      Script typefaces use a flowing, cursive stroke.

Slab serif

Slab serif is distinguished by thick, block-like serifs.

Components of type

All fonts are made of the same basic components.

Ascender

An ascender is the part of a lowercase letter that rises above the main body of the letter. Think “b” or “h.”

Baseline

All font characters sit on the baseline, the lowest point of all uppercase letters and most lowercase letters.

Descender

A descender is the part of a lowercase letter that descends below the main body of the letter. Think “g” or “p.”

Median/x-height

The median or x-height is where most lower-case letters should reach their maximum height. It is set from the height of the x in a font.

Font spacing

The vertical and horizontal spacing of a font is often altered to change its appearance.

Kerning

Kerning is the adjustment of space between pairs of letters in the same word. Certain pairs of letters create awkward spaces, and kerning adds or subtracts space between them to create more visually appealing and readable text.

Leading

Pronounced “ledding,” leading (also known as line-height) is the space between two lines of text.

Tracking

Not to be confused with kerning, tracking is the adjustment of space for groups of letters and entire blocks of text. Tracking affects every character in the selected text and is used to change its overall appearance.

Font case

Typically, characters are available in two forms.

Uppercase

The large, capital letters of a typeface are uppercase. They’re also used by your mom to accidentally YELL AT YOU WHEN SHE TEXTS YOU.

Lowercase

Lowercase refers to the small letters of a typeface.

Small caps

Small caps—or small capitals—are uppercase characters that are the same height as lowercase letters. They are used to prevent capitalized words from appearing too large on the page. Want an example? Open just about any book and look at the opening words of a chapter.

Font style

Beyond spacing and case, fonts can also be altered by scale, weight and style.

Point size

Point size is the size of text. There are approximately 72 (72.272) points in one inch.

Font weight

       Font weight specifies the boldness of a font.

Italics

When characters slope to the right, they’re in italics, a visual technique used to draw attention to specific words or sentences within a paragraph.

 Widows & orphans

Widows and orphans make designers very sad. That’s because they are poor, lonely words at the beginning or end of a paragraph left dangling at the top or bottom of a column and separated from the rest of the paragraph.

Lorem ipsum

Lorem ipsum (also known as dummy text) is used as a placeholder that will be swapped out later with actual copy. The Lorem ipsum text comes from “The Extremes of Good and Evil,” written by Cicero in 45 BCE.

Color
—

Color theory

The study of how colors make people feel and their effects on a design is known as color theory. Color theory is used to explore the best types of colors to work in different design instances—for example, choosing a pastel scheme for a website that needs to feel soft, or picking red and yellow for a magazine ad that needs to evoke energy.

Hue, tint, tone and shade

Hue is pure color. Tint is a hue with white added. Tone is a hue with gray added. Shade is a hue with black added.

Saturation

Saturation is defined by the intensity of color.

Palette

A palette is the range of colors used in a design. These are colors that work well together and are often aesthetically pleasing. Designers will defines a palette for a project to create consistency and evoke a specific feeling.

 Warm and cool colors

Warm colors can be found on one half of the color wheel (reds, oranges, yellows and pinks). Cool colors occupy the other half (blues, greens and purples).

Monochromatic

A monochromatic color palette uses one single color.

Grayscale

A monochromatic color palette based on gray is called grayscale.

 Analogous

Colors that are adjacent to one another on the color wheel (i.e. red violet, red and red orange) are analogous.

Complementary

Complementary colors are opposites on the color wheel. This relationship will produce visual tension and “shock.”

Triadic

Triadic colors are three colors evenly spaced on the color wheel. One colors dominates, the second supports, and the third accents.

Gradient

Gradient is a gradual change from one color to another. (For example, blue transitioning gradually to green).

Opacity

Opacity is synonymous with non-transparency. The more transparent an image, the lower its opacity.

CMYK

CMYK is a 4-color printing process made up of cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black). CMYK colors in print will never appear as vibrant as RGB colors on screen because CMYK creates color by adding color together (making images darker) while RGB colors come from light.

RGB

RGB stands for red, green and blue, the three colors of light typically used to display images on a digital screen.

Pantone

Developed by Pantone Corporation, a professional color company, Pantone is the most widely used, proprietary color system for blending colors. The system includes colors that cannot be mixed in CMYK.

Want to learn more about the difference between CMYK and RGB? Check out our video below.

Web & digital
—

 Web page elements

Most web page designs include combination of these elements.

Header

Design elements repeated at the top of every page is called a header.

