Document Formatting and Layout: Margins, Headings, Paragraphing, Tabulation
This domain tests whether a typed document looks like a document rather than a block of text: margins set for binding, headings placed and spaced correctly, paragraphs indented consistently, and columns aligned with tab stops instead of space bars.
Set the page before typing
A4 paper. Left margin about 1.25 inches to allow for binding, right, top and bottom about 1 inch. Set margins first; retyping a page to fit margins costs more time than setting them once.
Text layout rules
- Heading centred, bold or in capitals, with one blank line above and below.
- Subject and reference lines ranged left, single spaced.
- First line of each paragraph indented five spaces (or a 0.5-inch first-line indent), single spacing within the paragraph, one blank line between paragraphs.
- Body text justified; never pad the last line with spaces to force justification.
- Page numbers bottom centre; if instructed, put name and roll number in the footer.
Tabulation
Use tab stops, never strings of spaces. For a three-column list, set a left tab for the description and right-aligned tabs for the figures so that every amount ends on the same vertical line.
Worked example
A fee table with the columns विवरण, दर, संख्या. Set a left tab at 1.0 inch, a right tab at 3.5 inches and a right tab at 4.5 inches. Type the item, Tab, the rate, Tab, the count. The reasoning: a right tab aligns the last digit of each figure, which spaces cannot do, because Devanagari glyph widths vary between fonts and one extra space shifts the whole column.
Traps
A heading typed flush left; spacing mixed between paragraphs; tables built with spaces that collapse on justification; an orphan heading stranded at the foot of a page away from its text; omitting the binding margin; typing the whole document before deciding on the layout.