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A word processor is used to produce documents such as letters, memos and reports. The latest versions of word processing software contain many features and can also be used for "desktop publishing" to create newsletters, brochures, business cards, signs and more. The latest word processing software will allow you to easily type into columns, add pictures and charts to your page, create custom borders, and experiment with a variety of type faces (fonts) in a wide range of sizes. You can even combine different fonts on the same page.
Word processing software offers many exciting formatting and editing features to make your work easier. You can easily check the spelling of a word or the entire document. The built in thesaurus will help you find an alternate word to use. Blocks of text can be easily moved, copied or erased.
Macros allow you to record phrases that you need to use more than once and then "play back the text" (automatically type it onto the page) in other documents - as many times as you need!
Search and replace features allow you to easily find words in a document and give you the option of replacing with a different word or phrase.
Built in grammar checkers will read your document and make suggestions on changes you may want to consider to have your document conform to various writing styles. Grammar checkers usually also find punctuation errors and improper capitalization of words.
Word processing software makes it easy to compile a large group of form letters (mail merge), print envelopes, number pages or lines, build an index and table-of-contents for a book, use headers and footers (text that appears at the top or bottom of each page), and use footnotes (appears at the bottom of the page that contains the footnote number) and end notes (appears at the end of a document).
Paragraph formatting makes it easy to change margins. If you change the margins after you have typed the document, the text will automatically wrap to fit the new margin setting! Tabs can be set or changed and you can indent either the first line of a paragraph or the entire paragraph. "Bullets" can be added for emphasis. You are only a keystroke away from easily centering your text or aligning the text with the right margin, left margin, or both.
The "table" feature of word processing software allows you to create and use custom forms. Tables allow you to access built-in math features to automatically calculate numbers you enter onto the form.
Newer word processing software contains voice dictation and handwriting recognition features. Voice dictation allows you to speak into a microphone and have your text typed automatically onto the screen. Handwriting recognition allows you to write with a pencil-like "stylus" on a drawing pad and the computer will convert the handwriting to type on the screen. These features are only effective if you take the time to "train" the computer to recognize your voice or your handwriting.
Perhaps the most useful feature of using a computer for word processing is that ability to make changes and corrections, as often as you need, without making a mess of the project and having to retype the document. You can edit your document on the computer screen and print it when all the corrections have been made. If you spot mistakes in your printed copy, the document will still be on the screen and can be easily corrected without retyping!
If you don't have time to finish your document, you can store it on a disk. When you are ready to continue working on the project, you can retrieve a copy of it from the disk onto the screen.
If you decide you want to study word processing, you will discover many additional features designed to make the work easier.
Some examples of word processing software are Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, Lotus Word Pro and OpenOffice Writer. "WordPad" is a small word processor that comes free with the Microsoft Windows operating system. It has most of the basic features of a word processor, but does not contain advanced features such as spell checking and thesaurus, grammar checker, and a few other features.
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