Word processing area and the ruler

The ruler is displayed permanently, under the title bar of the window. The different symbols it contains allow you to format the document by modifying the paragraph format.

This ruler contains a paragraph removal and tab stops with different types of alignment (left, cente- red, bar, decimal and right).

All changes made using the ruler apply to the selected paragraphs or, if there is no selection, to the paragraph in which the insertion point is located. To change the format of several paragraphs simultaneously, it is therefore necessary to select them first.

The ruler also has an informative role. It informs you about the format of the paragraph in which the insertion point is located.

If the selection covers several paragraphs of different formats, some information will not be displayed.

Measurement units

The unit of measurement is expressed in centimetres. The document margins are 2.5 cm on all 4 sides of the page. The page orientation is vertical and its size is A4. All these settings can be changed via the Document… command in the contextual menu.

Paragraph indentation

Each paragraph can be indented from the document margins by dragging the squares at the left and right ends of the ruler. On the left side, the lower square corresponds to the paragraph indentation, while the upper square only acts on the first line of the paragraph.

You can create a negative indent by positioning this marker to the left of the paragraph indent, which makes it easier to format an enumeration.

Tab stops

When the ruler does not display any tab stops, and if you use the Tab key, the insertion point will move to the next default tab stop. The spacing of the default tab stops can be changed via the context menu, Paragraph>Tab stop offset command.

Simply click in the graduated area of the ruler to create a tab stop at the position you want. The default tab stops to the left of the last stop you positioned are no longer active.

To remove a tab stop, simply drag it down.

Types of alignment

By pressing the Tab key, you move the insertion point directly to the next tab stop, which pushes the text that follows. This text can be aligned with different types of alignment on the tab stop. You modify this type by using the secondary click on the tab stop.

When you place a new tab stop in the ruler, it is by default of the left-aligned type. Alignment with the Decimal Separator is particularly useful for aligning columns of numbers. You can also associate leading characters to a tab stop.

To effectively handle tab stops, it is important to remember that this is a format that applies at the paragraph level. This format can be common to the entire document, or different in each paragraph.