Easily Fixing Inconsistencies Within Documents

We all want our documents to look professional. One key to creating a professional looking document is to keep the document consistent.  A document that looks consistent will be easier to read and the reader will want to read it.

A fast and easy way to fix inconsistencies within a document is to use the replace feature. Here are a few examples of how the replace feature can work for you.

• If you are typing the name of someone or something and you realize that you spelled the name wrong throughout the document or sometimes you spell it one way and other times you spell it a different way.
  
• If you are inconsistent with spaces at the end of a sentence.  Sometimes you put in 2 spaces at the end of a sentence and sometimes 1 space. If you learned to type on a typewriter the standard was 2 spaces after a sentence.  Now, the standard is 1 space. Many times when 2 spaces are used after a sentence your document will have “rivers” of white space running through it which can detract from the ease of readability.
  
• If you want to emphasize some or all instances of a group of words or even one word by changing the formatting of that word. For instance, changing words to bold or italicized. 

To use the replace feature in Microsoft software

• Click on Edit
• Click Replace
• In the “Find What” field type what you want to find. 
• If you are using this to correct spacing put in 2 spaces (press the spacebar 2 times),
• In the “Replace With” field type the word the way you want it to appear. 
• If you are using this to correct spacing put in 1 space (press the spacebar 1 time). 
• If you want to find a specific word, such as PUB, and you want to ignore the word when it occurs as part of another word, such as PUBLICATION, click the Match whole word only check box. If you want to match case click the Match Case check box.
• You can then click “Replace All” and it will go through your entire document and make the changes.  Or if you prefer, you can choose “Find Next” and it will find each occurrence of the word. Then you can choose to replace it or skip it and find the next occurrence by clicking “Find Next”.
• Click Close when finished.