When printing a book, layout is essential and, within it, indentation in Word, which is usually the most used word processor, plays a leading role.
The reason is that it is the indentations that structure the text and improve the margins. This guarantees not only good readability of the document, but also quality printing and binding and without fragments of text cut off due to not leaving a reasonable blank space.
Authors sending their books to print (or any other type of document, such as memos) often have many unresolved questions about indentation, its function, and its application.
What is indentation in Word and why is it important?
Indentation is a concept used in the field of document layout and design. Even if you’re not sure what it is, you just need to take a look at any book to see an indentation and understand why they are included.
What is indentation in Word and why is it important?
Definition of indentation
In Word, or any other document generation or design program, indentation is the extra margin or separation, with respect to the right or left edge of the page, that is left at the beginning of some lines or in short fragments of text.
If you open the book that we have recommended as an example, it is possible that the first lines of each paragraph (spelling mark) or complete fragments such as textual quotes are preceded by a blank space (for example, 2.5cm compared to the rest of the text that is 1.5cm away).
These indentations in Word serve more of an aesthetic function, as they structure the text, but also a functional one.
There are several types, which we are going to explore below.
History of bleeding
Although we are now talking about indentations in Word, the truth is that this extra margin predates modern times of word processors. In fact, we could even say that it was more common before than now, without ever having been an orthotypographic norm, but rather a purely style and design choice of the text.
The origin is in the first printed books, in which paragraphs used to begin with a red sign (¶]). That printing in a different color than black cost money and required a second printing (first all the black text and then the red signs), so it was stopped but the white space was maintained.
“You have to love reading to be a good writer, because writing doesn’t start with you.” – Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes
Exploring Types of Indentation in Word and Their Effective Application
Indentations can be of four different types: left, French, front line, left and right.
Indentation to the left
The extra space is added to the left in a text fragment. That section will be farther from the left edge than the rest of the text.
It is commonly used to introduce verbatim quotes. What’s more, APA standards recommend it as the most appropriate way to incorporate citations in academic and higher education works (such as TFGs).
Indent to the right
Unlike the previous one, right indentation consists of adding the extra margin on the right side.
It is not usually used much and in fact it is not recommended by style academies. However, some designers apply this indentation in Word if they are looking to generate a specific effect (for example, in commercial documents).
Top of the line sangria
This indentation is not applied to an entire fragment, but only to the first line, which goes deeper into the document. Therefore, first line appears farther from the left edge than the rest.
French sangria
It is the opposite of first line indentation. Therefore, in this case it is the second and subsequent lines that are most in, while the first adjusts to the normal margin.
It is perhaps the least common indentation in Word, although it can sometimes be used to organize the text (for example, for enumerations and bibliographies in scientific articles).
What is indentation used for and why it is important in word documents
Although we have already touched on this, we want to dedicate a section of this article only to the importance that bleeding has.
In addition to aesthetics and improved readability, indentation is also essential to ensure error-free printing that does not spoil a book that deserves to be read.
How indentation improves readability and structuring of text
Indentation structures the text. It does this because it highlights the division between paragraphs or the fact that some fragments are different from the rest.
For example, a first line indentation makes the document more readable. Meanwhile, a book without first line indentations, especially when the line spacing between paragraphs is reduced, can be seen as an agglomeration of lines and words. In short, a design and layout that do not encourage reading, but rather hinder it.
On the other hand, we have already pointed out that the indentation on the left (another of the most used), is a very useful and recommended resource to mark that this fragment is a textual quote. The other way to indicate it would be with quotes or italics, but they are less clear formats.
Indentation as protection when printing text
Although until now we have talked about the indentation as the extra space that is added for aesthetic purposes, the indentation is also the default margin that separates the text from each of the edges of the page.
Making sure that margin is adequate is part of preparing to print a book. The reason is that when this space is not enough, the text can get dangerously close to the edge and be cut off on the press.
Therefore, when laying out a book it is essential to leave, according to graphic design experts, a general indentation of about 3cm. Then, for specific line beginnings or fragments, a specific indentation of one or two quadrats (approximately a centimeter and a half) can be applied.
How to make an indent in word?
Now that we are clear about what an indent is and what types there are, let’s learn how to make an indent in Word. We are going to use the example of this processor from the Office 365 package because it is the most common and the one that many authors use to write their books.
Many times we think that Microsoft Excel is the only Microsoft tool that requires advanced learning and knowledge, but the truth is that Word also includes more specific and complex functionalities, such as those used to create different types of indentations, which usually We generally do not know how to use.
If that is your case, don’t worry because below we are going to teach you, step by step, how to indent in Word.
How to make an indent in word?
Practical Guide to Setting up French Indentations in Word
Let us remember that hanging indentation is one in which all the lines of a paragraph, except the first, are preceded by a blank space that separates them from the left margin of the page.
This is the step by step to configure it:
Select the text on which you want to apply the hanging indent.
In the top toolbar the “Home” tab will be open by default (if it is not, click on it).
Within the “Home” tab, go to the “Paragraph” section and click with the cursor on the arrow icon ( ) to display the dialog box with all the paragraph options.
The dialog box will have automatically opened to the “Indentation and Spacing” tab (if it hasn’t already, select it).
In the “Indentation and spacing” section, within the “Indentation” section and the “Special” drop-down menu, click on “French Indentation”.
In the “In” field next to it, enter the desired distance for the indentation.
Click on the “OK” button and the indentation will appear applied to the selected text.
