Formatting Text

There are two ways to format text. One is via the nested Text Objects Panel (located on the insert panel - single-click the tab to access the text formatting icons within it) and the other is via the Properties Panel. This tutorial concentrates on the Properties Panel.

Remember that the Properties Panel (located at the bottom of the window) changes to accommodate selected objects. What this means is that it will display formatting options for whichever object you have selected (highlighted/blocked) be it text, bullets, tables, images, etc. The following is a brief overview of how to format text.

[Properties Panel]

Selecting the Font Style

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Single-click on down-arrow next to the Size Font field and use the scroll bar to preview a list of font-families.
3. Single-click on the desired style to select it

Top

Selecting the Font Size

There are two ways to size text. One is via point size and the other is via headings. Please refer to the Headings section below to preview how to set these up.

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Single-click on down-arrow next to the Default Font field and use the scroll bar to preview a list of font sizes.
3. Single-click on the desired style to select it

Top

Selecting the Font Color

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Single-click on down-arrow next that is located in the Text field (represented by a grey box icon - place the mouse cursor on top of it to get a description of its utility) to preview the Color Palatte
   1. Place the eyedropper tool on the color swatch desired and single-click to select it

Top

Bolding, Italicizing, and Aligning

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Single-click on the desired icon in the Properties Panel. The Bold, Italicize, and alignment icons are located on the right-hand side of this panel.

Top

Underlining Text

Sooner or later you will realize that DreamWeaver MX doesn't provide an underline icon on the Properties Panel nor on the Text Panel. This can be frustrating. Never mind that, however, this will give you your first opportunity to enter HTML code. This is how you do it:

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Locate the Quick Tag Editor on the Properties Panel. It is located on the far right underneath the Question Mark icon. The icon is represented by a pencil ontop of a piece of paper.
   1. Single-click to turn on the HTML tag containers. The look like this: < >
   2. Notice that the I-beam is blinking. This means that the program is waiting to for you to type something in. Type in a u hit and use the Enter key on the keyboard to complete the process

Top

Clearing the Underline Code

Frankly, I believe that Macromedia could do a better job with its underline code because clearing the underline code uses an entirely different panel. One must access the Design Panel (located on the right side of the document window) and select the nested HTML Styles Panel to clear or remove the underline code. Here's how you do it:

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Locate and single-click on the nested HTML Styles tab which is located ont eh Design Panel.
   1. Single-click to turn on Clear Selection Style to remove the underline

Top

Headings (H1 - H6)

You can use paragraph headings to resize text. There are six of them. H1 - H6. Heading one is the largest size and Heading six is the smallest. I use them for formatting document heading sections and for page footers. Paragraph headings resize and emphasize (bold text) all at once. Follow these steps to add a paragraph heading:

1. Highlight/block the text
2. Single-click on down-arrow next to the Format field which is located on the left
3. Single-click on the desired paragraph Heading to select it

Top