Many folks use Microsoft Word/Google Docs for basic writing but get frustrated when unusual formatting questions arise. Most of the formatting questions I get at the Information Desk center around a few topics: images, spacing, columns, and tables. Here are a few tips that can help minimize the irritation.
Working with Images
When inserting an image into Word, getting the text around it to behave as you wish can seem impossible. Sometimes adding text moves the image, sometimes the image stays put and the text flows around or through it. Most of this comes down to anchoring and text wrapping. Let’s take a look at each.
Image Anchors
In Microsoft Word, an image anchor is a point of attachment for a floating image that keeps the image in place – either relative to or regardless of surrounding text. A small anchor icon represents the anchor. If you would like the image to move with the text, follow these instructions:
To anchor an image in Word, you can:
- Insert the image into the document
- Right-click on the image and select Size and position
- Set the absolute position for the image and click OK
This will fix the image on the page in its current spot.
You can also anchor an image to a paragraph by grabbing the anchor icon and dragging it onto the desired paragraph.
To see the anchor icon, you can:
- Click the File tab
- Click Options
- In the Display section, select the check box next to Object Anchors
For more on anchoring graphics in Word, check out this Tech-Talk article.
You must use a table to anchor images to text in Google Docs. Here is a quick tutorial on how to anchor images using tables.
Image Layout
When you insert an image in Word, you can click on it to reveal a layout options menu icon. From there, you can select how the text will flow around or through the image:
If you’re unsure what kind of text wrapping to use, try them out. If you don’t like how they look, use Ctrl+Z to undo them.
Spacing
Most of the spacing questions I get are about adding more or less space between lines and paragraphs. All options are available in the home tab, paragraph section, under this icon: 
(Word) 
(Docs). Select a text area (or the whole document) and click the icon. Then select “line spacing options” for the full menu.
Here is a sample paragraph with default spacing:
In this example, spacing between paragraphs is set to be larger than spacing within the paragraph. To keep the spacing between lines the same, but make the spacing between paragraphs larger, increase the “after” number in the spacing section:
Word: To increase the spacing between all lines, use the dropdown under “line spacing” or adjust the number under “at” for more precision. You can learn more about paragraph spacing in these articles from Tech-Talk:
Docs: Use a suggested paragraph/line spacing option or “custom spacing” for granular control.
Spacing for bullets is a whole separate operation. To learn more, see this Tech-Talk article about bullet spacing.
Columns
If you’re working with an especially long document, or want to stylize your document visually, columns are a great way to maximize the space on the page.
To access the column feature, select the Layout tab, and click the arrow under Columns:
Rather than detail all of the Word column formatting possibilities in this post, I’m going to direct you to three helpful Tech-Talk resources:
- Enhance Your Document with Columns (article)
- Adjusting Multiple Columns (article and video)
- Add a Line Between Columns (article)
In Google Docs, the column formatting options are less robust. Click “Format” in the top menu, then select “Columns.” Select the number of columns, and, optionally, more options under the “More Columns” option.
Tables
Creating a Table
Starting a table is relatively easy in both Word and Docs. The table menu is under the “Insert” tab in both Word and Docs.
To start a basic table, choose the number of columns and rows needed. If you don’t know how many you’ll need, select a number to get started. You can always add or delete columns and rows later. Both platforms also offer table templates (called quick tables in Word) that may have a format or style that can save you time later.
Tables have many features, and detailing them would make this article very long. Tech-Talk has done many articles about tables (some linked articles are about creating tables of contents), so that would be a great place to start.
Delete the Blank Page After a Table
One tip I will share seems to be a universal annoyance. If you have ever had a table at the bottom of a document that goes to the end of a page, you have experienced Word adding a blank page after the table that is seemingly impossible to delete. Here is how.
First, show formatting symbols by clicking this icon in the paragraph section of the home tab:
Go to the end of your document and select the last symbol in the document by clicking and dragging the mouse over it. In the top toolbar, open font settings by clicking the pop-out arrow:
Set the font size to hidden, then click ok:
Go back to the first step and hide the formatting symbols again.
Summary
Whether you use Word or Docs, formatting documents can be complicated. If you have formatting questions that haven’t been addressed here, contact the Information Desk at the library, or ask the folks at Tech-Talk. When prompted for your username, enter colonie.
