centering

[Guest]

I really need help. I asked this question before, but the answer didn't help.
(Person told me to go to Style/Formatting, then Normal, then Modify, then
check on Format. This only worked for one keystroke.) Whenever I center
(control e), the whole text centers. Same with bold, italic, etc. I can go to
"undo" and it will just leave the material I want formatted, but 1) that
takes time, and 2) it's taking out other formatting such as all the bullets
in the manuscript (300 pages). It's all typed; I'm just going back and
inserting formatting that the publisher wants, but it's taking forever. I
haven't made any changes to Word lately; just had more memory added to the
computer, and, while typing it changed to single spaced and I went to format
and changed to double space. CAN ANYONE HELP?? I have a deadline on this job.

Donna G.

 

[Jay Freedman]

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WholeDocumentReformatted.htm.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

It sounds like Automatically Update is turned on for the underlying
style(s). When that's the case and you apply direct formatting to text
formatted with a given style, the style is redefined, causing all text
formatted using that style to change.

You don't say which version of Word you're using. Assuming you're using Word
2003, choose Format - Styles and Formatting. At the top of the pane,
right-click the style shown in "Formatting of selected text" and click on
Modify. In the Modify Style dialog box -- near the bottom -- click to remove
the check next to Automatically update. Then click OK.

If there are other styles that are behaving the same way, you would need to
turn off Automatically Update for those other styles as well.