Navigation & navigation bar

Navigation is a roadmap to the most important parts of a website and should be visually consistent across all pages. A navigation bar is a set of links repeated on each page that often includes links to pages like “About us”, “Products,” “Contact us” and “Testimonials.”

Breadcrumb trail

Breadcrumbs are navigation elements that generally appear near the top of a page to show users the section hierarchy of the current page.

Body text

Body text is the main written content of a page.

Links

Any word or an image can be a link that can take users to another page.

Sidebar

A sidebar is the left or righthand column of a page typically used for either vertical navigation links or advertising. It may also contain site search, subscription links (RSS, newsletters, etc.) or social network buttons.

Banner

Typically located at the top of a page or in a sidebar, banners are advertisements that link to other websites.

Footer

Design elements repeated at the bottom of every page is called a footer.

HTML

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. This is the standard coding language for websites that creates all of the fonts, colors, graphics and links you see online.

Landing page

A landing page is a single page that appears in response to search engine result. Landing pages are used for lead generation.

User interface (UI)

User interface is the design of applications for computers, mobile devices and other devices to maximize their usability and the user experience.

Wireframe

Basic images that display the essential functions of a website are known as wireframes. Designers use wireframes to show how a page or site works.

Image file formats
—

An image file format is a standardized way to encode art, graphics and photos digitally.

Vector graphics

Vector graphics are small graphics that use math to display images. They can be enlarged without losing quality and are essential for cross-platform designs (i.e. billboards, business cards, etc.).

AI

AI stands for Adobe Illustrator document. This is a file format developed by Adobe Systems to represent single-page vector designs.

EPS

EPS stands for Encapsulated Post Script. This is a resizable file format that is commonly used for vector designs. Due to its high quality, it’s commonly used with print elements such as logos, business cards or brochures.

PDF

A PDF is a Portable Document Format developed by Adobe that can be universally downloaded and viewed by any computer. PDFs are most suitable for sharing previews of work and are universally viewable.

Raster graphics

Raster graphics are composed of pixels on a grid, where each pixel is assigned a color value. They are good for assigning special effects, color correction and manipulating photos. They are resolution-dependent, which means that images cannot be enlarged without degrading their quality.

GIF

GIF or Graphics Interchange Format is a raster file format that supports animation and transparency. GIFs can only display up to 256 colors, allowing for very small file sizes. (PS: It’s pronounced, “JIF” as opposed to the widely-accepted pronunciation, “GIF,” according to GIF creator, Steve Wilhite.)

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group is also known as JPEG, the most widely used raster file type for web-based designs. JPEGs are compressed files that load quickly. You’ll typically see them used for emails, banner ads, online photos, and pretty much anything else online. Unlike GIFs, they cannot have a transparent background (a white background will be added automatically).

PNG

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics, a web-based format that does not lose quality when compressed. PNG files were created to improve on the quality of GIF files.

PSD

PSD or Photoshop Document is the uncompressed working raster image file created by designers in Adobe Photoshop.

TIFF

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format, a common format for exchanging raster images between applications. TIFF produces a higher quality image than a JPEG or PNG, and is widely used among publishing industries and photographers. Don’t confuse it with a “tiff” or a “rift,” which happens when you send your designer eight rounds of revisions.

Logo types
—

All logos are built out of typography, shapes and/or images, and typically fit into one of these standard logo types. Each will give your brand or business a different feel. These six types can also be combined with one another to create even more unique logos.

Abstract mark

An abstract mark is a logo that uses the emotive qualities of color and form to convey your brand. Instead of being a recognizable image like an apple or a chicken, abstract marks use shapes to represent your business.

Emblem

Emblem logos uses frames and shapes to enclose the company or organization name. Think badges, seals and crests.

Lettermark

Lettermark logos feature one or more stylized letters (for example, a company’s initials) to identify the brand. Famous lettermark logos include those for IBM, CNN, HP and HBO.

Pictorial mark or symbol

Pictorial marks and symbols are non-abstract, visual icons that represent your company name or service. You can see this with the Apple logo, the Twitter bird and the Target bullseye.

Mascot

Mascot logos rely on a character or brand spokesperson to represent a business. Famous mascots include Colonel Sanders, the Kool-Aid Man and Mr. Peanut.

Wordmark

A wordmark relies on custom typographic treatment of text to illustrate a brand. Think VISA, Google or Coca-Cola.

This article was originally written by Alex Bigman and published in 2014. The current version has been updated with new information and examples.

When you create a new document in Microsoft Word, it looks decent right off the bat. But sometimes you want to make your page look much better than the default. 

