Styles > Character styles

In a character style, you can save a frequently needed character format (font, font size, text styles, etc.) and then apply it repeatedly to any characters you like.

If, for example, you want to print small print sections of a contract in a different font and smaller size, simply create an appropriate character style – lets call it "Small print" – and apply the style to those sections.

Note: The difference between character styles and paragraph styles (see Paragraph styles) is that character styles contain only saved character formats, while paragraph styles contain both saved character formats and saved paragraph formats (indents, tabs, alignment, etc.).

Accordingly, character styles are also applicable to individual characters, while paragraph styles are applicable only to whole paragraphs.

The following pages contain detailed information on working with character styles. The following topics are covered:

▪Creating character styles

▪Applying character styles

▪Changing character styles

▪Scope of character styles

▪"Normal" character style

▪"Based on" character styles

▪Character styles and the sidebar

Note: On the following pages, the procedure is mainly described by means of a dialog box, which you can reach by right-clicking with the mouse button and selecting Character style in the context menu. These tasks can also be conveniently performed with the direct commands in the sidebar, which are described in the last section Character styles and the sidebar.

If the sidebar is not visible, enable it on the ribbon tab View | group Windows | Sidebars.