Creating and Editing a Range of Documents

Creating and Editing a Range of Documents

Creation of Documents

  • Understand the requirements of a task before beginning to create a document. This might include a brief or a set of guidelines given for the task.
  • Have a clear idea of the purpose and audience of the document. This significantly influences the style, tone and layout.
  • Choose the appropriate software for the type of document. Use word processors for text-oriented documents like essays and reports, and desktop publishing software for documents that combine text with other elements like graphics and photos, such as brochures and posters.

Formatting Text

  • Familiarise yourself with different text formatting tools. This includes bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, and highlight.
  • Understand the use of different fonts, including serif, sans serif, and decorative. Different fonts set different tones for your documents.
  • Know how to manipulate font size, colour, and style(italic/bold etc.), to enhance readability and aesthetic appeal.
  • Use paragraph formatting tools like alignment (left, right, center, justify), line spacing (single, 1.5 lines, double), and indentation for organised text presentation.

Document Layout and Design

  • Understand elements of good layout design including balance, emphasis, contrast, and white space management.
  • Utilise columns, tables, and text boxes for organising and presenting information on a page.
  • Make use of headers and footers for repeating information on every page, such as page numbers, dates, or document titles.

Manipulating Graphics

  • Know how to insert images and other graphic elements into your document.
  • Manipulate the size, position and orientation of graphic elements.
  • Understand how image resolution affects the quality and size of the document.
  • Utilise tools like cropping, borders and effects to enhance graphics.

Document Editing and Proofreading

  • Understand the importance of reviewing and proofreading your document before finalising it.
  • Make use of spell-check and grammar-check tools. However, do not solely rely on them as they may not catch all errors.
  • Review the layout and design of your document. Make sure it is visually appealing and the information is displayed in a clear and logical manner.

Printing and Document Finalisation

  • Preview your document before printing, to check for any errors or design issues.
  • Understand different printing options like orientation (portrait/landscape), paper size, and print range.
  • Know how to save and export your document in different file formats such as .docx, .pdf, etc.