Word Processing : Introduction

A word processing package is used to prepare and edit text. Word processors are used to create all types of documents such as letters, reports and essays. Using a word processor you can type, revise and correct a document on the screen before printing it out. The layout of the page can be changed and a wide variety of different styles of text can be used to improve the presentation of a document. Tools such as spelling checkers can help ensure that the contents of a document is accurate.

The functions of a word processor can be divided up into several different categories :

Page Layout	The page layout functions let you decide how each page will be set out.
Text Presentation	The appearance of text can be easily altered. Different fonts and styles can be used and the size of text can be varied. Text can be neatly lined up on the page.
Editing of Text	Text editing functions are used to revise and change text that you have entered.
Blocks of Text	The style and position of selected blocks of text can be changed.
Text Analysis	The word processor can look at your document and try to highlight any errors such as spelling or grammatical mistakes that you have made.
Templates	Template files let you save favourite document layouts that you have created so that you can use them over and over again.
Other Features	Most modern word processors will offer lots of extra features such as tables, bullet points and fancy text effects.
Mail Merging	A database of names and addresses can be used to personalise letters that have been created in a word processor.

A word processor is not always the best package to use to produce a document. Sometimes you may require more control over the layout of a page or you may wish to include a lot of graphics in a document. If this is the case then a Desktop Publishing (DTP) package would be more suitable. Desktop Publishers are often used to produce newspapers and books. As extra features are added to word processors it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between a word processor and a desktop publisher.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004