2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Place a check mark by the setting Kerning for Fonts.
4. Set a text size value in the Points and Above box.
5. Click OK.
Unlike other items in the Font dialog box, kerning is applied to all text throughout the document, as long as the text’s point size is larger than what’s set in Step 4.
Another way to make text more readable and decrease the space between certain letters is to apply ligatures. A ligature connects two or more letters, such as the F and I in the word file. Converting text in this manner is a feature of the OpenType font, so it’s not available to all typefaces. If you want to try it, follow these steps:
1. Select the chunk of text to which you want to apply a ligature.
2. Press Ctrl+D.
3. In the File dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
4. From the Ligatures menu, choose Standard Only.
If this choice has no effect on the text, choose All.
5. Click OK.
The All setting (refer to Step 4) adds just about every ligature possible, which may produce some funky results in the text. If so, consider scaling back your choice to Standard and Contextual.
❯❯ Without kerning, some words appear to have extra space in them. Kerning addresses that issue.
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❯❯ If you desire to kern all letters on a line of text, adjust the character spacing. Refer to the preceding section.
❯❯
❯❯ You can also insert ligatures directly. On the Insert tab, choose Symbol and select More Symbols. In the Symbol dialog box, the fi and fl ligatures are found in the Symbol dialog box, under the subset Alphabetic Presentation Forms.
The two basic text-positioning commands are Superscript and Subscript, found in the Home tab’s Font group. These commands allow you to reduce the text size and shift the baseline up or down to create subscripts such as H20 and superscripts such as E=mc2. You can apply a similar effect to your text by shifting the baseline up or down, as illustrated in Figure 1-9.
FIGURE 1-9: Text baseline adjustments.
To adjust text position above or below the baseline, heed these directions:
1. Select the text you want raised or lowered.
Ensure that it’s a small chunk of text. Raising an entire line of text would be impractical.
2. Press Ctrl+D to bring forth the Font dialog box.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. From the Position menu, choose Raised or Lowered.
5. Select a point value from the By gizmo.
For example, to raise a word 3 points from the baseline, choose Raised and then 3 pt from the box.
6. Click OK to apply the new text position.
To remove raised or lowered text, repeat these steps and choose Normal in Step 4, and then click OK.
❯❯ Raising or lowering text can affect line spacing within a paragraph as well as spacing between paragraphs. If you have paragraph line spacing at the Exactly setting, the text may bump the line above or below. See Chapter 2 for more information on paragraph line spacing.
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❯❯
Text Effects Strange and Wonderful
If you really want to have fun with fonts, you can apply some of Word’s text effects. These aren’t typeface attributes, but rather special effects applied to a font. And like all strange and wonderful things in the world of fonts, these effects are best suited for headings and titles, not for body text.
To apply text effects, you summon the Format Text Effects pane, illustrated in Figure 1-10.
FIGURE 1-10: The Format Text Effects pane.
To display this pane, follow these steps:
1. Press Ctrl+D to bring forth the Font dialog box.
2. Click the Text Effects button.
The button is found near the lower left corner of the dialog box. If it’s disabled, the current typeface cannot be manipulated.
The Format Text Effects pane features two tabs, illustrated in Figure 1-10. The left tab handles text fill and outline options. The right tab lists a host of effects.
Each item in the Format Text Effects pane is collapsible. Click the triangle to expand the item; click again to collapse, as illustrated in Figure 1-10.
To make adjustments, select the text you want to format. Work the pane to apply the effects, which, sadly, cannot be previewed. After making adjustments, click the OK button to apply, and then click OK again to close the Font dialog box.
The Font dialog box, as well as the Font group on the Home tab, features the Font Color button. To apply color to the font’s outline as well as use more than just a solid color, you access the Text Fill area of the Format Text Effects pane; refer to Figure 1-10.
The Solid Fill option works just like the Font Color command: Choose Solid Fill and select a color. Use the Transparency slider to add a transparent, or ghost, effect to the text.
When you choose Gradient Fill, the pane changes to show many more controls. A gradient features different colors or shades that fade into each other, similar to the text shown in Figure 1-11, which features a gradient fill effect.
FIGURE 1-11: Gradient fill.
The options available for Gradient Fill are numerous, as illustrated on the right in Figure