Sideheads (where a document’s subheads appear out to the side of the text) and pull quotes are really just two specific uses for text boxes in Microsoft Word. Here’s how to set them up.

Text boxes let you position smidgens of text precisely where you desire them in a Word document. Most often, people use them for one of two functions. The first is developing a sidehead, a subheading that’s placed out to the left of the primary body of the file instead of inline with the text. The second is for pull quotes (or editorial notes), which are just blocks of text placed either off to the side or inline with file text. They’re utilized to call attention to specific text and also help break up text aesthetically in long documents.

Developing either of these follows pretty much the same treatment: produce a text box, put your text in it, and after that position the box where you desire it.

If you’re putting package out to the side of your text, you’ll require to very first make certain you have a sufficient area of white area there. There are a few different ways to do this, however we suggest using the indent and spacing tools on Word’s Ruler display screen.

For our example, we’re going to highlight the first 3 paragraphs and then drag the Right Indent marker on the Ruler over to the 5-inch marker, developing a pocket of area to the right of those paragraphs. You might likewise drag the Left Indent marker to make the very same space on the left side, and you can do this at any position in your file. If you’re producing a pull quote that you wish to appear inline with the text, you won’t require to bother with this step.

After ensuring some area is readily available, it’s time to place the text box. Switch to the “Insert” tab on the Ribbon. In the “Text” section of the menu, click the “Text Box” dropdown, and after that click among the text box alternatives you see there. We’re choosing “Simple Text Box,” but you can likewise utilize the elegant options if you want.

The text box is placed into your document anywhere your cursor was positioned, but you can drag package to the void you produced (or wherever else you want). Resize the text box by dragging any of the circle-shaped anchor points at the edge of the box, or rotate it with the circular arrow tool above. You can place in the margin on the side of the page, but if you’re going to be printing the document, be careful not to place any text beyond where your printer is capable of printing (typically a quarter inch or 6-7 millimeters from the edge).

When you have the size right, highlight the sample text in the box and replace it with the text you want. You can adjust the font style, size, and text results with the standard tools in the “Home” tab on the Ribbon– just like you would with any other text.

You can use as much or as little text as you desire, restricted only by the size of the text box. Obviously, utilizing a bigger font style or text size might develop scaling problems, particularly with longer words.

If you’re creating a “sidehead,” you’ll typically wish to put the text box in the actual margin– and generally the left margin.

Note: When utilizing a text box to develop sideheads, Word can get a little finicky about how it deals with those headings. If you style the text with one of your heading styles, the sidehead will be consisted of in instantly created tables of material, however won’t appear as an accessible heading in Word’s Navigation pane. You might need to do a little exploring to get things how you like them, but then we’re quite sure that’s the main Word slogan, anyway.

Normally, dropping the text box where you want it aligns the text around the box in a quite good method– especially if you’ve particularly made room for the box. If you desire more control, click the page icon to the side of the text box to open the “Layout Options” popup.

Here you can adjust how the text box engages with surrounding text. For a lot of usages, the default settings work great, however for advanced layout alternatives, be sure to take a look at our guide to dealing with photos, shapes, and graphics in Microsoft Word.