AbleWord

Main Toolbar Buttons

Description of functionality of buttons on main toolbar

 

New File

Click on this to create a blank new file. If you already have a file open Ableword will close this file before creating the new blank one but will ask you if you wish to save any changes first.

Open File

Click on this to browse your files and folders. Once you have clicked Ableword will open a search window. In the bottom right hand sector you can see the types of document file Ableword will search for and open. These are:
.doc .docx  .pdf  .rtf  .txt  .htm  .html
If you open a ‘PDF’, Ableword will automatically allow you to edit the file (and then later save as a PDF again)

If you already have a file open, Ableword will close this file before opening your next selection, but will ask you if you wish to save any changes first.

Save File

By clicking on this button you will save your file. If it’s the first time this file has been saved Ableword will prompt you to choose a location to store the file. Ableword will default to ‘my documents’ if you don’t choose a different location. You should name your file at this point, although Ableword will save the file as ‘untitled.doc’ unless you choose a different name or document type.

To name your document, click in the ‘file name’ box, and type the name you wish. At this point you can also change the file type by clicking in the ‘save as type’ box and selecting a different file type. Ableword defaults to ‘.doc’ as this is the most popular file type for a word processor.

If you have already saved your file, when you click on this button Ableword will save the latest version of your file with the same name and location you have already specified. (if you wish to give your file a different name, or save it in a different location, see help files relating to the File menu)
It’s a good idea to save your file often – you don’t want to lose any work if you have a power cut or your laptop runs out of battery!

Print

This button will bring up the printer dialogue box showing your default printer. At this point, if you have more than one printer, you can change the printer. You can also change the print properties (such as colour or black & white, single or double-sided, depending on the features your printer offers.)

To change the printer click on the dropdown arrow just to the right of your printer name. You will then have a list of all your printers to choose from.

To change the properties click on the Properties button. Here you will have any properties that are relevant to your printer. Remember these features are not part of Ableword, they are dependent on your printer.

You can change the number of copies you wish to print by either overtyping the number 1 in the ‘number of copies’ box or by using the up and down arrows to the side.

You can select which pages to print if you document contains more than one. Do this by clicking on the ‘Pages’ radio button. This will enable the ‘from’ and ‘to’ boxes. Click in each box to tell your printer which pages you wish to print. For example, if you have a 10-page document but only want to print pages 2, 3 and 4, you would enter 2 in the ‘from’ box and 4 in the ‘to’ box.

Print Preview

Clicking on this button provides you with a preview of your document when it’s printed. It will bring this preview up in a separate window which you can resize as you wish, or maximise. You cannot amend the document in this window.

In the print preview window, you can view one or more pages at a time by clicking on the page view buttons at the top. You can also click on the printer icon to bring up the printer dialogue box (see Print for more details) When you have finished with the print preview, click on ‘close’ and Ableword will return you to your document so you can save or continue to edit it.

Page Setup

Clicking on this button brings up a window showing all the different options to set your page up how you wish. It has 4 different tabs to choose from. - See Page Setup for more information.

Cut
This function allows you to chop out a segment of your file so you can move it around in the document. Simply highlight all the text (including pictures and tables) you want to move then click on the icon. This text is then removed from the document and stored on a virtual clipboard ready for you to reinsert it somewhere else (see Paste) The virtual clipboard is emptied when you close Ableword and can only hold one segment of text, so make sure you reinsert this before you cut (or copy) another segment out or close the program!

Copy
This function allows you to copy a segment of your file so you can use it somewhere else in your document or in another document. Simply highlight all the text (including pictures and tables) you want to copy then click on the icon. This text is then copied from the document and stored on a virtual clipboard ready for you to duplicate somewhere else (see Paste) The virtual clipboard is emptied when you close Ableword and can only hold one segment of text at a time, so make sure you insert this text before you cut or copy another segment from your document or close the program.

