KEYBOARD UTILIZATION • DESKTOP PUBLISHING • WORD PROCESSING VOCABULARY

ALIGNMENT -- How your text conforms to the left and right margins of a page. The text can be right-aligned, centered, left-aligned, or fully-aligned/justified.

BOLD -- A style of text that makes a letter or word darker and thicker to stand out in a document.

COPY -- To make an exact copy of information in your document, so you can place in order to duplicate it in a new location.

CURSOR -- This is where the action is located on your screen, represented by a flashing line. When you type on your keyboard, the information appears at the cursor.

DELETE -- A key used to erase characters.

DESKTOP PUBLISHING -- Using features of word processing/DTP software to format and produce documents, letters, reports, flyers, and newsletters with graphics.

EDIT -- To make changes in a document or presentation.

ENTER -- The key used to begin a new line in a word processor, or to enter information into a spreadsheet. It is the same as clicking OK in a dialog box.

FONT -- The shape and style of text.

GRAPHIC -- Images/pictures created, edited, and/or published using a computer.

HIGHLIGHT/SELECT -- To choose part of a document by clicking and dragging over it with the mouse to highlight the text.

HOME ROW -- Keys on the keyboard with fingers of the left hand are on A-S-D-F and fingers on the right hand on J-K-L-;

INDENT -- To set the first line of a paragraph in from the margin in a word processing document.

LANDSCAPE -- The page setup that permits a document to be printed in a horizontal position.

LINE SPACING -- The span between lines of text.

NUMERIC KEYPAD -- The portion of a keyboard, set up like an adding machine or calculator used to enter numbers and equations quickly into the computer.

PAGE SETUP -- The term in reference to the way a document is formatted to print.

PASTE -- To insert the last information that was cut or copied into a document. Cut and paste can be used to move information within or between documents.

PORTRAIT -- The default page setup that prints the document vertically.

PRINT -- To put what is on the computer screen on paper. It creates a paper copy of the document created on the computer.

RETRIEVE -- Open a saved document.

SAVE -- To store information on a floppy disk, hard drive or CD for later use. Work should be saved often, every 5 or 10 minutes, to make sure your latest changes are safely recorded.

SAVE AS -- To save a document with a new name.

TEXT -- The portion of a keyboard, set up like an adding machine or calculator used to enter numbers and equations quickly into the computer.

THESAURUS -- A feature in most word processors used to replace a word in a document with one that is more suitable and adds variety to your writing.

WORD PROCESSING -- Using keyboarding skills to produce documents such as letters, reports, manuals, and newsletters.

WORD WRAP -- This occurs when you get to the end of a line and as you continue typing, the text will automatically move to the next line.

WYSIWYG -- WYSIWYG is an acronym for "What You See Is What You Get" and is pronounced "wizzy wig." WYSIWYG simply means that the text and graphics shown on your screen exactly match your printouts.