Use Microsoft Word’s page layout design tools to make easy-to-read documents that reflect positively on you and your business—even if you’re new to Word.

You can make page layout designs in Microsoft Word from scratch. Or, skip the grunt work by using Microsoft Word templates. 

Envato Elements and GraphicRiver are both great sources of print templates for Word. Each template is made by professional designers. Elements makes a compelling offer. Download unlimited templates, fonts, photos, and other creative assets for one fixed subscription price.

But, if you only need the occasional template for MS Word and prefer to pay for each single use, then look to GraphicRiver.

How to Make Awesome Page Layout Designs in Microsoft Word (Video)

If you create or modify documents in Word, you may want to change the standard Microsoft Word layout. There are a number of changes you can make.

Watch this quick screencast to find out what you need to know about Word page layout options:

To learn more about changing page layouts in Microsoft Word, study the complete written tutorial below:

Why Learn About Page Layouts In Word?

Page layout settings in Word determine how your document looks when you print it out. It includes the page orientation, margins, and columns, for example.

It’s important to pay attention to the page layout of your document for several reasons:

• It ensures consistency. This gives your readers a good experience while consuming your document.
• A good page layout makes your document more readable. When your document is aesthetically pleasing and has a consistent look, your audience is more likely to read, comprehend, and remember your content.
• A well-designed document reflects well on you. It reinforces your credibility and authority in your field.

Microsoft Word has robust page settings that allow you to control your page layout design. Everything is designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible. Yet, doing page layout in Word can be daunting if you’re new to the software.

This article breaks things down for you. So, you can follow along, step-by-step, and take control of how your document looks.

Types of Documents You Can Create in MS Word

You can create all kinds of printed documents in Microsoft Word.

Make business documents like:

• resumes
• cover letters
• business letters
• reports
• proposals
• invoices
• certificates
• forms

MS Word is also very handy for creating marketing documents. Create everything from:

• flyers
• brochures
• advertising inserts
• and more

For education or training use Word to prepare:

• handouts
• workbooks
• manuals
• certificates

You can also produce postcards, invitations, newsletters, and signs. If you can print it, then you can whip it up in Word.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Microsoft Word’s page layout tools to produce the print materials you need.

How to Work With Templates to Quickly Change Your Design

The quickest way to change or apply a page layout is by using a print template for Word. For the examples below, we’ll be using the SEO Proposal template from Envato Elements. 

When looking for a print template for Word, it’s a good idea to choose one that uses paragraph and character styles. The styles feature will allow you to quickly format text even in a long document.

Below are some roundups of Microsoft Word templates you can choose from:

Now that you’ve chosen a template with a good page layout in Word, it’s time to learn how to use it. 

1. Download the Template

Download the template of your choice to your computer’s hard drive. Unzip the file, then copy the template. This way, you’ve got the original template file intact, if you want to revert to it.

2. Customize the Template With Your Own Content

Replace the text with your own information.

If you want to change the text formatting, change the settings for fonts and paragraphs.

To add your own image, click on an image placeholder. The Format Picture dialog box opens. Under Fill, select Picture or texture fill. Under Picture source, click Insert….

Find and select the image you want to use. Click Insert.

Now, the image is inserted.

To replace an existing logo on the template, click on the logo, then click on the Picture Format tab.

Click the Change Picture button on the ribbon. Find and select the logo file, then click Insert.

If necessary, click-and-drag one of the handles of the logo to resize it.

Next, I’d like to change the color of the rectangle on the cover page. To do that, select the shape, then click the Shape Format tab.

The Shape Format ribbon is displayed. Click on the drop-down arrow beside the Shape Fill button. Select from the color options shown or click More Fill Colors… to specify the color you want to apply.

This is what the customized proposal cover looks like now:

Repeat these steps to customize the other pages of the template.

As you can see, when you start with a template for Word most of the design and page formatting decisions are already made for you by the template creator.

But, if you prefer to start your document from scratch, follow the steps below to change the default page format settings.

Type or paste your text into the document. Apply text and paragraph formatting to modify settings for fonts, spacing, alignment, and more. Then, you can move on to the page layout.

3. How to Set the Microsoft Word Page Orientation as Portrait or Landscape

To set the Microsoft Word page orientation of your document, go to File > Page Setup….

The Page Setup dialog opens. Click on the button for either Word portrait or landscape layout orientation.

4. How to Set the Print Size of the Paper

From the Microsoft Word Page Setup dialog, you can also change the paper size when you print the document. Click on the Paper Size field to show the different paper size choices available.

