User's Manual

Using character styles

Open the stylist (press F11) and click on the second button at the top bar . This displays

the list of available character styles. To apply a character style follow these steps:

1) Highlight the block of text where you wish to apply the style.

2) Double click on the appropriate character style.

Some examples include:

This example uses the Emphasis character style.

Definition: A statement describing the meaning of a word or phrase.

Note: One difference between character styles and paragraph styles is the need for highlighting.

Character styles require you to highlight the applicable text; paragraph styles do not.

Unset/undo character styles

Some times you will want to remove the formatting from a block of text. You must resist the

temptation to do this manually. This will only cause trouble down the road. There are two

easy ways to remove character formatting:

• Select the block of text, right-click and choose Default.

• If you have the Stylist open, click on the Default character style.

Note: Incidentally, the first method also works for removing manual formatting.

Migrating to character styles

For people used to formatting text manually, character styles can take some getting used to.

Here are some suggestions for making the transition easier:

• Never mix character styles and manual formatting. Manual formatting supersedes

character styles. If you combine them, you may end up wasting hours in frustration

trying to figure out why your character styles don’t work.

• Right-click > Default removes any text formatting (both manual and character styles).

• Realize that clicking on the bold button is not easier than clicking on a character style.

• Leave the Stylist open to make character styles easy to access.

Introduction to Styles 27