Microsoft Word Course: Level 2

Microsoft Word. Achieve a polished, professional look for your documents.

COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses

We are now delivering courses both online and in-person. Please check the delivery format for each class before you enrol.

Please note that course materials for all classes (excluding prescribed textbooks) are shared electronically within 48 hours of a course starting. Printing is not available.

This Microsoft Word training course aims to provide users with the skills to work with larger documents efficiently, create standard documents for repeated use as well as covering advanced mail merge techniques.

This course follows Microsoft Word Course: Level 1 and precedes Microsoft Word Course: Level 3.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• work with document techniques
• use a range of formatting techniques
• work with a PDF document
• work with Word options and document properties
• create and apply styles
• create and work effectively with themes
• create and use templates
• learn how to work with section breaks
• insert and work with headers and footers in a document
• perform various merging tasks
• draw and format shapes
• insert and work with text boxes
• use table features to improve the layout and format of tables
• enhance and correct pictures.

Content

Document techniques

• Opening multiple documents
• Switching between open documents
• Arranging all
• Viewing side by side
• Synchronised scrolling
• Resetting the window position
• Inserting a cover page
• Applying page colours
• Applying a page border
• Understanding columns
• Creating columns of text
• Specifying column widths and spacing
• Inserting column breaks

Formatting techniques

• Applying first line indents
• Applying hanging indents
• Applying right indents
• Understanding pagination
• Controlling widows and orphans
• Keeping paragraphs together
• Keeping lines together
• Inserting a page break
• Applying hyphenation to text
• Hiding text
• Inserting a drop cap
• Understanding returns
• Revealing formatting

Working with PDF documents

• Understanding PDF documents
• Saving a document as a PDF
• Viewing a PDF file in reader
• Opening and editing a PDF in Word

Preferences and properties

• Understanding Word options
• Personalising Word
• Setting display options
• Understanding file locations
• Setting file locations
• Understanding save options
• Setting save options
• Understanding document properties
• Viewing document properties
• Specifying document properties
• Viewing advanced properties
• Viewing advanced properties
• Updating document properties
• Deleting document property data

Styles

• Understanding styles
• Applying paragraph styles
• Applying character styles
• Creating a quick style
• Creating a paragraph style
• Creating a character style
• Applying custom styles
• Understanding the modify style dialog box
• Selecting and updating styles
• Renaming and deleting styles
• Importing and exporting styles

Themes

• Understanding themes
• Applying a theme
• Modifying theme colours
• Modifying theme fonts
• Creating a custom theme
• Applying a theme to a template
• Resetting a theme
• Resetting a theme

Templates

• Understanding templates
• Using a sample template
• Downloading an online template
• Creating a template
• Modifying a template
• Using a custom template
• Attaching a template to a document
• Copying styles between templates
• Creating a template from a template
• Tips for developing templates

Section breaks

• Understanding section breaks
• Inserting a next page section break
• Inserting a continuous section break
• Inserting an even page section break
• Inserting an odd page section break

Headers and footers

• Understanding headers and footers
• Inserting headers and footers
• Inserting a blank header
• Inserting a blank footer
• Switching between headers and footers
• Editing headers and footers
• Inserting page numbering
• Inserting date information
• Headers and footers in long documents
• Adjusting header and footer positions
• Inserting first page headers and footers
• Inserting different odd and even pages
• Creating section headers and footers
• Unlinking section headers and footers

Merging techniques

• Understanding recipient lists
• Creating a recipient list
• Customising the columns
• Adding records
• Deleting records
• Saving a recipient list
• Opening a recipient list
• Editing a recipient list
• Understanding merging from scratch
• Selecting the document type
• Selecting the recipients
• Inserting the date
• Inserting an address block
• Inserting the greeting line
• Typing the letter
• Inserting individual merge fields
• Previewing the merge
• Completing the merge
• Setting up mailing labels
• Completing mailing labels
• Running a saved merge
• Excluding recipients
• Filtering recipients
• Sorting recipients
• Selecting another data source
• Applying an if…then…else… rule
• Applying a fill in rule

Shapes

• Understanding shapes
• Drawing shapes
• Selecting shapes
• Resizing shapes
• Moving shapes
• Aligning shapes
• Rotating shapes
• Grouping shapes
• Arranging shapes
• Deleting shapes
• Applying a fill to the drawing canvas
• Applying text wrapping to a canvas
• Applying shape styles
• Filling shapes
• Applying a solid fill to shapes
• Applying a gradient fill to a shape
• Applying a picture fill to a shape
• Changing shape outlines
• Applying an outline to shapes
• Changing shapes
• Inserting and formatting text
• Applying shadow effects
• Applying reflection effects
• Applying glow effects
• Softening and bevelling edges
• Applying 3-d rotation effects

Text boxes

• Understanding text boxes
• Inserting a preformatted text box
• Typing text into a text box
• Positioning a text box
• Resizing a text box
• Deleting a text box
• Drawing a text box
• Formatting a text box
• Linking text boxes
• Modifying text box margins
• Changing text direction
• Applying effects to text boxes

Table features

• Creating a table from text
• Aligning data in cells
• Displaying table gridlines
• Inserting formulas into a table
• Updating formulas in a table
• Sorting table data
• Merging table cells
• Splitting table cells
• Understanding table properties
• Aligning tables
• Changing the direction of text
• Repeating heading rows
• Converting a table to text

Enhancing pictures

• Understanding picture enhancements
• Removing a picture background
• Correcting pictures
• Colouring pictures
• Applying artistic effects
• Applying shadows and reflections
• Applying a glow effect
• Softening and bevelling edges
• Applying picture styles to images
• Repositioning pictures
• The format picture pane
• Cropping pictures accurately
• Changing the picture layout

Intended audience

Assumes a basic understanding of the software.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the basic functions of a computer operating system such as navigating the environment using a mouse and keyboard, starting applications, copying and pasting objects, formatting text, creating folders, opening files, saving files, familiarity with the accessing the Internet and use of common web browsers. If you do not have these skills, we recommend attending Basic Computer Skills Course and Effective Internet Use before attempting this course.

Delivery style

Delivery options:

• Presenter-taught computer-based training in a computer lab on University premises. You will have dedicated access to a computer so you can follow the instructor and work through in-class activities.
• Online training via the platform Zoom.

Materials

You will be provided with a link to access and download your own personalised eBook prior to class.

Teaching instructions and materials for this course are specifically tailored to Windows PC users.

Additional information

Face-to-face classes

These classes run in a computer lab and you do not need to bring your own device.

Please bring a USB flash drive to class if you would like to make a copy of your work or any relevant class materials. Alternatively, you can save these to a cloud storage space or email them to your personal email address.

Online classes

If you are attending an online class, you will need your own device.

Recommended software for PC: MS Word 2013, 2016, 2019, 365
Recommended browser: Chrome