Word Processing and Document Creation
Word Processing and Document Creation
This domain tests document creation and formatting: page setup, character and paragraph formatting, styles, tables, headers and footers, proofing, find and replace, and mail merge. The exam favours feature selection and the correct order of operations.
Core rules
- Page setup controls margins, orientation, paper size and columns. Paragraph formatting controls alignment, line spacing, indents, and spacing before and after.
- Styles store font, size and paragraph settings together. Applying a heading style gives consistent formatting and enables automatic tables of contents.
- Tables organise tabular data; use table cells rather than repeated Tab key presses or spaces.
- Headers and footers repeat content on pages; page numbers are inserted as fields.
- Find and Replace can replace text globally. Use Match Case or Whole Word to avoid unintended changes.
- Mail merge combines a main document with a data source such as a list or table to produce personalised copies.
Worked example
A teacher has a result table with Name, Mark and Grade and wants individual mark sheets. Create the main document with fixed text and merge fields; connect the data source; insert the Name, Mark and Grade fields; preview one record; then complete the merge to a new document or printer. Checking the preview prevents a field placed in the wrong sentence from multiplying across every letter.
Traps
- Pressing Enter repeatedly to push text down creates unstable layout; use paragraph spacing or page breaks.
- Replace All without checking can alter parts of words.
- A table border is formatting, not data; deleting borders does not delete cells.
- Mail merge needs a data source; typing names into the main document does not merge.
- Saving as PDF preserves layout but is not ideal for later editing.
- A header is not the same as a heading style; one repeats on pages, the other formats text.