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Mixing text justification (left-center-right)
on the same line
How to use your menu, keyboard or mouse to
align words or short phrases at up to three separate locations
on a single line, between the page margins |
WordPerfect users sometimes have difficulty
figuring out how to produce text on a single line
that is left aligned, centered, and flush
right, something like this:
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ABC Corp. |
Jan. 30, 2009 |
Page 1 |
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing
elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna
aliqua.... |
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Doing this using WordPerfect's
format tools is easy, but it might not be obvious -- especially
to Microsoft Word users. Here is an abridged exchange from one
of the Corel newsgroups that illustrates this common difficulty:
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Q: "I've
read about how WP can have different justifications on one line
of text.
Just how do you get one chunk of a line of
text to stay on the left while another chunk of it goes to the
right?
This is what I was doing: I typed up the text
(just nine words altogether); selected the last four words of
it that I wanted right-justified and clicked on the right justification
button on the property bar. The whole text [nine words] went
over to the right. Same thing happened when I went into the menu
and used the Flush Right option instead of hitting the button
on the Property Bar...." |
A: "Trouble
is, you're thinking in terms of Word, not WordPerfect. In Word,
you select a block of text (an 'object'), then tell the program
how to justify it.
In WordPerfect, formatting
can be done on a 'stream' basis. So, to put it simply, suppose
you want the word "One" left justified, the word "Two"
in the center, and the word "Three" right justified.
You type the word "One," don't select anything,
and choose Format, Line, Center, which moves the cursor
to the center. Type "Two," then choose Format, Line,
Flush Right, then type "Three." . . .
If you select the part you want to justify,
WordPerfect treats it like Word, and assumes you want to move
the whole selection. . . ." |
The procedures below pertain to small amounts
of text on a single line in the document. For multi-line paragraphs, you can insert hard returns
(<Enter> key) to create single lines that can then be center-justified
and/or set flush right as explained here. Or use a three-column
table, with or without cell borders, to divide the material.
(See the last procedure below, "Using a table".)
The procedures below are different from
using Format, Justification, (or their
keyboard shortcut and property bar counterparts), which will
apply justification to a selection of text, or from the cursor
onward (if no text was selected). These more customary paragraph
Justification codes can conflict with the first three methods
explained below (which "push" individual text items
into a specific location on the line), so if the methods here
do not appear to work, check Reveal Codes for other Format, Justification
codes ([Just]).
Using the Format menu
This procedure assumes you are using the <WordPerfect
Menu>; otherwise, these menu choices will not appear.
If necessary, right-click on the top menu bar and select the
<WordPerfect Menu> choice from the list that appears. [Note
that the other procedures below will usually work no matter which
menu is active.]
Compared to the next two procedures below
-- using the keyboard or mouse -- using the Format menu takes
a few extra mouse clicks, but it might be easier to remember
later.
Do not select any text. Instead, do one of the following:
- If you have not yet created
the line:
Use the
method in described in the Question/Answer above: First type
the left-justified word(s), don't select anything, and then choose
Format, Line, Center, which moves the cursor to the center
of the line. Next, type the word(s) that should be centered.
Then choose Format, Line, Flush Right and then type the
right-justified word(s).
- If you already have some
left- and/or center-justified text on the line -- here, "center-justified"
means using the above Format menu choice -- and need to add some
"flush right" text to the same line:
Locate your cursor after the existing
text and choose Format, Line, Flush Right. This inserts
a [Hd_Flush_Right] code in Reveal Codes. Then type the right-justified
text.
- To center text on the
same line with left-justified and/or flush right text:
Use Reveal Codes to locate the cursor
after any existing left-justified text but before the right-justification
code ([Hd_Flush_Right]), then choose Format, Line, Center.
This inserts a [Hd_Center_in_Marg] code in Reveal Codes. Then
type the centered text. You can use the mouse or other keys to
move past the line of text.
Notes
1. If you select any text first, WordPerfect
will put the format code at the start of the line, instead of
where you want it.
2. As mentioned above, these procedures are
for a single line of text, not for splitting a multi-line paragraph.
