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Frisco, CO, United States
Hi, I'm Joel Levy owner of PC Applications. I have been providing quality Windows and MS Office Training and Consulting services to Central Colorado for over 16 Years. I have been specifically teaching computer classes since 1993 and bring incredible enthusiasm in a relaxed, laid back style that makes the learning fun and enjoyable. My personable teaching style makes it easy to understand concepts of how the software works, not just what buttons to click. My experience in working with Windows and ALL of the MS Office Applications at ALL levels allows me to explain things from a broad perspective comparing and contrasting MS Office features. Check out our website www.pcapplications.com

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Highlights about highlighting in Word

Hello Again:

In my last blog, I discussed the concept of making selections in Word or just about anywhere else you are working with text in a computer. I also differentiated the words "selection" and "highlight" and pointed out that there is actually a "highlight" feature in Word. Well sure enough, one of my great fans (and it's mutual), my brother-in-law Jan V. Nystrom commented on my post and questioned this highlighting feature. So for you Jan, and everyone else out there in blogland, here's some information about the Word "highlight" feature.

But first:

My mind drifts back...and for those of you old enough, you remember when one would emphasize text in a book by underlining it with a pencil or even a pen, or perhaps drawing brackets around the text in the margins of the page, etc. This was probably the case until 1963 when the Avery Corporation created the first "Hi-Liter", a felt tip pen with translucent-ink, which is what a highlighter pen is by definition.

The first felt tip pen was invented by Sidney Rosenthal in 1952. It was made with a wool felt wick and tip and a glass bottle filled with ink and was called a "magic marker" so named for it's ability to mark on any surface. Yes, the good ole "magic markers" and the living room carpet.

The modern fiber-tipped pen was invented by Yukio Horie in 1962. He worked for the Tokyo Stationary Company in Japan. His original pens used bamboo fiber for the pen tips although synthetic fibers later replaced the bamboo. His pens also were the first to use dyes rather than inks to get their pigment.

In 1978 the Avery Corporation introduced their first highlighters with fluorescent colors having various pastel shades. The first fluorescent color was yellow which is why most people stereotypically think of highlighters being yellow. So now in this modern world one "highlights" text with a highlighter to emphasize text in a book.

Sorry for the diversion of historical perspective.

Back to Word and highlighting. So YES, there is a highlight feature in Word with the same concept of "highlighting" text but in a document rather than book.

To "highlight" text in Word, click on the highlight button. In Word 2003 and earlier, it's the second button from the right in the formatting toolbar (looks like a highlighter pen on the button). In Word 2007, it's a button in the Font Command Group in the Home Ribbon. When over text in the document, the cursor will have a highlight pen icon; highlighting is "on". Then with the highlighter "on", select the text to be highlighted (see last blog about making selections). The default color is yellow (what-da-ya-know). The down-arrow for the highlighting button has various color options. To "remove" any highlighting that is already there, choose "no color" as the highlight and then select the text that has been highlighted to apply no color. Yes, we have no bananas...

Well, there are the highlights about highlighting...

Take care in the meantime until next time, Joel

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the insights! It never occurred to me to highlight something in a word document. Makes perfect sense as you describe the features. Probably a lot of other stuff I would use if I knew it existed. I'm staying tuned for the next class. jv

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