Technical Writing - How to Design Your Page Margins in a Microsoft Word Document Template (1)?

Microsoft Word is the world's most frequently used word processor with pretty good page layout functions. It's installed on a great majority of home and business computers in every country. So it makes sense for you as a freelance technical writer to learn how to design a document template in Word.

First create your margins and other basic page layout features.

Select File > New from the main menu and create a blank Word document.

Technical Writing - How to Design Your Page Margins in a Microsoft Word Document Template (1)?

Select File > Page Setup to display the Page Setup dialog box.

Select your Page Orientation (Portrait vs. Landscape).

Set your Top, Bottom, Right, and Left margins. The default values look good but you can change them to anything you want.

Set your Gutter dimension and position. Gutter is the blank non-text area to the LEFT or TOP of your text area. A lot of book-format documents leave a gutter to the left for ease of reading. Experiment with different gutter widths and see which one you like better; or set it to the width specified by your Documentation Guideline (if you have one).

Select a value for "Multiple Pages" from the drop-down menu. Here are your options:

NORMAL creates a single type of page, with the same margins and gutters, headers and footers. All pages of the document will look exactly the same. MIRROR MARGINS creates left and right pages with margins "mirroring" each other. That is, margins will be on the OUTER edge of each page. 2 PAGES PER SHEET creates two small equal-size pages out of the "normal size" page. For portrait-orientation pages, two smaller landscape pages are created. For landscape-orientation pages, two smaller portrait pages are created. BOOK FOLD creates a "spread" (a single page unit) out of 2 or multiples-of-2 pages. Your choices are All, 4, 8, 12, and 16 pages to a spread.

In the Preview box, select from the drop-down list how many pages these page layout features should apply to.

WHOLE DOCUMENT applies the page setup values to every page in the document. THIS POINT FORWARD applies the changes from where you are in the document to the end.

Click the DEFAULT button to reset all values to their default values.

Click OK when you're done.

Technical Writing - How to Design Your Page Margins in a Microsoft Word Document Template (1)?
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Technical Writing - How to Use Fonts Properly in a Technical Document

As a technical writer, you should be aware of certain basics about fonts and some basic rules to observe in your documents. The most basic distinction about fonts is whether they have a "serif" or not. That's why font families are split into two major categories: Serif and Non-Serif fonts.

A serif is a small tail- or wedge-like appendage that extends outward from the end fo a letter or symbol. "Times Roman," for example, is a famous serif font and "Arial" is an equally famous non-serif font.

RECOMMENDED RULES of font selection for technical writers:

Technical Writing - How to Use Fonts Properly in a Technical Document

1) Select your headlines from NON-SERIF fonts (like Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Futura, Optima) and your body text from SERIF fonts (like Roman, Times Roman, Times New Roman, Georgia, Bookman).

2) ITALIC is designed to attract attention to itself by virtue of being hard to read. That's why, in a block of readable text, it makes sense to emphasize a word or a phrase by printing it in Italic.

However, some authors print whole web or print pages in Italic! That defies the whole purpose of the Italic style. Every time you use Italic font, be aware that you are making your words harder to read. Thus use it sparingly, like using pepper while cooking.

3) Do not use more than two or a MAXIMUM of three typefaces in your technical documents. A profusion of typefaces creates confusion in the reader's mind. When it comes to fonts, less is always more.

4) Do not assume that all computers have access to every font you have. All computers, however, come with a set of built-in "system fonts" that are installed automatically by the operating system. The most famous of these system fonts are Arial, Times Roman, and Courier. If you use these three fonts you can rest assured that your document will appear in the receiving end in the same fonts that you have used on your machine.

If, however, you use a hard-to-get fancy font, the reader's machine will substitute the "closest font available" to render your document readable. "Optima" for example may be replace with "Arial" and sometimes such substitutions change the way a page is composed, usually for the worse.

Thus, to be safe, stick to the basic "system fonts" when designing a document that you expect to be distributed and read online.

Technical Writing - How to Use Fonts Properly in a Technical Document
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If you are interested to read more about technical writing as a career and how it can help you earn a steady living, visit http://www.learntechnicalwriting.com. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you'll find out. Join the thousands who are already helped and inspired by this information provided by a Fortune 500 Senior Technical Writer. Visit today and claim your free report "How Much Do Technical Writers Make?"

Dr. Ugur Akinci is a Fortune 500 Sr. Technical Communicator http://www.technicalcommunicationcenter.com/

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