How to Use Microsoft Word 2007 to Create a Professional Looking Document

 Basic papers and layouts are old and boring. Papers with clip art and constant color changes are unprofessional. However, there is a way to create an interesting yet professional paper. This article will teach you tricks for Microsoft Word (2007, though older versions will have some of these as well)that will make your document stand out (in a good way).

Steps

1. 
   
   
   Create a cover page. On the ribbon labeled Insert, look at the section marked 'Pages'. Click Cover-Page, and select one. When deciding which to select, think, 'What type of paper am I writing?' Choose a cover page that fits well with your document, so if it is a wordy essay, a more empty and colorless page usually be best.
   
   
2. 
   2
   Decide if you want a table of contents. Use for longer papers, or documents with sectional content. On the References ribbon, go to the section labeled 'Table of Contents' and click on Table of Contents. Choose one of the preset ones or create your own hitting the insert table of contents button. This will open up a dialog box and will give you several options. Set them to whatever you wish, and then hit enter. It will not have anything yet, but that's okay, because you can update it automatically once you have finished.
3. 
   3
   Create sections and section breaks. This works well with the Table of Contents, and makes your document easier to use, for either a printed document or an online one. On the Page Layout ribbon, in the page setup tab, click on 'Breaks', this will give you a drop-down menu of options. The menu has a divide, saying section breaks. Choose the one that you feel would work best, and you now have that break. Now go to the home ribbon, and in the Styles tab, select Heading 1. Use a different heading for sub-categories. Now just type the section title, and you have your new section. A cool way to see your section made is to go to the View ribbon, and in the Show/Hide tab, click document map. This will open a sidebar, which can help you navigate the document. You may want to go back to the table of contents to update it. If so, click inside of it, and now there should be a button above it saying update. Click it, and you should now have your new section in it.
4. 
   4
   Add content. Fill in your section(s) with all of your data. Do not put charts/pictures in yet.
5. 
   5
   Decide on whether or not to add tables. If you need side-by-side information, the simplest way is a table. Just go to the Insert ribbon, and click Table, which will give you a drop-down of a 10x8 table. Move your mouse around to how many columns/rows you want, and click. Or if you want more rows, click insert table, which will open up a dialog box. Select the options which fit best. You may also want a preset table. Just rest your cursor over the option saying Quick Tables. If you do not find a quick table that you want, look online for a download. To customize a table, just click on the Table ribbon, and you will be provide with plenty of options for coloring, styles, etc. Look around, and see what looks the best for your document.
6. 
   6
   Add graphs and charts (graphics). Another way to make your paper look professional is the use of SmartArt. SmartArt is perfect for any information you wish to show more visually. To access SmartArt, go to the Insert ribbon, and click SmartArt, which is in the Illustrations tab. After clicking, a dialog box will open up, with all sorts of really interesting yet simple and presentable display options. On the left are buttons for different categories. Look around, and if you see one that interests you, click on it. To the right, there will be an image of the graphic, with a caption underneath, explaining how the graphic best fits in a document. Check everything out, and when you are done, click OK. The graphic will be inserted, and you can now customize it however you wish using the tools in the ribbon.
7. 
   7
   Do some formatting. Your document shouldn't just be the usual overflow of information. It hurts readers eyes, and it causes people to not want to read it. Think about the following steps, and use those which work for your document.
8. 
   8
   Include columns. A simple and easy to use trick, which splits your document in two, three, etc. Columns can be good for various purposes. To use columns, click the Page Layout ribbon, and on the Page Setup tab, click Columns. Choose your settings and give it a shot. If it seems like it would work in your document keep it. If you don't like it, just click on the one column button, and your back to your previous layout.
9. 
   9
   Margins. Depending on your paper, changing up the margins can really help make it look official. There are several ways you can change your margins. You can go to Page Layout, and click Margins, and choose a preset or customize them. If you want to see the changes instantly however, make sure the ruler is visible. If it is not, then select the view tab, and turn on the ruler. Now that it is visible, put your cursor where there is a change in shading. This is the paper's margins. Drag it to where you wish, and release. Your margin has been set. To change indentations drag the sliders on the ruler to the desired spot.
10. 
    10
    Have footers and headers. To edit a footer, double click at the bottom of the page. Double Click the top of the page to edit the Header. You can also go to the Insert ribbon and add them from there. Once you are in the Header/Footer editing mode, you can add titles, page numbers, etc. Go to the Design ribbon, and click on which of the options you choose. There are dropdown menus giving you presets of Headers/Footers and Page numbers. For page numbers, click the Page numbers button, and in the dropdown select where you want the page number to appear. Now you should have a list of examples, and you may select whichever you like. You can edit settings as well. You can change whether your document has a different first page, different odd and even pages, etc. If you want different headers for different sections, deselect the Link to Previous button, or else the new header will show up in previous parts. You may also set the distance of the Header from the op of the page, and set the distance between the Footer and the bottom of the page.
11. 
    11
    Quick parts. To use Quick Parts, go to the Insert ribbon, and select quick parts. Click whichever you want, and place it wherever you wish.
12. 
    12
    Drop cap. Usually Drop Cap is used for stories, articles, etc. Drop Cap sets the first letter of the Paragraph Larger than the others. If you plan to use Drop Cap, you probably will want to change the font, or else it looks bad. Experiment with which font looks the best, usually a fancier font like Old English Text works well.
13. 
    13
    Include dividers. If you want a clear gap between parts, but you don't want to just have a huge empty area in your document, then use dividers. There are several dividers. You can use horizontal lines, underlining, bordering, etc. To insert a horizontal line, go to the Home ribbon, and in the paragraph tab, click the drop-down arrow button below the Paragraph mark (backwards 'P'). Click Horizontal Line. To insert a different style of horizontal line, click Borders and Shading. Now in the dialog box, go to the bottom left corner, where it says Horizontal Line. Now you should have several presets. To insert a border, without using boxing in anything, go to the same drop-down arrow, and click the picture with a line only on the bottom. To use underlines, on the last line before the divide, select any text there is, and hit Ctrl+U. To make the underline go all the way to the other margin, place your cursor to the right, and click. If this doesn't work, just use spaces until you get to the margin.
14. 
    14
    Have your footnotes and citations. For documents using citations, footnotes are great for keeping information and citings organized. To insert a footnote, hit Ctrl+Alt+F. You can also go to References and click Insert Footnote. To add a Citation, click Insert Citation, and then click Add New Source. When the dialog box is open, go to the top-left corner, and click where it says 'Document From Web site'. This gives you several types of sources to choose from. When you choose which type of source you are using, Microsoft Word gives you the areas of information to fill in, making it simple to cite. When you finish your document, you can click the button that says 'Bibliography' and select either Bibliography or Works Cited. Once you click it, Microsoft Word automatically creates a Bibliography or Works Cited based on the citations you have created. You can also change the style of citation such as MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.
15. 
    15
    You should now be done, reread your document, go to the Review ribbon, and click Spelling and Grammar, Update the Table of Contents, make sure everything is in order and looks good. Now click the large circular button in the top left corner of the window, and go to Prepare. Click Properties, and fill in the information. You may also want to encrypt the file, to do so, click the circular button again, go to Prepare, and hit Encrypt.