There are several changes we can make to the formatting of the document text and layout. These changes can not only make the document more attractive, but also easier to read and understand.
Copying the practice document
If you are beginning this course at this point, you will need to copy the practice document to your Google Drive.
NOTE: If you have been working through the course, your file should be up to date and you will not need to copy the practice document. You may continue at Changing the font.
- To begin copying the practice document in a new browser window,
Right-click Copy practice document, Click Open link in new window
The file begins to open in a new window of the web browser. Before the document will open and can be edited, we need to make a copy of it.
Move to the new browser window.
- To copy the document file, in the browser window,
Click 
A copy of the file is now open and, by default, is saved in your Google Drive. The filename now has the words "Copy of" at the beginning.
Changing the font
Now that the document is open, take a moment to inspect it. We can see that this is a brief, incomplete history of the LEGO Group. There are several distinct sections to the document, including a Sources page. The first paragraph has more space between the lines than the other paragraphs. And the font, Times New Roman, is acceptable, but not very inviting. We can make some simple changes and improve the legibility and appearance of this document.
Let's begin by changing the font to something more appealing. To do this, we will need to select all of the text in the document.
- To select all of the text in the document, on the keyboard, press:
Control key + A
- To change the font to Verdana, on the toolbar,
Click
, Click Verdana
- To deselect the text,
Click in a blank area of the document
Adjusting the line spacing
Now that the font has been updated, let's adjust some of the line spacing. The first paragraph appears to be double-spaced. Let's change this to match the other content paragraphs.
Line spacing changes affect the current paragraph. It isn't necessary to select the paragraph. Simply place your cursor in the text of the paragraph you wish to change, then make the desired changes.
- To place the cursor in the correct paragraph,
Click in the first paragraph
- To change the line spacing, on the toolbar,
Click
, Click 1.15
The line spacing adjusts. The first paragraph now matches the following text.
Adjusting the paragraph spacing
On page two of the document, there are two lists: Important Dates in LEGO History and Ten Product Characteristics of LEGO Toys. Looking at these lists, they appear to be double-spaced. However, they are not. Because the author of this document pressed Enter (or Return) after each entry, each line is seen by Google Docs as being its own paragraph. Therefore, each line has the default paragraph spacing (12 points before and 12 points after) applied to it. This paragraph spacing can be adjusted to bring the list items closer together.
Because we are going to be working with several paragraphs at the same time, it will be more efficient to select all of the list text before making changes.
- To select the list items,
Press & drag from "LEGO produces..." to "1978"
- To open the Custom spacing dialog box, on the toolbar,
Click
, Click Custom spacing
The Custom spacing dialog box opens:
We can change the Before and After spacing for all of the selected paragraphs.
- To change the Before spacing, in the Before field of the Custom spacing dialog box,
Double-click the current value, type: 1 Tab
The cursor moves to the After value.
- To change the After spacing, type:
1 Enter
- To deselect the text,
Click in a blank area of the document
The dialog box closes. The list now appears to be single spaced.
Those same steps can be used to modify the spacing of the Ten Product Characteristics of LEGO Toys list.
- To select the list items,
Press & drag from "Unlimited..." to "detail"
- To open the Custom spacing dialog box, on the toolbar,
Click
, Click Custom spacing - To change the Before spacing, in the Before field,
Double-click the current value, type: 1 Tab
- To change the After spacing, type:
1 Enter
- To deselect the text,
Click in a blank area of the document
Now that our font and spacing have been adjusted, let's see how to use Styles to format the section headings.