... in the world of Technical Communication

Using styles can be helpful and maddening all at the same time. Styles, like a css sheet for a webpage, enable you to keep your document formatted consistently.

Recently, I gave a quick presentation about using styles in a new template I created for Architects/Developers for one of my clients. Of all the interesting features I showed them, they were most taken with the way I used images as bullets.

For example:

In the image above, the note icon, arrow icon and triangle icon are all bulleted styles that use a clip art image instead of one of the built-in bullet symbols. Using a bullet style instead of individual clip art images enables you to create callouts more quickly when authoring your document. It also keeps your formatting consistent for each callout (since image placement in Word can be kind of wonky).

Setting up a bullet style to use an image is just like setting up any other bullet style. Instead of using one of the pre-set bullets, you can select a symbol image or your own clipart image (as seen above).

1. Using the Styles and Formatting toolbar, create a New style or Modify an existing style.
2. Click Format then Numbering.
   
   
3. Choose an existing bullet style then click Customize.
   
   
4. In the Customize Bullet List window, you have the option of choosing a Font, Character (symbol) or Picture. Click Picture.
   
   
5. The Picture Bullet window appears. Choose from one of the existing bullet images or click Import to add your own image.
   
   
6. The Add Clips to Organizer window appears. Navigate to the directory where your image is located and select it. Click Add.
   
   
7. You’re returned to the Picture Bullet window. Click the image you just added to select it. Click OK.
   
   
8. In Word 2003, you can set additional properties in the Customize Bullet List window. In Word 2007, set the indent and tab space in the Paragraphs and Tabs windows (accessed via the Format drop-down in the Modify Style window). Click OK twice to return to the Modify Style window.
   
9. Your bullet image will be resized based on the font size for that style. Adjust the font size and color, paragraph spacing, tabs, borders, etc. for the style. When done, click OK to return to your Word document.
   
10. Test out your new style in your document. Make any other modifications as needed.