Word 2016 For Dummies
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In Word 2016 you can set some weird and funky text formatting. On the Home tab in Word 2016, in the Font group, you find a button adorned with a fuzzy A, as shown here. It's the Text Effects and Typography button.

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Click that button to view the Text Effects menu, as shown on the far left of the following figure. This menu lists special text formats, well beyond the standard text decorations. Choose an effect from the menu to apply it to your text.

Text effects galore.
Text effects galore.

If the effects on the menu aren't exactly what you want, you can create your own. You can choose custom effects from the submenus on the Text Effects and Typography menu, or you can use the Format Text Effects dialog box, shown on the center and right.

To access the Format Text Effects dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. Press Ctrl+D.

    This keyboard shortcut brings up the Font dialog box.

  2. Click the Text Effects button.

    The Format Text Effects dialog box appears. It features two categories: Text Fill & Outline and Text Effects, shown on the center and right of the figure, respectively.

  3. Manipulate the controls in the dialog box to customize text effects.

    Choose a category, then click a triangle to expand items in a subcategory. Controls appear, as illustrated, which let you customize the effect. Sadly, the dialog box lacks a preview window, so you'll have to make your best guess as to the results.

  4. Click the OK button to dismiss the Format Text Effects dialog box.

  5. Click the OK button to close the Font dialog box.

    The font effects that you select affect any selected text in the document or any text you type from that point onward.

    Font effects are best used for document headings and other decorative text.

    The Text Effect button appears dimmed (Step 2) on older Word documents or if an older Word template was used to create the document. If the document is based on an older template, you need to update the template and then re-attach the document to that template.

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Dan Gookin wrote the first-ever For Dummies book, DOS For Dummies. The author of several bestsellers, including all previous editions of Word For Dummies, Dan has written books that have been translated into 32 languages with more than 11 million copies in print.

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