When creating a word document it is important to communicate the information that is needed clearly and accurately to the audience. To do this we have to ensure that first of all the font, size and color are suitable for the audience we are looking at.
How a document is set out can help towards the understanding of the content of the text. For this reason it is important that in any word document I create I keep a professional feel to the document.
The basics that are needed to create a professional document:
- Page numbers
- Headers
- Footers
- Same font size and style throughout the document
- Same font colour, unless necessary
- The line spacing needs to be kept the same throughout the document.
- Borders and watermarks - if used they should be kept the same throughout the document.
Headers and footers are very important when it comes to a professional document as each document needs to be presented in a way that the viewers are used to. Once the company has created a layout the employee’s will be familiar with the layout and style and will recognize the colour scheme and the layout on each document. This, in a sense, is a way of recognizing the company. For example for Calderdale and Kirklees Careers it is typical that the colour purple is used for documents when it comes to backgrounds for headers and footers.
Using the same text style is again important as the readers/employee’s will be used to seeing that font style in all the documents that have been sent out in the past. The font size used is one of the factors within the documents that are more likely to change and depending on the document and the importance of that specific part of the text it may need to stand out.
If a company has a specific colour theme that is used in other business documents it is important that other word documents created have the same theme used. For example if we need to send a letter out to pupils at a school we may use a specific layout that is only used for schools.
All internal and external documents are set with the same colour scheme and where possible the same layout. Although every document created will be different it is important to keep the same colours and styles to ensure that the documents are professional.
When creating multiple documents of the same style and theme it may be suitable to create a template. Within a template you can set the text size and colour so that it will automatically be used when the template is used. The template can also have anything in it from pictures, backgrounds and text already in the document.
For example if a general letter needs to be sent to all Yr 10 pupils in school X a template can be used. When you open this template it will have the basic letter with merge fields of the pupil’s details. This letter can then be linked with the pupils in Yr 10 at school X, this will then produce a final document containing the letters with all the pupils’ details ready for printing.