Practical Guide to Setting First Line Indentation in Word
Configuring the first line indent in Word is very simple and can be done in a few clicks, following almost the same path as the hanging indent (only selecting other options).
Select the text on which you want to apply the hanging indent.
In the top toolbar the “Home” tab will be open by default (if it is not, click on it).
Within the “Home” tab, go to the “Paragraph” section and click with the cursor on the arrow icon ( ) to display the dialog box with all the paragraph options.
The dialog box will have automatically opened to the “Indentation and Spacing” tab (if it hasn’t already, select it).
In the “Indentation and spacing” section, within the “Indentation” section and the “Special” drop-down menu, click on “First Line”.
In the “In” editor, which appears right next to it, enter the desired distance for the indentation.
Click on the “OK” button and the indentation will appear applied to the selected text.
Practical Guide to Configure Left and Right Indentation in Word
Knowing how to configure this type of indentation in Word is almost an obligation for any student, especially the indentation on the left (we remember that the scientific community recommends it to cite correctly in papers).
Select the text on which you want to apply the hanging indent.
In the top toolbar the “Home” tab will be open by default (if it is not, click on it).
Within the “Home” tab, go to the “Paragraph” section and click with the cursor on the arrow icon ( ) to display the dialog box with all the paragraph options.
The dialog box will have automatically opened to the “Indentation and Spacing” tab (if it hasn’t already, select it).
In the “Indentation and spacing” section, within the “Indentation” section, select the centimeters of separation in the “Left” or “Right” field (depending on which side you want to insert the indentation on).
Click on the “OK” button and the indentation will appear applied to the selected text.
Quick Methods to Set Indentations
The methods for creating indentations in Word that we have explained are especially useful when we only want to apply the indentation once. However, when we are going to do it continuously, as may be the case of indenting the first line, there are more direct methods that simply press a key to add the space that has previously been determined.
One of them is the tabulation and others are the rules that appear as a guide on the upper and left edge of the screen.
Working with tabs in Word: practical use for creating first line indentations
The TAB key, which is shaped like two arrows and is placed just above “Caps Lock” on the keyboard, allows us to enter the first line indentation. That is, when we put the mouse in front of a line (or start typing a line), pressing that key will apply the indentation.
The tabulator’s own factors add 1.25cm, but that distance can be changed. To do this, follow these steps:
Select the text on which you want to apply the hanging indent.
In the top toolbar the “Home” tab will be open by default (if it is not, click on it).
Within the “Home” tab, go to the “Paragraph” section and click with the cursor on the arrow icon ( ) to display the dialog box with all the paragraph options.
In that dialog box, at the bottom, click on the “Tabs…” button to open a new menu.
In the new menu, on the right, in the “Default tabs” field, enter the desired distance.
Click with the mouse on “OK” to save the changes.
Now when you press the TAB key, the first line indentation will be applied according to the preset distance.
The toolbar to add indentations in Word
Indentation can also be added by clicking on the icons that appear in the “Paragraph” menu within the “Home” section of the Word toolbar . The difference is that by using these buttons the indentation is applied to the entire paragraph, so it is used to indent to the left or right.
Using rules to create indentations in Word
Another method to easily create indentations in Word are the rulers that appear on the screen (to activate them, select the “View” tab in the top menu and click on the “Ruler” box).
Thanks to these guides we can add indentations by selecting the fragment or line to modify and dragging the cursor over the ruler. Since they are also divided into centimeters that are multiples of five, it is very visual to do so. If by chance you wanted to change the units of measurement of centimeters to another system other than Spanish, you must do so by changing the region in the control panel in Windows.
Best practices for using indentation in Word
We have explained how to create different types of indentation through different methods. However, we do not want to end this article without giving some final advice that is more of a “best practice” to master everything related to the use and configuration of indentations in Word.
When to use each type of indentation
Although we have already mentioned the recommended use of each type of indentation, we are going to review it so that you can consult it whenever you need it:
First line indentation: when we want to emphasize the separation between paragraphs because the line spacing between them is minimal or we simply want to facilitate and favor the readability of the text as a whole.
Hanging indent: in scientific and academic articles when a list or bibliography is made.
Right indentation: to give a specific structure to the text (not used much).
Indent left: in paragraphs that are direct quotes.
“The worst thing is when you’ve finished a chapter and the typewriter doesn’t applaud.” –Orson Wells
Resolving Common Questions about Frontline Bleeding and French Bleeding
In general, front-line and French indentations tend to raise many doubts, especially regarding their configuration.
One of those questions is how to establish that any of these indentations are automatically applied throughout the document. For example, if we are writing a bibliography we will want each paragraph (that is, each bibliographic entry) to have a hanging indent without having to configure it individually. The same thing happens if we have decided to improve the readability of our book with the first line indentation; We don’t want to have to select paragraph by paragraph (or click the TAB key) with each line break.
The good news is that setting it as default indents is easy. You will only have to follow the step by step explained for the configuration of each one. In the last step, instead of clicking “Accept”, you have to click on “Set as default” and “For this document”. Thus, the configured indentation will be applied to each new paragraph by default and generally.
Conclusion: everything you already know about word indentations
You are now an expert in Word indentations! You know what they are, the different types and how to configure each of them in various ways.
Surely you couldn’t believe that there was so much to learn and so much information related to those margins that are sometimes included in books and documents, but now you know that they have a function.
Not only that, but you understand how practical and necessary bleeds are to improve the appearance of your books and ensure quality printing. The only thing missing is to trust a quality printing service like Collabra, where we will advise you at every step so that your book is a success as soon as it comes off the press.