(See above for multi-line paragraphs.)
3. As also mentioned above: The centering
format code in these procedures is different from using the more
typical format choice of Format, Justification, Center. It can
be seen as a [Hd_Center_in_Marg] code in Reveal Codes. It produces
a different result from normal center justification ([Just]).
Video example
The link below demonstrates (in slow motion)
how to create a new line of text with left, center, and right
justification, as explained in the first method above using the
Format menu:
 Mixing_LCR_justification.wmv
(Windows Media Player format, 39 seconds)
Using keyboard shortcuts
This procedure assumes you are using a <WPWin
Keyboard> or a <WPDOS Keyboard>; otherwise,
these keyboard shortcut choices will not be available. If necessary,
right-click on the top menu bar, choose Settings, then choose
the Keyboards tab and select a WordPerfect keyboard from the
list that appears.
Do not select any text.
Use the procedures above (under "Using
the Format menu"), but use these keyboard shortcuts instead
of the Format menu:
<Shift+F7> = Centered text (<WPWin
Keyboard>).
<Shift+F6> = Centered text (<DOS Keyboard>).
<Alt+F7> = Flush Right (<WPWin
Keyboard>).
<Alt+Ctrl+F6> = Flush Right (<DOS Keyboard>).
Tips
1. Pressing these key combinations twice
in succession will insert [....]dot leaders. (You
can also use this tip if you use the Format menu instead of keyboard
shortcuts.)
2. You can customize your keyboard to assign
or reassign these and many other shortcut keys to different shortcut
key combinations. See Assigning a macro,
feature, program, or string of keystrokes to a key or key combination
(i.e., a "shortcut" or "hot key").
Using the mouse
Do not select any text.
Use the procedures above (under "Using
the Format menu"), but use your mouse to access a context
menu:
Place the mouse cursor (i.e., the insertion
point) at the desired location, and right-click the mouse. Choose
Center or Flush Right from the drop-down context
menu.
Tip
- Clicking Center or Flush Right twice in
succession will insert [....]dot leaders. (You can
also use this tip if you use the Format menu or keyboard shortcuts
instead of the mouse.)
Using the Shadow Cursor
You can simulate center-justified text and
flush right text by using the Shadow Cursor, which simply inserts
tabs (and hard returns, if needed) up to the Shadow Cursor's
location -- the point in the document where you left-clicked
while the Shadow Cursor is turned on.
(The Shadow Cursor feature can be enabled/disabled
with View, Shadow Cursor, if you are using the <WordPerfect
Menu>; otherwise, these menu choices will not appear.
If necessary, right-click on the menu bar and select the <WordPerfect
Menu> choice from the list that appears. You can also right-click
in the Application Bar at the bottom of the WordPerfect window,
and choose Settings; enable the checkbox for the Shadow Cursor.
Then you can click the new icon on the Application Bar to toggle
the Shadow Cursor on and off.)
Using a table
You can mix text justification on a single
"line" by creating a borderless two- or three-column,
one-row table:
1. On a new line, click Table, Create.
2. Set Columns to "3" (or "2")
and Rows to "1".
3. Click Speed Format
and choose No Lines No Border, then click Apply.
4.
Click Create.
5. Enter your text in each cell,
justifying it as appropriate. (Either right-click in the cells
and choose Format, Horizontal [Left/Center/Right] from the context
menu, or apply normal paragraph justification from the
Format menu.)
Note:
Microsoft Word users must use tables (or special
tabs) to have mixed text justification on a single line, because
MSWord formats the left, center, and/or right justification
of individual words on a line as though they were individual
paragraphs, and such paragraph objects ("containers")
cannot occupy the same vertical space (i.e., the same "line")
at the same time -- unless they are inside separate table cells.
In WordPerfect, when using any of the first
three procedures above, the text itself is centered or
made flush right by inserting special codes directly into the
line, "pushing" the text into a specific location on
the line. This is not the same thing as setting up center justification
or right justification, which applies to entire paragraphs (i.e.,
anything that ends with a hard return or equivalent).
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Barry MacDonnell's