Select the size you wish to use. You can also click Manage Custom Sizes… to specify your own size.

5. How to Split Your Text into Multiple Columns

Sometimes you may want to divide your text into columns. This can make the document more readable and adds variety to an otherwise monotonous layout. Columns are popular in magazines, newsletters, and similar types of materials.

Arrange the Entire Document into Columns 

To change the MS Word layout to columns, follow these steps:

1. Go to Layout > Columns.

The Columns dialog box opens. 

2. Select one of the Presets or manually set the:

• number of columns
• width and spacing
• apply to the whole document or from that point forward

3. When you’re happy with the settings, click OK.

Apply Columns to a Part of the Document

You can also apply columns to only a specific part of the document.

1. Select the text you wish to display in columns.

2. Go to Layout > Columns.

3. In the Columns dialog box, choose the settings you want to apply.

Notice that you now have the option to apply the column settings to Selected text. Click OK.

Now, only the selected text has been broken into two columns. The rest remains in one column.

6. How to Add Page and Section Breaks

Sections in Microsoft Word enable you to apply different layouts to different parts of your document. This is useful for making creative layouts, especially to long documents.

Insert a Page Break in Word

A page break separates text, so that anything after the break is moved to a succeeding page. It’s useful for dividing up a document into chapters and sections.

To insert a page break, place the cursor at the point where you want the break to be, then go to Insert > Break > Page Break.

In our sample document, the title page is now on a separate page from the rest of the text.

Insert a Section Break in Word

If you wish to apply varying formatting on different parts of the document, then you’ll want to break it into sections. This includes varying the columns, headers and footers, pagination, borders, and other settings.

To create a section break, place the cursor where you would like the section break to be. Go to Insert > Break > Section Break.

Select the type of section break you want to insert:

• Section Break (Next Page) creates a section break and moves the next section into a new page.
• Section Break (Continuous) keeps the two sections on the same page while allowing you to apply different formatting settings for each.
• Section Break (Odd Page) starts a new section on the next odd-numbered page.
• Section Break (Even Page) starts a new section on the next even-numbered page.

Take Control of Your Page Layouts with Microsoft Word

Use Microsoft Word’s page layout tools to give your documents a consistent, readable, and professional look. You don’t have to be an expert in Word to take better control of your document’s page layouts. With Microsoft Word’s page layout tools, you can make any document look the way you want it to.

You don’t have to start from scratch, either. You can have professional designers make most of the design and layout decisions for you by using print templates for MS Word. If you want unlimited downloads of templates as well as photos, fonts, icons, and other creative assets—all for one small, fixed fee—then Envato Elements is the best source for you.

For one-off Word templates and other desktop publishing tools, look to GraphicRiver. Here, you can access everything you need to create impressive print materials on a pay-per-use basis.

And when you use a template, the skills you learned in this post will help you customize and adapt it to your needs.

Editorial Note: Video added by Alexis (Lexi) Rodrigo.

Microsoft Word is packed with so many features that you can produce pretty much whatever you want with it. But these features don’t always result in the kind of beautiful, high-quality, and professional document designs that you may expect.

It’s one thing to know everything about Microsoft Word, all of its intricacies and quirks and functions—it’s something else entirely to know what makes a great document. Here, we’ll show you how to format a Word document to make it look professional.

1. Keep It Simple, Less Is More

Want to know how to make a Word document look good? Just keep it simple, and take advantage of the hidden features that Microsoft Word comes with. If you remember one thing from this article, let it be this, and you’ll be able to make the right design decisions in the future!

When writing a document, the content should be the main focus. Document formatting guidelines exist to make that content easier to read and digest.

Eliminate the temptation to introduce eye-catching elements that only serve to distract. Maximize whitespace. Keep your wording tight and revise any wordy sentences or paragraphs. Simple and minimal rules overall.

2. Choose a Context-Appropriate Typeface

Your first big design decision should be which typeface you’re going to use. Traditional knowledge says that serif fonts are easier to read in printed documents, whereas sans-serif fonts are better on the eyes when read on a digital screen.

Good examples of serif fonts include Garamond, Georgia, Hoefler Text, and Palatino, while good examples of sans-serif fonts include Arial, Gill Sans, Helvetica, and Lucida Sans.

Skip Comic Sans if you want to avoid one of the most common presentation design mistakes. And whatever you end up using, stick to the same typeface throughout to make your Word document professional. If desired, you can use a different typeface for headings.