  Paste

This function is used after Cut or Copy. When you have Cut or Copied text from a document it gets stored on a virtual clipboard. The Paste function allows you to put this text back into an Ableword document in any location. Simply put your cursor where you would like the text to reappear and then click this icon. You can paste the same text as many times as you like, until you have either Cut or Copied different text, or closed Ableword.

Undo

This function allows you to undo more than your last 30 actions, just in case you change your mind! It will undo one action at a time in reverse order. For example, if you typed a sentence and then underlined it that would be 2 actions. The first ‘undo’ would take the underline off, the second would delete the typed sentence. Simply click this icon and your action is undone! Click again and the preceding action is undone. Keep going until you’re satisfied you’ve undone all you wish to.

Redo

This function allows you to immediately ‘redo’ any actions you have ‘undone’ using the Undo feature. It is only active immediately after using Undo and will redo as many items as you have ‘undone’. Simply click this icon.

Font Properties

Clicking this icon will bring up a window showing you lots of choices you can make to personalise the font you are using. There are a list of different fonts installed for you to choose from. The window will show which font you are currently using and to change this, simply use the slider to the right of the listed fonts. You can also increase or decrease the size the text appears by using the ‘Size’ slider to the right of the numbers.

The Attributes section is where you can change the style to bold, italics or use strike out and add underlining. Simply click in the check box to the left of the attribute you wish to use – you can use any combination! If you wish to underline your text, click on the dropdown arrow and choose from 'without', 'single', 'double' or 'words only' where the spaces and characters (such as commas) between the words are not underlined.

The Position section allows you to have superscript or subscript simply by clicking on the desired radio button. There’s no need to change the size of your font to a smaller one when using this feature, Ableword will reduce the font automatically!

The Colour section allows you to change the colour of your text by clicking the dropdown arrow and selecting which colour you want. If the colour you desire isn’t showing in the list, click on the ‘Other’ button and then you can custom make a colour that suits you. This section also allows you to highlight text by changing the background colour, for example, to red to make that text stand out more. Again, you do this by clicking the dropdown arrow and selecting which colour you want, or using the ‘Other’ button to custom make a colour that suits you.

Document information

When you click on this icon it will bring up a window showing some statistics on your document – ideal if you need to meet a word target or document size! This shows the word count, number of pages, number of characters, paragraphs and lines. When you’ve finished reading your statistics simply click OK and the window will close.

Find

This feature allows you to find a specific string of characters such a part of a word, a whole word or a few words that show together. Simply click the icon, type in the ‘Find What’ box the characters you’re looking for and then click on ‘Find Next’. Ableword will default to match the case you have typed, and to search from where your cursor is down through the document. You can simply click and remove the tick from the Match Case box or click the radio button to change the direction. If Ableword cannot find the characters you are looking for it will simply say the end of the document has been reached. If it can find what you’re looking for it will highlight that text and show you where it is. When you have finished using this feature simply click the ‘cancel’ button and the search window will close.

Spelling

By clicking this button Ableword will check the spelling in your document against its default dictionary (US English, with more dictionaries coming soon) and will highlight any words not showing in the dictionary for you to accept or correct. At this point you can add words to the dictionary, for example names, simply by clicking the Add to Dictionary button. You can also ignore errors, either once (and then Ableword will continue to show you this error if it appears later in the document) or all occasions in this document. If Ableword can, it will make suggestions for correcting the error. You can then ask Ableword to change just this occurrence of the error (by selecting the correct word and then clicking on the Change button) or all the occurrences (again, by selecting the correct word but then click on the Change All button) If Ableword can’t find a suitable suggestion, you need to close the Spelling window and correct the word yourself.

You can change the dictionary Ableword is using by clicking the dropdown arrow next to the Suggestions Dictionary showing.

Remember, a spelling checker will only flag errors where you have typed a word that it doesn’t think exists. It’s always worth proof-reading your document to make sure you haven’t any other errors!

