Be able to create, modify, update and apply styles to ensure consistency of presentation

Topic 14 – Styles

Learning Objective

Be able to create, modify, update and apply styles to ensure consistency of presentation.

What is a Style?

A style is a predefined set of formatting attributes (such as font, size, colour, alignment, spacing, borders, etc.) that can be applied to text, paragraphs, tables, lists or cells. Using styles means you apply formatting once, and the same formatting is reproduced wherever the style is used.

Why Use Styles?

• Ensures a consistent look throughout a document.
• Saves time – you do not need to format each element individually.
• Changes can be made globally by updating a single style.
• Facilitates the creation of professional‑looking documents.
• Supports accessibility by providing predictable structure.

Types of Styles

• Character style – affects only the selected characters (e.g., bold, italic, colour).
• Paragraph style – controls the whole paragraph (alignment, line spacing, indentation, borders).
• Table style – defines the appearance of an entire table (banded rows, header row formatting).
• List style – sets the bullet or numbering format for ordered and unordered lists.
• Cell style – applied to individual table cells (background colour, text direction).

Creating a New Style

1. Place the cursor in a paragraph (or select the text) that has the formatting you want to reuse.
2. Open the Styles pane (e.g., Home ► Styles ► More ► Create a Style).
3. Give the style a meaningful name (e.g., “Heading‑Blue”).
4. Choose the style type (Paragraph, Character, List, Table, or Cell).
5. Click OK to save the style.

Modifying an Existing Style

1. Right‑click the style name in the Styles gallery.
2. Select Modify….
3. Adjust the formatting options (font, size, colour, spacing, etc.).
4. Check the box “New documents based on this template” if you want the change to apply to future documents.
5. Press OK. All text that uses this style updates automatically.

Updating a Style from Existing Text

1. Format a paragraph (or character) exactly as you want the style to look.
2. Select the formatted text.
3. In the Styles pane, click the style name, then choose Update [Style Name] to Match Selection.
4. The style now reflects the new formatting and any other text using the style changes instantly.

Applying a Style

To apply a style, simply select the text, paragraph, table, or list and click the desired style in the Styles gallery. The selected element adopts all the formatting defined by that style.

Style Hierarchy and Inheritance

When a character style is applied inside a paragraph that already has a paragraph style, the character style overrides only the character‑level attributes, while the paragraph style retains control of paragraph‑level attributes. This hierarchy allows flexible combinations.

Using the Style Gallery Effectively

• Keep the gallery tidy – remove rarely used styles.
• Group related styles (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) for quick access.
• Use the “Quick Styles” set for commonly used formatting.

Common Style‑Related Terminology

Term	Definition
Style Set	A collection of related styles (e.g., a set for reports, another for newsletters).
Template	A document that contains predefined styles ready for reuse.
Direct Formatting	Formatting applied manually to selected text, not linked to a style.
Style Inheritance	The way a child style (e.g., a character style) inherits attributes from its parent (e.g., a paragraph style).

Practical Example – Creating a Consistent Report

1. Open a new document based on a report template.
2. Create the following paragraph styles:
   • Report‑Title – 24 pt, bold, centred, dark blue.
   • Section‑Heading – 16 pt, bold, left‑aligned, dark green.
   • Body‑Text – 11 pt, Times New Roman, justified, 1.15 line spacing.
3. Create a table style “Report‑Table” with a header row shaded light grey and alternating row colours.
4. Apply the styles as you write the report. If the school later decides the heading colour should be red, modify the Section‑Heading style – all headings change instantly.

Key Points to Remember

• Always use styles for repeated formatting – avoid direct formatting.
• Give styles clear, descriptive names.
• Modify a style to change the appearance of all associated text at once.
• Update a style from a correctly formatted example when you need to capture a new look.
• Use templates and style sets to maintain consistency across multiple documents.