3. Use Standard Font Size and Color

You can’t learn how to format a word document to look professional without paying attention to the look of the text. Business and academic papers generally use 12-point font sizes, which produce the most readable paragraphs when used in combination with the guidelines discussed below for page size, margins, and line spacing.

Some information-dense reports may sometimes go down to 10-point font size, but never less than that.

In general, it’s best to keep your hands off of anything related to colors, especially for printed documents. You’ll have to pay more for the color ink, and it won’t carry over if the document ever gets copied. For digital documents, reserve colored text for critical warnings and the like. Prefer to emphasize using bolded and italic text.

4. Use Standard Page Size and Margins

Nearly all office documents are formatted to the same page size as they are printed for standard 8½» x 11″ pages, known as US Letter size (also known as A4 elsewhere, which is 210mm x 297mm). This is the only size that’s guaranteed to be available regardless of which printer you use.

As for margins, most style manuals and style guides call for a 1″ margin on all sides of the page, which produces the best readability for line lengths and allows for written annotations if necessary. In Word, you can select Normal under Margins to do so. However, if the document is going to be bound in a binder, you may want to use Custom Margins to increase the side margins to 1½» to accommodate the rings.

5. Align Paragraphs to the Left

You may be tempted to use justified alignment because that’s what’s used in newspapers, novels, and some textbooks, but it’s the wrong choice for office and academic documents. Why is it important to make a document formal? Without formality, your document becomes unreadable.

What you want is left alignment for text. This produces jaggedness on the right side of paragraphs, but it keeps letter spacing as intended by whatever typeface you’re using, and that means optimal legibility.

Otherwise, you may end up with typographic rivers, which are extremely distracting and simply look ugly. This is something you certainly want to avoid when you want to make your Word document look professional.

6. Indent the First Lines of Paragraphs

Paragraphs should have no extra spacing between them, and the first lines of paragraphs should be indented to make each paragraph stand out. The only exception is for paragraphs that directly follow a section heading, which can be left unindented because the surrounding context makes it clear that it’s its own paragraph.

To make a document look professional, a general rule of thumb is to have the indent size the same as the font size. Make sure you use Word’s paragraph styling features to handle the indents rather than using the Tab key!

7. Place Images Between Paragraphs

Inserting images is a part of designing your Word document. It may be okay to place images inside a paragraph and allow the surrounding text to flow around it, and if your organization follows this document formatting guideline, then go ahead and do that.

But generally speaking, it can damage readability, especially in data-driven reports. The safest option, particularly for graphs, charts, and tables, is to put images in between paragraphs and keep them center aligned. That way, your images help to make your document attractive, but they are never vying for attention with the surrounding text. It also helps captions to stand out.

8. Choose Context-Appropriate Line Spacing

To format a document to look professional, the right choice for line spacing (the whitespace that separates a line of text from the next line of text) really depends on what kind of document you’re writing.

Academic papers should first follow any academic style guides in place, then prefer double-spacing if no style guide exists. Business and office documents tend to be single-spaced to minimize the number of pages needed when printing, but digital documents may be easier to read if spaced at somewhere between 120-150 percent.

9. Break Up Text With Headings and Lists

The longer the document, the more important headings become. Would you rather read a 20-page report that’s nothing but a wall of text from end to end? Or a 30-page report that’s organized into proper sections, subsections, and headings? It’s highly likely you’ll prefer the latter.

Lists are also good for breaking up walls of text and drawing eyes to important points. In Word, use Numbering to create numbered lists when counting a set of items (e.g., «the five attributes of a successful entrepreneur») or when providing step-by-step instructions. Otherwise, use Bullets to make bulleted lists.

Just be sure to avoid overusing lists, which detracts readability from your Word document design. This is especially important when it comes to using Word to format a screenplay.

10. Separate Sections With Breaks

When you want to learn how to make your report look professional, you need to get acquainted with section breaks. In Microsoft Word, section breaks allow you to differentiate certain pages with changes in orientation, columns, headers, footers, page numbers, and more. Section breaks come in four forms:

• Next Page: Start the next section on the following page.
• Continuous: Start the next section on the current page.
• Even Page: Start the next section on the next even page.
• Odd Page: Start the next section on the next even page.

If your document is large enough to need chapters, this is the best way to format them in a clean way. Each chapter should be made with a Next Page section break, or the Even Page or Odd Page section breaks if you’re going to place it within a binder. We’ve shown how to remove page breaks if needed, too.

Learn How to Format a Word Document to Look Professional

Unless your organization or school requires a specific layout and format, you can skip the hard work of setting up your own template and just download one instead. This helps you quickly achieve a professional document design.