Show/Hide Formatting Characters

By clicking this icon Ableword will show you little symbols to represent things such as spaces, returns and page breaks. This can be handy to use, for example when you want to see if you inserted a page break or if Ableword is automatically breaking the page at that point. Click the icon again to hide these symbols.

Insert Image

When you click this icon Ableword will open a search box so you can find any image you wish to insert. You can change the file type you are looking for by clicking in the dropdown box on in the bottom right hand side. Ableword defaults to Windows Bitmap (.bmp) but will also support:
Tagged Image Format (.tif)
Windows Metafile (.wmf)
Portable Network Graphic (.png)
JPEG File Interchange Format (.jpg)
Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
Windows Enhanced Metafile (.emf)
When you have found your file, click on OK and Ableword will insert your picture into your document. If you wish to change the size of the picture in your document simply click on the picture itself. In each corner, and halfway down each side, little boxes will appear. Click into one of the boxes and hold your mouse button down, then drag that box until the picture is the size you want. When you have finished, simply let go of your mouse button and then click somewhere away from the picture.

Insert Text Frame

To use this feature, make sure your cursor is at the end of a line or at the start of a fresh line. Then click the icon and Ableword will insert an empty box into your document where your cursor currently is.

Click into this box to fill it with text, or even a picture. If you want to change the size of your text box, hover over the edge of it with your mouse. Your cursor will then change shape to a four headed arrow> then click on the edge of your text box. In each corner, and halfway down each side, little boxes will appear. Click into one of the boxes and hold your mouse button down then drag until the text box is the size you want. When you have finished, simply let go of your mouse button and then click somewhere away from the box. You can also use these little markers to move the text box around your document – it can go anywhere!

Anything you’ve inserted into the text box will move too. If you insert a picture into a text box, you might need to change the size of the picture to make it fit nicely. To do this simply click on the picture itself. In each corner, and halfway down each side, little boxes will appear. Click into one of the boxes and hold your mouse button down, then drag that box until the picture is the size you want. When you have finished, simply let go of your mouse button and then click somewhere away from the picture.

Insert Table

Clicking this icon brings up a new small window. If you want to insert a table, make sure your cursor is where you want the table to appear before clicking on this icon. This makes things easier later on (although you can easily use the Cut and Paste icons to move the table if you wish). Once you’ve clicked on this icon you first need to decide on your table size by selecting the number of columns and the number of rows. Ableword defaults to 5 columns, 4 rows and to change these simply click on the arrows to the right of the numbers. Alternately, click into the boxes showing the number of columns/rows and simply type the number you require.

Ableword defaults to automatically sizing your table to fit the page width, regardless of the number of columns. If you increase the number of columns, each column will be smaller. If you decrease the number of columns, each column will become larger. You can also tell Ableword to fix the column width by clicking the radio button for ‘Fixed Column Width’. Once you have clicked here Ableword will activate the box where you can specify how wide you want each column to be. Simply use the up and down arrows or alternately click into the box showing the column width number and type in the value you require. However, once you have inserted the table, you can change the column sizes. Hover your cursor over the column edge you wish to move and your cursor will change shape to a double headed ‘move’ cursor. At this point click and hold your mouse button then drag the column edge to where you want it to be. This is very handy for resizing columns after you have entered your table contents.

By clicking into the Header box, Ableword will repeat the top row of your table if it’s so large it goes onto more than one page. By putting the tick in here, when your table goes onto the next page, you will see a new row appear with your header text already completed.
Ableword allows you to make sure your table is not split by a natural page break. Simply click into the box ‘Allow rows to break across pages’ and remove the tick.

Click on OK when you are finished, the window will close and your table will be inserted where your cursor was. Now simply click into the cell you want to start typing in and off you go. Within each cell, if you press Enter you will stay within that cell, but if you click Tab you will move to the next cell. You can format the contents of your table in the same way as the rest of your document. You can even insert another table into one of the cells of your table!